Some interesting pre-Xmas bass fishing

It fascinates me that only a relatively few degrees in change of wind direction around here can make the difference between stunning, bouncy and green sea conditions as opposed to bouncy but coloured and full of weed, and for a few days before Xmas we got some pretty tasty onshore surf conditions. Some people might choose to head out Christmas shopping on the day before Christmas Eve for example, but online shopping was designed for people like me who would rather snap a favourite lure rod than have to go physically shopping - and when you’ve got your local coastline looking so tasty I would argue that it would have been a crime not to head out fishing……………..

In due course I will tell you about some changes I am starting to make to my camera gear, because as much as we had some stunning conditions I didn’t actually end up fishing very much myself as I was shooting the living daylights out of a camera and lens combination I had rented over Xmas to see if it worked for me. It mattered not though because as I am hoping you have seen from this blog, I love the photography of fishing as much as I love fishing itself, and when Mark went and hooked what was obviously a pretty good fish in some tasty conditions I was jumping for joy but also having to really concentrate hard on working with a different camera system whilst trying to nail all the shots.

You can probably guess the lures we were using to deal with heavy surf conditions like that - yep, the Savage Gear Surf Seeker - and I had also brought along a couple of rather interesting sample lure rods we are working on. I asked Mark if he wanted to have a go with one of them and by pure chance he then went and hooked the rather lovely bass you can see here in the photos. I don’t actually know if we will end up putting these lure rods onto the UK market because some other countries in Europe have asked us to develop them, but I like these rods so much I am going to push all I can to make them available in due course. Damn they fish lures like the Seeker so well in really heavy conditions.

And as much as I loved trying the new camera gear, as ever the photos simply can’t show how “heavy” the conditions were. You know when if you time it wrong with some shallowish wading that you are suddenly in the middle of a big surge which is above your waist and threatening to take you off your feet? That’s what we had that afternoon, and I’d have been gobsmacked not to have seen at least a bass. I’ll give Mark’s chunky winter bass at least 6lbs+, and from through my viewfinder the scrap he got looked fantastic. Yet again I come back to the question of whether bass ever fight harder than when hooked in heavy surf conditions? You all have a good weekend, I still fancy my chances at a fish or two out there if I can get some decent water, please stay safe and well…………

Disclosure - If you buy anything using links found around my website, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you anymore to buy via these affiliate links - and please feel entirely free not to do so of course - but it will help me to continue producing content. Thank you.