Early season Red Letter Day on the coast (Emerald Green)

Yesterday was such an enjoyable day that I wanted to write a quick blog about it.

Every year in the early season, I always try a dark green paddletail on the open coast. There’s something about that colour in April that just seems to produce a nice bass or two. The conditions have to be right for everything to align, but if there’s a clean surf rolling in (around 2–3 ft) and the water is clear, then regardless of what the wind is doing, something just clicks.

Yesterday was one of those days.

I arrived at the location knowing it would be breezy, but as soon as I walked down the cliffs and saw the sea, I had a feeling it might be a good early-season session. The day before had looked almost identical, but there was no surf, and we blanked.

I got there just after low tide and had to wait for it to push in slightly before I could start fishing. I was using my estuary rod and reel, as it’s my favourite setup when fishing light soft plastics. I had 16lb line and 12lb fluorocarbon tied on. Did that make a difference? Maybe—but I was definitely taking a bit of a risk with 12lb flouro around all those rocks. There were plenty of exposed boulders, and I’d be fishing in roughly 3–5 ft of water.

On went a 4.5" emerald green handmade shad. At first, I got snagged a few times around the rocks, but I stuck with it. I was flicking it out and letting the surf and swell do most of the work, just keeping in contact and reeling very slowly.

I’d only been fishing a few minutes when the first bass hit, and the line went solid. At first, I thought I’d snagged, but after a couple of nods, I realised it was a good fish. I don’t care what anyone says—catching bass on lures in the surf with light gear is something else. The power and aggression of a bass in fizzed-up white water, with rolling sets coming in, is hard to beat. A 3lb bass feels like a 5lber all day long.

When I finally got the first fish in, it was a stunning golden-green colour—almost matching the lure. It went 50cm, and I was really happy with that.

Out went the emerald green lure again, repeating the same approach—slow retrieves, staying in contact, occasionally bumping along the bottom. That’s the zone I like: working it over boulders and through kelp where bass are waiting for an easy meal. Unfortunately, that technique does mean you can lose a lure or two.

After losing one, I switched to a similar green split shad—about as close as I had to the original colour. I had a few hits that felt like bass but didn’t connect, and then something strange happened. My line suddenly went slack, and I thought I’d lost the lure in the rocks. But as I took up the slack, I realised a bass had picked it up and was swimming towards me.

Then it went solid again—but this time the fish knew it was hooked and powered straight into the rocks on the right. At one point, I had to scramble over a few boulders to change the angle and free it, all while thinking about that 12lb flouro rubbing against the rock. It felt like a better fish, so I had to take my time.

A few minutes later, I just managed to land it—and it was noticeably bigger. This one measured 60cm and was a solid step up from the first.

I eventually found another emerald green lure in my box and got it back out there, but I was running out of time as the gully was filling quickly. Still, I managed one last fish before I had to head off to pick up my son.

It ended up being a proper smash-and-grab session—only about an hour of fishing, but when everything lines up, and you’ve got the right lure, it can turn into something special. Even with Easterly winds blowing in April.

Has anyone had a similar story to this in April?

Tight Lines!!