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90 minute dawn raid


-Mongrel-
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I decided to crawl out of bed early at the weekend as the weather has been nicely settled here for a while and there have been some big baitfish/mackerel shoals building.

 

Car loaded and off we trot to one of the busiest sections of Brighton shingle you could find! It's the nudist beach!!! Not at 5.30 am though!

 

It was still pretty dark so I wandered down onto my mark and clipped a lure on. Then just sat down and grabbed a cuppa out of the flask, watching the sky lighten is always a magical time for me, and 15 minutes after setting up, I flicked the lure out for the first cast.

 

The first few casts were completely interest free, then suddenly bang, the lure rod tip gets pulled round! Then starts tap-tap-tapping away in the characteristic rhythm of ...a mackerel! Oh well, better than nothing and quite tasty. 4 more in 4 casts was enough to confirm that I had an inshore shoal and, as it got brighter suddenly the surface just exploded! Millions of tiny baitfish attempting to evade the marauding mackerel shoal below, were leaping out of the water to escape!

 

Where there's this many snacks there has to be Bass, but I couldn't get through the mackerel to try my luck at them. After maybe 20 minutes and with the light rapidly strengthening the mackerel started moving, still feeding well but about 70 yards offshore...which gave the bass room to work all around the shoal and, crucially, allow me to work outside of the shoal.

 

Game on! Next cast and a couple of twitches on the rod tip to start 'walking the dog' and SLAM! The rod tip is wrenched round...and stays round while the reel clutch starts fizzing, this is more like it! A couple of yards gained and then lost as it dives hard, then a few more gained...and a few more, and we're winning. After about 5 minutes it's beached and picked up. A nice lean bass of just under 3.5lb, not large but certainly lively, next cast, bass on!

 

And so it continued for another 30 minutes or so, fish after fish, some tiny, some decent, all good fun. Then the first rays of the rising sun made it over the top of the South Downs and that was, as it always is, the end of proceedings. As son as direct sunlight hits the water the bass switch off, seen it many times and spent HOURS trying to disprove it to be about the light...but it is!

 

Time to pack up and go home to make breakfast, (I've often done these sessions and come home for brekkie, and then gone to work,) total for the morning was 9 Bass and half a dozen mackerel, two bass for the table, both of about 3-1/2lbs or so and the rest of the bass returned. A great short session. BAss.jpg

 

 

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That sounds like great fun.

 

That it was, all the sweeter for being a short session.

 

Superb, great result.

 

What lures did you use?

 

This particular morning it was a Hart Missile 120, I take the top hook off, I think 3 trebles is too much and can make unhooking a nightmare! If they on the surface I'm finding the Xorus Patchinko/Patchinko 2 are working really well around here at the moment.

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