Sequence of photos showing a good bass so nearly landed, then suddenly lost in an instant, then the anglers’ (priceless!) reactions - this is fishing!

I got back home last night and I was thinking about doing this blog post almost straight after the events you will see below which happened earlier last week. When you look at these photos you need to bear in mind that the light was very harsh and I didn’t have a great angle on the lads. I was fishing away myself at the time but my camera was in my waterproof rucksack which was set a good distance up the rocks and back from some serious waves rolling in. By pure chance I had been previously shooting some photos with my 70-200mm lens, so when I spotted Andy C suddenly hook up on the truly outstanding Favorite Black Swan 982EXH 9'8'' 24-84g lure rod (review to come, can’t believe how versatile this thing is for a lure rod rated this much), I was able to very quickly wind my lure in and go for my camera…………

What you see here almost sums up bass fishing in SW Portugal - it ain’t easy! You either love a challenge or you don’t I guess, but the opportunity to spend a bit of time in such a gorgeous part of the world during our miserable UK winter AND have that slim chance at the bass of a lifetime is something which draws me back. I haven’t yet landed the bass of a lifetime, and of course there is a high chance I never will out there, but there’s always that slimmest of chances which I guess is fishing in a nutshell.

The photo above shows a good bass so nearly landed. Why though are Andy P and Andy C not down at the water’s edge to grab the fish or the leader? Check out the photo below………..

At all times you need to keep one eye on the sea in this part of the world. Sometimes there can be these almost ridiculously long gaps between sets of waves rolling, to the point that you could arrive at a fishing spot, think mmm, this looks fine, go down close to the water’s edge and start fishing. And then a set rolls in and you’re in all kinds of trouble. That bass in the first photo was so almost done, but then this wave above rolls in, grabs the fish, and everything changes in an instant.

And the wave keeps on smashing in. I am many miles away from being any kind of fishing “expert”, but I do pride myself on understanding fishing photography. I know enough about fishing to know when to keep shooting photographs and how to adjust various camera and lens settings as things can suddenly unfold very quickly. Andy C who is connected to the bass has no choice here as his lure rod is pulled right around with the weight of the fish in all that turbulence. Landing any bass in this situation to me is now a matter of luck.

The wave keeps thundering in and up the gully to the left. I look at the coastline in SW Portugal a bit like I might look at the north coast of Cornwall or the west coast of Ireland. Waves have been smashing into these magnificent coastlines way before us humans came along to trash the planet and empty the seas, yet the rocks are still standing there, bearing the brunt of such ferocious and relentless power. We choose to try and catch one of nature’s marvels in seas like these and the odds of everything going our way are mostly slim at best.

That split-second when the odds have not gone in our favour. The weight of the bass being wrenched around in that wave on a short, tight line meant that something almost had to give. And it did. Note the straight rod. The bass has gone. Damn!

The exact moment when fishing goes from ecstasy to agony in the blink of an eye or the snap of a line. I love the instant reaction of Andy P on the left as his friend Andy C loses the bass in the blink of an eye. Andy C on the right admitted to me later on that he only just managed to not smash the rod in a fit of frustration because he luckily managed to remember that it wasn’t actually his rod to smash!

So instead he roars with anger and frustration. From so nearly landing a good bass to a split-second later not being connected anymore. Fishing can be a cruel mistress…………..