Perseverance is the name of the game!

The kickoff of the Bass fishing season took place somewhere in the beginning of May. The watertemperature had reached the magical 12 degrees. Ofcourse, the bass fever was already running through my veins many weeks before. We all know the symptoms: sweaty hands and the shivers. You eat, drink, sleep, dream and breathe Bass. It’s the adrenaline rush. It’s like a freaking drug. You must go out there! Catch Bass. That’s what counts! Nothing else matters.

You have checked your material for more than 40 times. You have reviewed the location where to start over and over. finally, the moment is there. You set the alarm clock for an early morning start and off you go. Most of the time Bert joined me on these early season sessions. Since those days in May we have spent many hours at various and most promising locations in Europoort – Rotterdam. Till now the result is 11-0 in favour of the Bass.

As said before perseverance is the name of the game! Don’t give in. You might loose a battle (or 11), but not the war.

Last week it seemed that the Bass were really there, not in big numbers but nevertheless. We, my buddy John and I, went out for a short afternoon session. The weather forecast wasn’t that good. Wind from the East, South-East 4Bft at around 14.00 hours building up towards 6 Bft around 18.00 hours. With this wind force in the outer Harbours, the conditions can become too dangerous to stay on the spiky and slippery boulders. At the first location, just before a tidal change, we cast our lures around 14.00 hours. The conditions at that time were good. Rather calm waters. Sea Swallows and Cormorants all over the place diving for bait. A good sign! The incoming tide was scheduled from around 14.30 hours. We choose to seduce the Bass with hard lures. John sends his Rapala Max Rap on a mission. I preferred the IMA Sasuke 140 Mullet. For several years now, I felt most confident with this particular lure. After approximately 15 minutes, at the moment the tide is turning, I felt fish. Bass on! It turned out to be a school bass of approximately 40cm. Not very spectacular, but a Bass is a Bass. 1-0 for Pieter. Then 15 minutes later a freight train did hit my rod. Fish on! And a big one – somehow you can feel this instinctively. It took many meters line again and again. After a couple of minutes I managed to turn the fish in. A very, very nice Bass. Beautifully dark coloured and measuring 79 cm. 2-0 for Pieter! Due to the tidal conditions we had to change location. We chose for a spot just a couple of miles further out.

On this particular location you must be aware of the waves produced by the large vessels entering the port of Rotterdam. You need to have 4 eyes instead of 2. As said earlier: a very promising location. The moment our lures hit the water, I immediately felt fish on. First cast – Bass on! Big Bass; really, really big Bass. It took the line again and again. But finally he arrived safe and sound in my hands. 3-0 for Pieter. Due to the difficult conditions over here, it’s a struggle to reel the fish in. There are the waves, current, slippery boulders and growing winds you have to deal with. Just before the fishing here became too risky, so just before leaving this spot, I felt Bass again. A very nice Bass measuring some 60cm was landed. 4-0 for Pieter.

My mate John changed his hard lure for a small jig and managed to catch several nice Twaite Shads. Finally the hard work and endurance resulted in a short but productive fishing session. This time we won the battle!

Pieter.