Bass Chaser Of The Month - Mark Foster
Mark Foster
The Storm before the STORM...
We’d been out numerous times previously with Marcus (Seeker Sport Fishing) around Langstone and Chichester prior to this trip. I’d personally dropped a couple of really good fish on more than one occasion. One fish quite literally as the camera came out. Real googan move! This however, would be the day.
We’d opted for a ‘Marcus AM’ start (very early) at a spot in the harbour that really wasn’t producing but persevered being way off the sweet spot of the tide. We’d had two fantastic days, fishing surface lures all over the harbour with solid fish upwards of 50cm. At this point we’d landed over 40 fish between the two of us so a slow morning was probably due and we weren’t complaining!
Marcus being the Bass Genius he is, made the decisive call to move further down the harbour to potentially intercept a few fish before the long journey back to Manchester and boy would it pay off!!
Our cluster of days was coming to an end, as was the weather window. On arriving at our final mark, a big spring tide ripping back towards The Solent, the weather began to turn. Thick, low, dark clouds rolled in but as we all know, this concoction of conditions can really turn the fishing on. True to form, the fish showed and smashed our surface lures for over an hour. Fishing light c.15lb braid and 25g rods, we were into schoolies every cast, with a Patchinko 100 just about fishable in the strong flow. We’d seen some big explosions at this point and not connected so we had a feeling a few bigger fish were around. In rate that flow, we couldn’t believe how hard a 2lb fish could pull but this was soon forgotten when what turned out to be a 62cm fish decided to appear out of the gloomy depths, charging 5 times after my lure, making huge lunges, missing four times. Somehow I managed to avoid striking early and on the 5th lunge, pinned….! Fish on…. Screeeech, screeeeeeeech, screeeeeeeeeeech.
After a complete detonation, to say this fish was powerful is an understatement. Any bigger and I genuinely feel like We’d never have seen it. This fish ran and ran down the tide then stationed up what felt like broadside around 60 yards away. Immoveable. After settling for a few seconds, it decided to go again, stripping another 20/30yards. At this point we’re looking at each other wondering if it’d been grabbed by a seal. It hadn’t. As it rose up in the water, kiting away from the main current, the low light allowed the outline of a dorsal fin the cut through the surface film completely visible. A black dorsal, second dorsal and caudal wallowing just out of the main flow. Surrounded by rumbles of thunder and distant lightning, we were against the clock… After battling her against the flow for what seemed an eternity, playing the fish as light as I dared, we got her within touching distance. Marcus literally sprints in to net the fish at the first available opportunity…. I’d lost a few with him (my fault) and he wasn’t allowing copy and paste! Up to his waist, he nets the fish, I felt like I’d won the lottery! Finally, a trophy fish from the south coast!
Looking at the fish, not an enormous fish at 62cm but for me, a fish of a lifetime! Especially from the harbour. Beautifully marked, immaculate condition, the fishing gods were finally on my side. After lots of pictures, lots of recovery and immense levels of appreciation, we recovered her in the flow and released to fight another day.
Just as we’d let her go, the rain came and thunder grew ever louder. I was done, what an unreal three days. The cake well and truly iced! Marcus however, being ever the optimist he is, grabbed my rod and had a cast…. As the lure landed, THE BIGGEST crack of lightning hit a tree around 30m behind us…. Quite literally sending us running for cover with 1000’s of pounds of bass gear left behind! We gave it five mins and ran the gauntlet back to the car with 3 lightning conductors as close to the ground as we dared! We decompressed over brunch and couldn’t wait to get back down there.
I couldn’t have written a greater ending to an already fantastic trip!
If you’ve not been out with Marcus, I cannot recommend him enough. Fish and luck aside, the level of knowledge he possesses is on another planet!
Tight lines all!