26th April

Experiencing the obsession. Richard signs up for a marathon

Richards first bass

This could have gone badly wrong. The wind had dropped back to Easterly, and today, the day of the now postponed (until 3rd May) squid competition, I flet obligated to go looking for squid to prove the point. Andy was still with me, as he had already arranged a weekend away, and my client later that evening, Richard, I knew was available, so I invited him along. As soon as we got to the marina, I knew it had been a good call to postpone the squid comp. Still coloured seas made it clear there wouldnt be lots coming up. In fact, I quite fancied going home to catch up with some sleep. But in fairness to the guys, we had a go. Andy set up down the wall and commenced a species hunt. Richard and myself proceeded to fish for squid. Eight hours later, Andy had caught corkwing and ballan wrasse, scorpion fish and tompot blennies. Richard had cuaght nothing, despite a sterling effort of full concentration on his floating jig, and I had scraped a garfish out on the mackerel strip flyer. A very poor day for the marina. We heard various conflicting reports as to how the West was fishing, but I do know a couple of bream came up on the extension. So, with Andys dirt weekend in Brighton (we were in the mud anawful lot....) over, I dropped him back to the station, and returned to fish with Richard into darkness. Still no squid!! Vic Fisher, someone who is no stranger to catching squid, also failed to find any, depite fishing hard from 0700, so it confirmed the competition would have been a total failure had it gone ahead. With darkness, we retired to the bungalow to begin our guided session. Checking out the weather forecast, I spotted an identical wind spike to the one that had led to Ray's success the previous session. It looked almost too good to be true. The night before us promised light easterlies, perfect for an open shingle session, if maybe a little early in the year, with a SW wind increasing steadily from 04:00, and the strength about perfect for the critical low tide period on the surf beaches. The original plan, a float and prawning session on the marina, was thrown out of the window, and at 23:00 we headed off to a local beach for a "margin" fishing session. The high tide came, with just one rattle to Richards rod. On the ebb, I was smashed out of my near slumber by a savage pull, followed by three more. I hit into nothing. NExt cast, a more familiar rattle, most likely a pouting, and that was our only action for the night. Richard had now fished for 20 hours without a result, which was worrying me. I have been in correspondence with him for over a year, and really wanted his trip down (he is one of them Londoner's, from that London place) to be a memorable one. I contained my excitement about the imminent weather change as much as possible, as I didnt want to build up a now quite tired Richard too much, in case it didnt happen. But I was reasonably confident. The surf is all important at this mark. Apparently, fifteen anglers had fished the night before, but with no surf, it didnt happen, and few fish were taken. Our session was looking a lot more promising......

Richard and PB bass 4lb 10oz

On arrival at the beach, thew surf hadnt begun yet, as the tide was still high. But the wind was increasing in strength, and all was looking good. As the water left the shingle, and the breakers and foaming water tables began to form, so the fun began. Richards face was a picture when we finally achieved what he had come down for, a bass. Only a schoolie, but it was still a bass. He was genuinely well chuffed, which is why I was well chuffed with what happened next. We were standing side by side, with our backs to the wind. I noticed him strike, but I got really interested when I heard a screaming clutch. A proper fish, and in the shallow water they do like to run about. Richard played the fish perfectly, and I walked out behind it in case of issue. As it grounded on the sand, I slid it up out of the water by the hooklink, which then promptly snapped, although it wasnt an issue as the fish was safely ashore. Fantastic!! This was the fish I had wanted Richard to find. This years previous client best bass of 4lb 8oz set by Ray the previous day, was bettered by 2oz. 4lb 10oz of prime sussex surf bass. I was buzzing from it, becuase Richard was buzzing from it. ITs true, fishing is a drug!! We carried on. More schoolies succumbed, and I went off to get some more worm out. I noticed Richards rod bending well, and walked over just as it went limp. Unfortunately, Richard had set the drag too stiffly after adjusting from the last fish, and the hook had pulled. "It was bigger than the last one" said Richard. Opportunity lost, but actually, that lesson happens to everyone, and I am pretty sure the drag will be checked by Richard every cast in the future!! Rain began to pour from the sky, the wind had increased to very strong, and the surf was starting to tumble wildly. Fishable to the shingle, but as the water attians depth, too much energy to fish it properly. We got back to the bungalow at 1000. Richard had fished an amazing 24 hour session, without waver, concentrating not only on the fishing, but listening intently to what I was telling him, and applying it with, in the end, excellent results. This guy has got the fishing bug bad, and I expect great things with the determination he has to make things happen!