Saturday 3 September 2011

Basstastic Devon!


2 years ago I caught my first bass (4lbs but the size was immaterial!) it was on the lure and although it was one of those significant firsts it wasn’t the goal I was looking for… it really had to be on the fly! Through various commitments I have had to wait until this year to connect.

If I turn the clock back 12 months I found myself in Devon for a long weekend with my wife… an urge to fish and  tip off saw me at a mark VERY early one morning… the result was a blank.

Fast forward to last weekend… Devon for a week… and I fished 4 separate marks on 5 occasions. It was last year’s mark that was fished twice… the result was 1 fish on day 1 and 4 on day 2! Result!

The key word is “watch”… Yes, watch what is going on around you, swirls or bait fish moving, they are all tell-tale signs of movement from under the surface of the water… cast and retrieve… steady retrieve… stop and retrieve… feel the take and the shrimp fly claims its fish.  Interestingly I preferred not to match the hatch but give the offering of the slower shrimp… would I have had more hits using a match?

The biggest fish was estimated to be 26.5cm… not big but it gets me off the blocks and I know what I’ll be concentrating on tying more of! Oh the Bug-Bond treated fly lasted longer on the back casts clicking on the rock! 

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