The sun was up, the birds were singing, the geese were flying overhead, and I had a sense that the small window I had for fishing was going to be a successful one. I kitted up with my Ebbrox TorrentX waders, the backpack, and the lure box armed with the 7 cm Squat Lobsters (my personal favourite for the size of bass I am targeting). I love to use the black colour, as this is the most visible and realistic colour against the grey estuary mud.
I started the session by scouting the banks of the estuary as the tide was coming in, but I knew that I would have more success once the water had reached the bladderwrack seaweed. I have found that the bass sit underneath these small patches, either stalking small crustaceans or sheltering from the sunlight. They move very carefully from one patch to another, at times sitting in only 6-10 inches of water. Patience, stealth, and good eyesight are all factors that need to be taken into consideration when picking out a nice fish.
The first fish of the session came when I was walking to my favourite Bass mark; I had been lucky enough to spot the silhouette of a fish sitting about 2 metres from the shore. Seeing that it was positioned facing away from me, it gave me the perfect chance to cast beyond the fish without it seeing the flick of my rod and potentially spooking it. A slow retrieve back and “Whack!” Fish on! I had a few good runs before the fish wrapped itself around some weed and gave one last head shake before coming off. I was gutted, but it was totally my fault as I didn’t set the drag correctly. This was a good learning experience for next time.
About an hour later, after bumping into another angler who was fishing for mullet and bass on the fly, I decided to head in the other direction. By now, the tide had come in much further and the bladderwrack seaweed had started to float on the surface. I knew this was the time the bass were going to start hunting underneath these weed patches. After scouting 300 metres of seaweed, I finally found a fish in the perfect position! It was facing in the opposite direction, which allowed me enough room to stalk it without being seen.
I managed to put the drone in the air to film, and there it sat right underneath the drone in plain sight. So I cast the Black 7 cm Squatz with a 10g flat bottom weedless hook and started to slowly retrieve the lure back to shore. I could see one fish start to move towards the lure, but what I didn’t see was that there were two fish—one sitting in the open and one hidden in the weed. The one hidden in the weed patch was the fish that came and engulfed the lure as soon as it came into its field of view. All of this I managed to capture on film with the drone. It’s some pretty amazing footage. You can watch this here:
This, to me, is what fishing is all about. It’s everything that leads up to the fish taking the lure that makes the moment special. The study of tides, time of day, feeding patterns, and how the fish reacts when looking at the lure are all things that help improve success next time around. It was a pleasure catching this fish, and it was carefully returned to fight another day and hopefully give someone else a memorable time on the water.
I hope you enjoyed this catch report using the Squatz. If you have any other questions feel free to reach out to us directly.
Tight lines
Harvey (Co-Founder)
