The smell of summer!

With the tides seriously weakening over the past couple of days my hopes of catching an early bass are going with them. Still, with decent weather, this hasn't stopped me trying!

Yesterday was a bit of a washout and I only managed 20 minutes of lure chucking before deciding I wasn't going to catch. The water looked uninvitingly cloudy and the weed washed up in all the rocky little coves I passed gave an idea of what was under the water too... Still, with all this rock-hopping it won't be long before I get some meat on me legs!

Today was another bright one and I couldn't resist popping out for my daily 'exercise' at about 5pm. It was just past low tide and with it being such a feeble one I didn't fancy my chances on this side. Instead I popped over to the estuary to have a poke around down there and look for some current.

I'll tell you now that again I didn't catch a fish but there was certainly something in the air. It's the first time this year that I've really been able to stop and smell the coconut scent of the gorse bush. The lambs in the fields were full of beans and the midges were out in force too.

I fished several spots. Not a breath of wind in the air, the water looked very fishy I must admit. I know that I'll generally catch more when there's some movement in the water but there's something more enjoyable about fishing lures in calm, clear water.

Within 2 minutes of arriving at about my third spot, a small shoal of quite large mullet followed my lure right in to the edge. I thought for a second they were bass (and nearly pooped myself!!!), but it wasn't to be. That was the last I saw of any proper fish.

As the light faded I did have the company of a one small fish that stuck around for a good couple of minutes. At about the same size as my lure I couldn't tell whether it was a baby bass or mullet but he didn't seem shy. Mooching around the rocks right at my feet, it was interesting to see how he moved around with the current. I'd have thought he was mentally derranged or ill to start with - for being so close and hardly moving - but he happily swam off to look at something more interesting after a short while.

A very pleasant evening.