A nice bass from the Straits

Just a very quick report. Went down to a mark in the straits early this morning, only accessible on the big spring tides. After spending an hour or so working the area with shallow divers and SP's with just one small schoolie for my efforts, the choice was made to stick on a surface lure, one of my current favourites, the Seaspin ProQ 120. With around half a dozen other anglers now starting to appear and not a single sign of any more fish, things were looking bleak to say the least but this was prime time and the conditions just seemed too good to stop. The option of giving up was not viable so I instead opted for a move to a spot a bit more out of the way. There was still one angler opposite me in the bay, but now at least, there was plenty of space to work a lure in so the fishing commenced once more. First cast..... nothing, 2nd cast...... nothing, 3rd cast.......SMASH! A bass absolutely nailed me off the top and was soon thrashing around in an attempt to throw my lure. Throughout the duration of the fight I was just hoping the hooks were set properly and when it approached the margins a few minutes later, I was more than relieved to catch a glimpse of what looked a solid hook hold, there was no way it was getting free without snapping me, which fortunately it didn't. Safely landed on the kelp, I looked down and realised that it was a proper fish, very thick set and a solid 5.5lb+, a new surface caught PB, happy chappy! After failing miserably to get some decent photos (due to being on my tod) I settled for this one above and released the fish, which shot off like a rocket as soon as it touched the water, always nice to see. I continued in this spot for a further 30mins with no rises, before making my escape to safe ground and avoiding an un-necessary call to the RNLI. When walking back, I met up with Boansy, Stu and Scotty  and decided that another hour or so couldn't harm so after introductions, we once again starting thrashing the water with lures. Unfortunately, no further action was had by any of us, so now well and truly knackered, I left the guys to fish on whilst I headed for my bed :)