Update 6th June...hard going

I’ve had three trips out in the last week and I have to say it’s been pretty tough going, last weekend I fished the west side of Portland for the first time. Access to this area is not for the faint hearted (or unfit) and once down on the rocks the sheer size of the boulders makes moving around and finding decent fishing platforms pretty tricky. This is certainly an area I will be revisiting though, as I’m sure it has good potential, particularly as a HW mark but I wont be going back until I have some rubber soled boots as the hike down is pretty hairy in felt soles!

On the day though fishing was slow, there were a few fish around as I had a few follows and plucks but they seemed quite tentative. I eventually hooked a small fish that came off in close and I gave up at sundown as I didn’t fancy negotiating the path back up in the dark.

This weekend and bank holiday I took advantage of the time off to get a couple of trips in to my more regular haunt, Friday was bassless but I had a few Pollack and wrasse to show then on Monday I fished for 5 hours and into darkness before eventually snagging a small bass on a Sammy. So that’s my first fish off the top for the year and my first on a Sammy which is already my favourite topwater lure now.

I’ve not just been fishing though, I’ve also spent a bit of money in the last week on a few bits and bobs, including:

Costa Del Mar glasses - £150 is A LOT of money to spend on a pair of fishing shades so are they worth it? I’m not sure really, the lenses are great (I bought amber ones), colours contrast amazingly and they make fish spotting easier, but given I am not really sight fishing the overall benefit is limited so in short, I’m glad I have them, I like them but if I lost them tomorrow I’d probably revert back to normal cheaper polarized shades (like my Sainsbury’s ones I was wearing before).

Snowbee sling bag – Brilliant, why did I not get one sooner?

Scierra C4 waders – Comfy and don’t leak, that’s a good start but lets see how long they last before I pass judgement!

So the overall “bass to cash” ratio of the last week puts me definitely back in the category of all the gear no idea but with two weeks off looming at the end of the month culminating in the Cornish Lure Festival I’m looking forward to putting that right!