I can happily say that since my last blog the fishing has continued in the same way. Again the majority has been at night as this just seems to be when there is really that better chance of hitting into more and bigger bass. For about 3 weeks now I have been using a new rod I got from down in Cornwall, it is the Bass Go Deeper Black Back. As soon as Nick Mackrory announced he was having some hand-made rods made up on his design I had my name down for one. At a later date I will get around to writing up a full review on the rod but from what I’ve experienced so far this is one hell of a rod. It’s made on a Toray Carbon blank and is a 7ft one piece rod, rated at 5-20g. Nick designed it on the best bits of a lot of different rods he has used over the years resulting in one super rod. It’s the perfect rod for any of the fishing I’m doing locally and haven’t used anything else since it has arrived. Even with its light rating and super sensitive feel to it, it still has the capability to beast bigger fish. Recently Nick has had Bass up to 10lb and Pollock up to 14b of the boat using this rods, so it certainly has the back bone to handle donkeys. I myself have already had two 60cm+ fish on it and the rod makes it a pleasure fighting these fish. The rod feels so natural when using it, it’s almost just like an extension of your arm, it gives you so much control over the fish and you turn the fish where you want it to go not the other way around.

I also finally got around to having a look around the Sunslicker website and there were a couple lures that immediately jumped out at me as having potential for some epic night fishing. The Doodle Shad 5″ in Pichot and Platinum and the Gibbon Paddle ups in Lemon Meringue and Pearl Sparkle. I got them ordered up and they were here in a couple of days ready for a swim. After about 5 night fishing sessions on the trot fishing till late me and my mate decided it may be a good idea to give it a night off before the weekend so we were fresh and ready for putting in some hours. Well this wasn’t to be, with me being so lucky my phone had broken during the day so I had no contact with my fishing buddy which was fine as we had no plans to go fishing that night. That was until I received a late email from him saying that he had spoken to his mate Mark from Cornwall and he mentioned how keen he was to get back down this way and fish, in the end they decided that tonight was the night and that they were meeting on the mark at 11pm. Now regardless of how tired I was I could let them go down and fish on their own, plus I had met Mark before a couple of times and he happens to be a hell of an angler and extremely knowledgeable so I was well up for a fish with him. I set about packing my gear and getting things ready, I walk down to the van about 1030 in order to get there a bit before them, it’s a 5 min drive and I’m onto some of the best bass ground around the south hams.
I get in the van only to find I had left the lights on after getting home from work, so no van no phone leaves me with one option, walk. I got my nice heavy sweaty PVC waders on my backpack full of gear and my rod and set of walking/running, it’s a 3.5 mile walk. Finally i got there after some time very hot and sweaty but by the sea with a rod in hand. I met the guys had a little chat and explained everything which they thought was sightly amusing but at the same time did show some commitment as would have been easy to stay at home and sit the session out. We started fishing on a mark where me and Andy had fish on previous nights so there was optimism there. The first lure I was keen to get on was the Sunslicker Doodle Shad in Platinum it’s quite a full-bodied paddle tail with ribs all the way down, perfect for fishing on a slow straight retrieve. There was a slight colour in the water and unfortunately a bit of weed, but as with the previous couple nights the weed started to thin out over high tide. Also the way I had the lure rigged was really helping to not pick up the weed, it was rigged on the TT Snaked head articulated jig head.

No one had any signs of fish not even a bite, about an hour in approaching high tide I was beginning to lose my confidence and thought maybe with fish coming out of the same place a few nights on the trot it may not be fishing again. Whilst fishing away happily I looked up into the clear sky with a half-moon beaming down and a sky full of stars and saw a shooting star. Well I think you could safely guess what I wished for, what else would anyone else in the world wish for apart from bass? About ten minutes later I’m fishing away and make a cast further to my right to cover some more ground, half way through my retrieve and the rod just arcs over. It was one of those times when my mind was elsewhere and I wasn’t expecting it but it soon woke me up when it started pulling. It seems to be that a lot of the time at night you get hit first before the fish fully hits the lures and you have to be sharp and quick on the bite to strike it. This fish though did the whole thing itself and inhaled the lure hooking itself. I could tell it was more than a schoolie from the harder pull and head shakes, I turned my head torch on to allow me to safely land the fish. The fish went 57cm and was lovely condition, they certainly seem to be getting healthier fish and are not so skinny anymore which must mean there is plenty of bait fish around for them to feed on. After a couple of pictures taken by Mark the fish was returned strong. Very good photos by mark i might add, i don’t know why he doesn’t do more of the photography down in Cornwall with Henry in front of the camera!!

I’ve got to say it is a pretty good way to christen a new lure and certainly gives you confidence using it, especially when I managed a couple more bass on the lure the next day this time in day light. Hopefully there are plenty more fish to be had and a few big boys chucked in as well, Me and Andy are off to Ireland at the end of July for a weeks fishing including the Irish Bass Festival so I’ve got plenty to be looking forward to on top of the great fishing I’m having locally.