Prospecting new areas
I always take advantage of days off to do a bit of office work, but also to go fishing as much as I can!
And very often, I prospect new fishing areas as much for the change of scenery as to find favorable fishing grounds for fly-fishing sea bass, this time.
We begin our fishing trip in the open sea. After having tried in vain to find the area where we had caught fish on the first outing with my partner Sylvain, we decided once again to look for other spots. The tide was high and we decided to attack using a diving silk. Quite quickly, on an area of rocks, I picked up a small spot. It's a rare catch when I'm fly fishing for sea bass. It's a pleasure, but not what we're looking for.
The area is beautiful, but the bars are not there or not active at all!
We try to change flies and animations, but nothing works.
We try another drift, this time onto a rocky plateau, but still no sign of life. The cormorants are resting on the rocks. Terns absent. No activity at all.
Summer tourist numbers are never very favorable!
We return to the first area, as we'd seen quite a few forage fish and because this zone is very interesting for its biotope of grass, mud and sand. The fish seem to like it here and the sea bass appreciate the changes in substrate. We start much further upstream to try and find the fish. Tourists on vacation are legion and we have to be patient and courteous, even if kayaks and paddles are constantly passing us by. There's a lot of water sports activity on the Brittany coast in summer, and it's not easy to find areas without being disturbed.
I'll take the first bass on a small 8-10 cm olive streamer, mounted on my intermediate line and a 27° tippet. Two other bass will also be interested in this fly.
We decide to eat our picnic before low tide, as this is when the terns and sea bass were active last time. After this short break, we start again lower down to try our luck and drift with the wind.
Another small bass takes my streamer. A good omen. Maybe the fish will come to the table at the same tidal moments as last time.
Selective and generally inactive bars
I switch to the streamer that had been popular last time, a deceiver in blue/green, and the fish react immediately. Sylvain is pouting because there's still not the slightest touch on these different streamers. I catch several fish, including a nice one that fights like hell. The bass in the current are very powerful and lively, always a great moment on a fly rod.
I insisted that Sylvain change flies and try one of mine, and he finally agreed. Like any fly tyer, he was keen to catch his fish with his flies, but the bass seemed targeted on one size and one color.
He soon takes his first bar of the day. I'm delighted for him. He then went on to catch several fish, including two nice ones just under 50 cm. This time, a more substantial sea bass took his fly on a small patch of sand fairly close to the shore. Sea bass are found on these patches of sand bordered by weed beds, where they wait in ambush for their prey. Unfortunately, this sea bass will give him the slip at the end of the fight. A pity, it would have been his prettiest fly bass!
We ended up catching quite a few sea bass, but almost all in the same area and in a relatively short space of time (1h30). The wind picks up again and despite my electric motor, which enables me to make some nice drifts and a discreet approach, it's not always easy to fish in these conditions, especially with a fly.
It's 6pm, so we decide to call it a day. Satisfied with our outing under a beautiful Breton sun, with nearly twenty bars hit!
