So near, yet so far

I actually came close to catching one tonight. A bloke fishing 50 yards up the beach came even closer, nailing a schoolie on a lure.

The wind wasn't too bad once I got down to the water. As high tide approached, there was a gentle swell.

There was the odd bit of weed about - say every fourth or fifth cast lost to a lump of it around the hook. I went through the different lures, different depths routine as the tide topped.

The first other lure angler I've seen this summer walked past after a brief chat. I noticed he was fishing a fair way out, with what looked like a wedge of some kind.

Next time I turned around, he was playing what looked like a smallish-schoolie. Still a bass, obviously. As in one more than my total so far this summer.

I clip on one of those nameless silver spoons you can cast for miles. I catch weed a couple of times - line gradually tightens, weight on the end, reel in lure covered in weed.

Then BANG, a sharp rap on the rod, which kicks three or four times as I bend into it. It's a bass. Definitely a bass. There's a big splash and the line goes slack and it's off. Life, gentlemen, can be a bitch.