Posted By forum Member Egbertnobacon

I was brought up in St Bees Cumbria and always wanted to catch a bass . In all my years from 1976 -1991 I only saw two but failed miserably myself. Since I got my first Yak 5 years ago I have pursued the species on every trip I’ve made to see the wrinklys at St Bees. More often than not the weather has intervened but this weekend was different!!

I set off with the yolks early Friday and arrived at the destination at 3pm , just a few hundred yards from my launch. There was merely a hint of a breeze at my parents house but a bit more wind down on the beach.

Permission was granted for a couple of hours so the T13 was quickly unloaded along with the Tubertini rod and reel , a few storm eels and a couple of plugs. I soon was into fish , mackerael and Pollock nearly every cast. The appetite was well and trully wetted ;D
I was up and away shortly after 5am on Saturday , a bit of a breeze had developed and I could hear the surf from the front door. I pondered over whether to launch for at least 10 minutes , there was a good size surf but beyond the breakers looked ok

Common sense prevailed and the alternative of launching 3 miles away on Whitehaven North shore , sheltered from southerlies by the imposing St Bees Heads was the sensible option. I paddled North trolling a J13 , occasionaly stopping to give the storm Eels a chuck but after two hours only a few Nips had kept me interested.

I paddled back and thought about heading in. The area to the South of the big Whitehaven Pier , leading to saltom bay and the North Heads has always looked fishy but its a difficult area to access on foot and dangerous with many landfalls. A quick cuppa and I was off ;D

Its was a little choppy and being the Top of the tide now I had to give way to a few Trawlers returning home , a bit of banter over the VHF making the wait entertaining – dont think they get many yakers ;D Giving the Feather Chuckers on the Pier a wide berth I was soon into more sheltered waters

I paddled all the way to the North heads , again trolling a rapalla without luck. Half way back , closer in to the shore there was a thumping take and after a good fight a plump Bass broke surface – mission accomplished ;D A very different fish to the welsh bass , fat and squatt with a belly stuffed full of Rockling ( One for the table). I paddled back a hundred yards and flicked out the Storm Eel , Two more plump bass falling in quick succesion ;D although the wind and now ebbing tide made it a precarios capture!!


I headed in with a contented smile , a great consolation for not being fit enough to join Paul and Simon on their Burnmoor trek.

The day finished with a trip with the yolks to Trotters world near Bassentwaite ( spotted a couple of good launch sites ;D) Highly reccomended if your up the Lakes with the Family , the highlight being the hawks display , where they flew a buzzrd , barn Owl , Sea Eagle and Gosshawk