Monday, May 30, 2011

Last bronze trip for the season

The first of the cool weather a month ago and subsequent drop in the water temperature signalled an end to what has been a difficult bass season on the far south coast. 

The bass turned and began their journey down stream to look for like-minded bass to make little bass with; I like to leave them in peace to do this. 

As an addict, I look for a different buzz to get my fix. EP’s in this part of the world are a month or so behind the bass and as such offer an extension to my fishing adventures, albeit only for a few weeks. 

About the time the first proper frosts ice the valley floor, I leave the EP’s to the important business that is essential to their continuity and search for a new buzz to see me through the winter. This time is very near.

With the prospect of a few months void of bronze coloured fish, I take the last weekend of the ‘season’ as a last chance opportunity for a trip.

We could fish locally, but the added bonus of some walking and camping in solitude draws us to lesser-frequented systems. 

The company of two of my favourite fishing companions makes for a really enjoyable adventure.

With time and observation certain predictability to fish behaviour is evident, this trip bore that out with EP’s taking our surface offerings in all the likely holds. Like bass, EP’s are structure based ambush predators. In a healthy system you can almost guarantee a fish from decent structure with a bit of tidal flow past it.

Fishing takes me to such beautiful places, this has led to a different appreciation of it nowadays; the landscapes, water, weather, ebbs and flows of nature all get noticed more.

I am lucky to live in a part of the world that abounds with places that are just beautiful to fish. The fishing in these locations can be spectacular but I would still travel there regardless of whether the fish were there or not. 

I am sure the distractions of nature mean I catch less fish, it does not seem to matter though, it makes me a worse fisherman but a better person.

So, another season of chasing bronze coloured fish is over and I will now chase bream until the frozen months pass. No doubt the cold nights spent pouring over google earth and topo maps will lengthen my already long wish list of trips for next season, but three months is such a looooong time.

1 comment: