Author: Robin Bradley

Here I am again, reflecting on another year in a bass angler’s life, and looking forward to another one to come, with my usual mix of excitement and optimism (will I never learn!).

Exploring

One of the more enjoyable parts of the ‘quiet’ period over the late winter and spring is looking for new marks. We tend to gravitate towards our favoured, reliable spots, but at this time of resetting things, and with no ‘pressure’ to get out there and catch, a few non-productive afternoons are time well spent, and could turn up a potential silver mine. We did find a couple of ‘humdingers’ but have yet to give them serious rod time. Better not leave it too long as I don’t know how much longer two old codgers will be able to get down the cliff!

Fishing abroad

After numerous trips to Ireland, my fishing abroad has now switched to the Channel Islands. I don’t get the same opportunities to fish there as when my son was living on Guernsey, but love to go whenever I can. The island, and its near neighbours such as Herm, are so beautiful, and with the great company of the local anglers, who wouldn’t want to visit as often as possible. I wrote about my most recent trip in my October blog.

A new canine companion

A year or so after losing our last golden retriever, a six-month old Archie joined me in October for his first fishing trip.

It has to be said that taking a (very) boisterous young dog fishing is not without its challenges! Hopefully he’ll get there in the end, and so far he has (mostly) brought me luck, despite his antics.

Fishing patterns

Apart from a couple of fish in the mid-fifties on crab in May, from an old favourite mark revisited, my season didn’t really get going until mid-July, with a 60cm fish. This was my first decent bass from an estuary, and was taken on a Dark Sleeper lure.

This pattern of fishing seems to have become established for me in recent years, and I find the period from mid-July until the end of September the most productive and enjoyable of the year.  It’s possible to catch right up to early new year, but the latter part of the year can be  inconsistent, and a struggle against the weather at times.

A Christmas bass

One late season success was this 61cm bass, caught just before Christmas on squid.

Despite the disappointing results of late, when you get perfect conditions you have to make the effort, and the prospect of tapping into the December migration adds motivation.

An hour passed without event, but a short move along the beach produced a bite on the first cast with razor – a 40cm junior bass with attitude! The next cast was a re-run of the first, except that the bite didn’t result in a fish.

I had brought along some (refrozen) squid for variety, so on it went. Five minutes later, the rod was thumping in my hands, as my would-be captive signalled its intention to regain freedom. No such luck – the top 1/0 Chinu hook had done its job well, despite the ensuing struggle, while the seemingly redundant 5/0 ‘Ultimate Bass’ bottom hook dangled freely outside the fish’s cheek. It’s interesting how larger fish often seem to do this, almost as if they’re going for the pointy end of the squid, and avoiding the beak at the head end, something which younger bass may not have learned to do yet. Catching this fish on squid reaffirmed for me what an excellent bait it is. Likewise mackerel, which also produced a 60cm bass for me in the summer.

“What a beautiful fish” I thought,  whilst at the same time being struck by how thin this fish was. A fish of this size would normally be fattening up for winter and full of eggs, but I’m not sure it would have even made the   5lb+ estimated by the BASS tape.

So why so slim? Had she come from an area devoid of her natural prey? I almost felt guilty about depriving her of a squid meal, but I think she’d probably swallowed most of it anyway. Why weren’t her ovaries filling with eggs in readiness for an encounter with a young buck from further along the coast? I hope she finds a few nice juicy Cornish sardines (pilchards) as she makes her way along our shores, and avoids the monofilament walls of death set to prevent her reaching the spawning grounds.

Meeting a new challenge

Estuary fishing for bass was the last big challenge I wanted to meet. I know this is not everyone’s cup of tea , some preferring the rugged coast and wave-pounded beaches to the quiet backwaters of tidal rivers.

Perhaps I’ve reached the time of life when I can enjoy this type of fishing, but I needed to see results before committing to it. Last year saw that happen.

I had always thought that estuaries were places which produced mainly school bass, and it is certainly true that they are very important nursery areas. Yet in recent years, reports of anglers catching big bass while fishing for other species, like bream, and while targeting bass with lures has changed that mindset.

My estuary catches weren’t prolific, but were regular enough to give me the confidence to stick at it. The average size of fish I caught was the same on the coast and in estuaries at 43cm. Of the 9 x 60cm and above bass I caught last year, 3 came from the coast (2 on bait, 1 on lures), while 6 came from estuaries (all on lures), including my biggest fish of the year at 68cm.

Safe to say that I will be fishing estuaries more in the year ahead. It’ll be interesting to see if this affects my pattern of catches over the year.

A seal encounter

I recently had an encounter which adds a new dimension to the concept of fishing with friends. This young chap/chapess joined me on the beach for a couple of hours while I was catching my final bass of 2021.

He made me jump when the ‘rock’ next to me moved as I turned to refresh my bait! He didn’t seem too bothered by my presence, just shuffling up the beach whenever the waves got too close. I kept as far away from him as I could though, so as not to disturb him too much, and kept the use of my light to a minimum (always good practice when bass fishing).

I reported this sighting to Sue Sayer from the Cornwall Seal Group who was very appreciative of the information. Sue commented that the seal looked like a very skinny pup.

Joining Cornwall IFCA

November saw me joining the Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority. I’ve long had an interest in fisheries management, and this four year voluntary appointment allows me to bring the sea angling perspective to meeting the undoubted challenges which Cornwall faces in this respect. My particular focus will be on the sustainable management of the bass fishery, but if there are any other issues relating to recreational sea angling you’d like me to raise, do let me know via email robin.bradley@btinternet.com.

Like all IFCAs, underpinning CIFCA’s work is an important scientific programme. Marine biology is a passion of mine, and I hope to be able to help with this in some way.

Juvenile bass surveys

During 2021 I took on the organisation of the programme of juvenile bass surveys in Cornwall. Although familiar with the surveys, having been involved since 2013, running them is a different matter altogether. With a lot of help from Derek Goodwin, who has run the surveys since the 1990’s, and our fantastic team of volunteers, I think I managed to negotiate the various administrative, practical and reporting aspects of the work, and look forward to starting this year’s programme in May. I gave a brief outline of our findings in my November blog.

If you’d like to get involved with the surveys, or just find out a bit more about them, please feel free to get in touch via the ‘Contact’ tab on my website.

BASS Science

BASS has always been interested in the science aspects of bass, and has its own Science group drawing together information about the biology of bass from a variety of sources.

This is one of the unique aspects of what BASS offers its members, and I’m pleased to lead this group as we move into a period of increasing research on bass, hoping to understand more about its reproduction, movements and lifecycle.

Ghost story

Finally, I never could resist a ghost story, especially ones which involve fishing. I’m grateful to the Piscatorial Raconteurs and Friends for this tale from Jeremy Croxall ‘Thatchers Beat’ which featured in their Christmas edition. Enjoy………..

That’s all for this month folks, thanks for reading.

“If only it was a bass” (or words to that effect!), said Richard, as he landed a dirty great huss. We’d been fishing a mark which has produced some of my best bass over the years and when he felt the bite, and with the ensuing struggle to get the fish in, Richard was hopeful of a lunker. I could hear his voice going up a notch, as he brought it in; “this feels like a good fish”, and then “this feels like a very good fish”, only for his hopes to be dashed as this evil-looking black thing came ashore.

I don’t wish to be disparaging of those who actually target huss, and no doubt would enjoy catching one the size of Richard’s (10lb+??), but if you’re after bass they’re about as welcome as a dose of venereal disease.

Only the night before, I had the same experience at another mark. Unlike Richard who had squid on, I was using peeler shore crab for bait. I had recently landed a bass of 46cm, so when the rod went in my hands again I was hopeful of another. It was a funny sort of bite though, and when it didn’t develop I assumed the fishy enquirer had moved on to other things. As I began the retrieve, it was as if the line was stuck. There was just enough give to make me think I had caught weed on the bottom. Another yank, and the line seemed to come free. “At least I’ve got my gear back” I thought.

It was at that point that I began to feel movement. “This feels like a fish” I thought, and as I slowly brought my line in I was aware of a heavy weight. “Christ”, “if this is a bass, it’s a good one – maybe a double?” You can imagine my feelings of unbridled joy then, when a huss at least the size of Richard’s appeared; I really shouldn’t use such language in front of  an innocent creature!

Downside

I guess that’s the downside of using bait in the shallow rocky areas that these ‘catsharks’ like to inhabit. Not all areas are blessed in this way – this doesn’t seem to be a problem in Dorset for example. And maybe their presence reflects an absence of bass, since these superb predators leave huss standing when it comes to getting food.

Of course one way to avoid such ‘bycatch’ is to use lures –  I’ve yet to see a huss taken on a lure! Mind you, lures have their own ‘bycatch’ when targeting bass – mackerel, pollack, garfish and wrasse for example, can all be taken on lures. Some would consider this an advantage, and there are times when a mackerel or two are nice for tea, or come in handy for bait. I can’t recall catching anything other than bass on lures at night, so maybe this is the way to go if you want to totally exclude catching anything other than bass.

Crab problems

I’m not talking about your bait being ripped to shreds by crabs before your intended target can get to it, but about getting hold of them in the first place. I have laid traps for shore crabs in a local estuary.

I used to be able to collect enough for several fishing trips in one go, but now I seem to struggle to get even single figures on many occasions. Each time I look in the bucket, wondering if it’s worth the effort, I just assume this is due to the vagaries of the weather, or the season (or unwanted attention from other bait collectors!).

But it seems I’m not the only one who’s struggling to collect shore crabs in estuaries. One commercial crab collector I know, who keeps very comprehensive records, has noticed a definite reduction in numbers too.

It’s unclear why this should be. Could it be something to do with the availability of the crabs’ food caused by global warming, or perhaps some change in water quality?

It seems that the numbers of the  furrowed crab are on the increase on the coast, and that they may be pushing shore crabs out (with thanks to Cornwall Wildlife Trust), but whether this is having an impact in estuaries is unclear – I can’t recall seeing a furrowed crab in an estuary.

Whether this change will affect bass in any way remains to be seen. They seem to switch onto feeding on whatever’s about in numbers at the time, and presumably they will devour a furrowed crab just as eagerly as a shore crab!

Tuna everywhere!

Hardly a day goes by without reading about large numbers of tuna being seen around Cornwall. These are an impressive sight, but I can’t help wondering if they are having an effect on bass, and other species; whenever the ecological balance is changed  there is usually some sort of knock-on effect.

A recent article in The Independent looks at the possible reasons for the reappearance of bluefin tuna in big numbers after over 60 years. It suggests this may be due to the influence of ‘Atlantic Mulitidecadal Oscillation’, a 60 – 120 year cycle which brings warmer waters further north.

Recent catches

Reports of bass catches seem to be slowing down now. My own catches have been somewhat disappointing. But I’ve enjoyed being able to go off fishing with my canine companion Archie during the autumn afternoons – one of the perks of retirement; catching fish seems almost incidental in such situations.

I’ve been continuing my estuary-fishing journey, with a modicum of success. This 60cm bass fell to a 5″ Fish Arrow Flash J Shad.

I’d like to thank fellow BASS member Ian Sefton for sharing his extensive experience and knowledge of estuary fishing for bass.

That’s all for this month folks. Many thanks for reading the blog this year. If you are looking for something to read during the long fishingless winter nights and weekends, why not ask Santa for a copy of my book? You can see an electronic preview of it here.

Hope you’ve had some good fishing this year, and next will be even better for you. Wishing you all a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

What is it about bass fishing, or any sort of fishing for that matter,  that gives us the feel good factor? For some it’s the capture of a big fish. This is certainly true in my case, although thankfully it’s not the only thing, given the number I catch!

Catching fish of any size is of course enjoyable, but there is so much more to it than that – the pleasure of catching at a new mark, or in a new setting, by a new method, bait or lure; the satisfaction of knowing that you got the conditions right and made the right call. Feeling inspired by beautiful surroundings, and knowing that your body is being physically and emotionally enriched by the experience.  I’ve written about some of the things which have enhanced my feel good factor of late in this month’s blog.

Fishing with Archie

Readers of my July blog will know that I’ve been looking forward to taking our recently-acquired retriever Archie fishing. Now that he’s seven months old, I’ve decided it’s time to start.

It’s been an interesting experience! At times he hasn’t done my blood pressure any good – he doesn’t get that paddling about in the margins spooks fish, which are often quite close in. Why would he, when we encourage him to do this on beach walks!

His reactions can be quite comical – like the first time he saw me land a bass. He was quivering with excitement, leaping several feet off the ground and snapping at it! A good thing it wasn’t a large fish, or I might have snapped the end of the rod, trying to keep it away from him.

On his first trip in the dark, a big old seal popped its head up, snorting and puffing, about ten yards out. Lookout, I thought, this is going to be interesting. Sure enough Archie proceeded to bark his head off, having been seriously spooked by this monster from the deep!

So far he’s bringing me luck – I haven’t blanked when I’ve taken him on a ‘proper’ session yet. So I’ll just have to put up with his antics until he learns how to be a better bass angler.

Estuary fishing

This leads me nicely into estuary fishing, which is what I’ve done most of with Archie. Estuaries are the bass fishing final frontier for me – the one shore-fishing setting I needed to crack.

Having now completely cast off (no pun intended) the mindset which says you can’t catch big bass in estuaries, I’ve been spending more and more time exploring them. I’m pleased to say that my efforts have begun to bear fruit, and I’m beginning to get to grips with how to fish them.

Several basic factors seem to be important (I’m sure there are others). Fish will follow the tide, moving up creeks with the flood, dropping back with the ebb and concentrating around low water while they wait for the push to start again.   They move in the channels, where they can be ambushed from a suitable vantage point, before the tide spills out over the mudflats, and the fish disperse .

Bass seem to hug the weed line, and many takes have come by casting my lure to the left or right, and bringing the lure along the edge of the weed, only yards out, or as the lure reaches the weed if casting straight out.

This calls for a stealthy approach, at times even kneeling as you cast and retrieve (plays hell with my knees!). One one occasion, a large bow wave appeared behind my lure just a yard out in very shallow water. Somehow managing to maintain my composure, I held my breath. As the lure almost touched dry land there was a great splash, as a 46cm bass smashed into it. Seeing this at close quarters, only just above the water in my kneeling position, was like nothing I have experienced before.

I always used to wonder what lures to use (or even whether to bait fish) in estuaries, but am now convinced that weedless paddletail soft plastics are the most effective lures of all in this setting. Not only are they deadly fish catchers, they can be brought right through weed, without fear of snagging.

I’ve had good results on the 5″ Keitech Easy Shiner, and the 5″ Fish Arrow Flash J Shad so far. Bass really hit them hard. I’ve not had any big fish on these yet, but most are of reasonable size (between 40 and 50 cm), and are of a similar stamp to those I’m catching on the coast. What the chances of catching a big bass in an estuary are, and whether this is the same as for the coast, only time will tell.

Even if you’re not catching fish, the beauty and tranquility of the surroundings more than makes up for it. If you let your mind wander, you could be fishing for salmon in a Scottish river; quite a change for a coast angler like me.

Most of the fish I have caught have come in daylight – a treat in itself. Fishing at night in estuaries, especially where there’s no moon, and there’s not a breath of wind is another experience altogether.  The water’s like glass, and you can hear your lure land somewhere out there. As you stand there, a huge splash along the shoreline, only yards out, gets your pulse racing. The answering cast is met with indifference. But then, unknown to you, a fish follows your lure in and  lunges at it at your feet. The resulting commotion, like someone had thrown a great rock in the water, makes you nearly jump out of your skin!

Recent catches

The fishing around the equinox (22nd September) was phenomenal, with some very good bass being caught at that time – one to note for next year.  I had one or two notable sessions leading up to this, but  was caught up in various family visits and trips around that time and the period just after.

One such session involved fishing a new mark with Keith Towsey and Mike Bryant at the ‘magic beach’.  We each headed off in different directions to check out the ground.  It wasn’t long before I was getting some action on surface lures. I’d had two definite slashes at the Yozuri Arms Pencil (YAP – now sold as the Duel Silver Dog 90 – if you can get them), but no hook-ups. Was this small fish missing the size 1 VMC barbless singles I had fitted, or were the fish feeling lethargic on the neap tide? A switch to a more exaggerated ‘walk-the-dog’ style retrieve seemed to gee the fish up, and a solid hit from a nice 61cm fish soon followed.

As darkness fell, the fish seemed to disappear, so it was time for a move along the rocks, and a change to soft plastics. I’ve found that paddletails work better with my retrieve style on neap tides, so on went the Swimsenko – bass of  43 and 44cm seemed to justify this.

A few days later I was keen to try the mark again. This time we were fishing in calm conditions on a bright moonlit night. To cut a long story short, we managed a few between us to 51cm (Keith) on white or cream coloured SP’s (DoLive/Senko/Swimsenko/Gravity Stick), but the interesting thing happened when I switched to an Arms Pencil.

I rarely use surface lures at night these days, but my recent success on the YAP, and a Facebook post from Marcin Kantor about this, plus a lack of action on SP’s, prompted me to try. First cast the lure was hit, virtually as soon as I started retrieving. It was a good fish too. I had to perform some acrobatics, clambering over rocks while trying to maintain contact with the fish, and I thought I had her beaten……..you probably know how that one ended!

It’s tempting to think the fish was on/near the surface, and saw the lure silhouetted against the moonlit sky, but who knows.I’ll certainly be taking a surface lure when I fish in these conditions again.

Angling buddy Paul Wallace had a bass of 5lb 13oz on squid recently.  As Paul said in his text message, bass have something magical which makes us keep coming back for more, through the blanks to catch a beautiful fish like that. Well done Paul.

CIFCA membership

I’ve been interested in the management of the bass fishery and campaigning for better stocks for as long as I can remember. As part of this I have regularly attended Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority’s  quarterly meetings, observing from the public gallery and submitting the occasional written question.

When I saw an advert for new general members, including people with a background in recreational sea angling, to join IFCAs, I did a bit of soul searching. Could I do the role justice? Could I spare the time? Was I ready for the, no doubt, significant challenges involves? After a good deal of thought, I decided to go for it; time to roll up the sleeves and do my bit, I thought.

Well I’m pleased to say that my application was successful, and my first meeting will be on December 17th. I’m looking forward to working with the committee, and doing what I can to help. I hope that my knowledge and experience of recreational sea angling can help CIFCA meet its commitment to the sustainable use of marine resources and balancing the needs of all who use them.

Bass investigations in Cornwall

Our programme of juvenile bass surveys has now ended for this year. It’s been a steep learning curve for me, taking over from Derek Goodwin. Thanks to our brilliant volunteers, we’ve had quite a successful year. We carried out 16 surveys, including trialling several new sites (on the Fal and the Camel).

Based on the number of last year’s fish we found in our  surveys in May and June, we conclude that the 2020 class is a reasonable one, and has survived its first winter well.

The picture for 2021 is harder to assess. A series of disappointing catches of this year’s fish was turned on its head by one very good result on the Fal.  It’s probably better to reserve any judgements about the 2021 class until we have conducted our surveys next year, when these fish have reached 1 year old.

I can’t close without mentioning Derek’s MBE investiture. I was honoured to be invited to attend the ceremony at County Hall in Truro, with Colonel Edward Bolitho, Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall, doing the presentation. Very well done to  Derek. This is a much-deserved honour and validation of the importance of this work on juvenile bass populations over many years.

Thanks for reading.

I’ve just returned from a long weekend fishing with the guys from GBASS  and friends, bass fishing on the magical island of Herm.

You’ll understand what a special place this is, and what a great bunch of guys these are, when I tell you that even though the bass fishing was the worst they’ve known, I can’t wait to meet up with them over there again. I can’t thank the guys enough for making me feel so welcome, and being such great company.

My visit had started with a couple of days enjoying the warm hospitality of Bryn and Emma Le Poidevin at ‘La Boulangerie’, their lovely Guernsey cottage. Of course it would have been rude not to sample the steak and local Breda beer at ‘The Driftwood’, while catching up on the Guernsey bass scene on the first evening. Apparently Breda has been the undoing of many an unwary visitor, but I have to report that all was (sort of) well – even after a Pastis chaser back at Bryn’s.

Thursday saw us stocking up on food supplies (including the legendary Perelle ‘sizzler’ sausages) for the weekend, before meeting up with Dave and Nigel du Jardin for a verm digging session. Verm  formed the mainstay of our bait fishing. Collecting it is no easy task, and requires both skill and stamina in equal measures.

Friday morning saw us making the short trip over to Herm. I had to pinch myself as the ferry pulled into the tiny harbour, with the sunshine showing off the island in all its glory. Was I really about to spend three days and nights bass fishing in paradise, with some excellent bass anglers. I reflected on how fate had brought me to this part of the world, when my son came to work on Guernsey as a surgeon some four years earlier.

It was nice not to have to think about where to fish – these guys know the island well, and are more than happy to show you around. Just as well, given the speed the tide can come in on the big springs like we had this weekend. I vividly recall standing in the dark and feeling the coldness of the water moving up the outside of my waders from ankle to knee in the time it takes to make just a few casts.

You can tell how special the place is to the guys, who are keen to show off its many features and its rich sealife.

As I mentioned above, the fishing could have been better, but it’s funny how it almost doesn’t matter whether you catch or not in these circumstances. Every session starts with hope, and every cast brings with it an anticipation of your bait or lure being snatched, whether or not it actually happens .

But one bite for Dave turned into something special when he landed a stingray after quite a battle (we thought he had hooked the Herm ferry at one point!). The fish was estimated at 15lb, although no one was keen to weigh it, in view of the nasty wounds they can inflict with the long spine on their tail.

We did catch bass, albeit mostly of modest size, except for Dean’s near 6lber.

My own best effort  was a 53cm bass caught on a watermelon and pearl 6″ Hawg Senko, just before first light while under the excellent guidance of top GBASS rod Simon De La Mare. Although this fish was of modest size, catching it crowned a moment that will stay with me for years to come. Here I was, fishing a sandy bay somewhere off the Normandy coast on a beautiful island as the dawn approached – priceless! A little later, a move to a nearby causeway produced a feisty 50cm bass, just to cap things off.

Each session saw a different facet of the island, with its massive tides (up to 10m) stripping out to reveal inter-tidal reefs stocked with copious amounts of food for bass and other species, or its gorgeous sandy beaches.

Fishing by day, in the sort of weather we had (amazing to be fishing in shorts and sandals in the middle of October), brings views of neighbouring islands like Sark.

By night the lights of Guernsey across the water seem dazzlingly bright in contrast to the dark skies of Herm. Wending your way to your next fishing session along the dusty spine road, where only people, cows and the occasional quad bike ferrying stuff around are allowed to pass, and hearing the hum of the island’s only electricity generator as you go, reminds you how unspoilt this place is. And instead of that, sometimes long, drive home, it was shanks’ pony back to our holiday cottage for a whisky nightcap (or several) with the boys.

Fishing is about more than just catching fish. It was the reason why I was there, but just being in such a fabulous place, with people who have become good friends, was a far greater reward.

Dave du Jardin, the Steven Spielberg of the bass fishing world (aka Mr Stingray) produced this brilliant video in his own inimitable style which nicely captures the essence of the trip; enjoy…….

In my last blog I was hoping that this August would be as good as last – well it was! After months of seeing just the odd fish now and again, it’s so nice to be able to go fishing knowing there’s a reasonable chance of catching something. I’m saying this despite not being able to get out as much as I normally would, due to a succession of much-enjoyed family visits and a busy schedule of bass surveys.

Peter Maddern commented on my last blog “August to January is my season these days”. There is a chance of catching bass (including some big ones) earlier in the year, but if you want consistency, I think Peter is spot on, at least down here in Cornwall.

Another estuary mark

A lone 51cm fish on a DoLive Stick, cast along the shore over some shallow weedy ground after dark in quiet conditions, was enough to confirm the potential of another estuary mark.

Back to the coast

I’ve been increasing my fishing time in estuaries in an attempt to discover more marks, but when a nice SW wind blew up, suggesting a bait-fishing session on the coast might be worthwhile, I headed for the beach.

Sure enough, there was a lovely sea running when I arrived, but the fish didn’t seem to be biting. Almost last chance saloon time, I put on the tail half of a joey mackerel. This method of mounting a mackerel bait works for me, with the bait coming back as it went out (unless I’ve had a bite of course!), rather than as a lump of mush. I know mackerel head works well, and I haven’t ruled out other methods of presenting it (chunks, fillet, whole joey etc).

I felt the weight move, but because I was fishing across the surf, I assumed this was due to a wave lifting it; I now use braid for my beach fishing, and it’s brilliant for bite detection.

The violent thump, thump which followed left me in no doubt this was a fish, and the ensuing battle to bring it in suggested it might be a good one. The landing was a bit tricky, but fortunately the hook was well set in the underside of the chin of a nice bass ( I remember thinking this was quite unusual), and I was able to get it in. This 60cm bass was the second of this size I have caught  on mackerel, out of a total of three to date; a very pleasing result and I shall certainly be using mackerel more now.

Lure trials

As the month wore on, the fishing improved. With good numbers of fish about, I took the opportunity to do some trials with lures which I had not yet proven, or used for some time.

On the first of a couple of productive lure sessions, I managed eight fish to 50cm, reaffirming my confidence in Sidewinder Skerries Eels, and catching for the first time on one of Sean Stevenson’s Eels and James Lanfear’s Needlefish lures. The second session produced seven fish, again to 50cm, this time allowing me to prove a Sunslicker Swimish Lure, a  Megabass Spindle Worm, and several colours of the excellent 6″ AGM Stick Worm.

Just like old times

The fishing wasn’t all like this though. Angling buddy Paul Wallace, who features regularly in my book, and I finally managed to catch up and get out for some fishing. Disappointingly, our first (lure + bait) session ended in a blank, although Richard Brandon fishing with us managed a 3lber on squid fished close in. The following session with Paul, on lures, did produce a couple of modest fish for both of us. As Paul commented, it was good for both of us to catch, as fishing sessions can so often go in favour of one angler over the other, often for inexplicable reasons.

It was great to be fishing together again – just like old times. I was really pleased that Paul caught, particularly as he is having a shoulder op later this month, and probably won’t get out again until at least November. I feel for him having to miss out at such a (potentially) good time of the year, but hopefully he’ll be able to get among those big fish we sometimes see in December and January.

More estuary success

Knowing my current interest in estuary fishing, Keith Towsey offered to show me one of his marks. It looked like the session was going nowhere, with neither of us having any action, but a lone fish at the end completely turned things around.

As we headed back to our cars, by now well dark, I spotted an enticing-looking small shallow bay of mixed sand and weed-covered rock. A few flicks with a rockfish-coloured 6″ AGM Worm Stick produced the odd tap to revive my, by now, flagging commitment. The next cast was met with a definite take, followed by the satisfying feel of a good bass thrashing on the surface. At 62 cm, this was my best fish of the year to date, and my best ever from an estuary.

Returning the favour

Eager to return the favour, I took Keith to one of my marks on the coast. An early fish for me suggested things might go well, but a couple of hours later we’d had no more action.

As with the previous trip, it looked like it just wasn’t happening, and I was about to suggest that we head for home. Then Keith came up, declaring that he had just had a fish about the same size as mine (48cm) on a Gravity Stick Pulsetail. I had suggested he try a Gravity Stick, as sometimes the paddle (pulse) tail can make a difference if the fish aren’t biting too well and need a bit of geeing up.

We were standing next to one another discussing the best way to retrieve this type of lure. “Do you ever twitch them?” asked Keith. Before I could answer, he had a take, the fish obviously responding to this tactic. “It’s a nice fish” said Keith, as he struggled to bring it in. But in she came – all 67cm of her. A nice fish indeed, which the BASS tape puts at a little shy of 7lb.

While most of the fish I’ve caught have been in the 40-50cm range, there is an encouraging number of 60+ fish around. Hopefully they will be joined by a few 70’s as we move into what could be a good autumn.

Catching large bass in the day

As you can see from my photos, I’m very much into lure fishing at night. I do enjoy lure fishing in daylight, but this is usually in the evening, leading up to darkness. Having said that, on a few occasions when I’ve been fishing in the middle of the day, usually when fishing a competition, or on a fishing holiday, I’ve hooked into, and sadly lost, what were apparently very large bass.  These situations have usually occurred on Spring tides, and when fishing weedy, rocky ground with surface lures. I wonder if there is less competition for those fish brave/bold enough to feed at these times. I’d love to know if others have any thoughts on this.

I had thought about actually targeting bass at these times, and a recent capture of an 8.5lb beauty by Jake Bodie has given me the added impetus to give this a go. Mind you, catching fish like that doesn’t come easy, and Jake points out that this catch was the culmination of a lot of research and putting up with numerous blanks.

Intriguing catch

Perhaps the most intriguing catch I’ve heard of recently, is a 3lb bass taken on float-fished bacon! The angler was fishing off the end of a pontoon, where children use bacon chunks to catch crabs. Presumably some of this finds it’s way to the area around the pontoon on a regular basis, and the bass become accustomed to this. Whether bacon would work elsewhere is unclear, but worth a try I reckon, although I’m not sure whether smoked or unsmoked, or streaky or back is best!

Leave it in

I am indebted to BASS colleagues, via their forum, for flagging up an interesting article discussing “What happens when the line parts” It’s well known that the post-release survival of deep-hooked fish is not good, but by cutting the line, and leaving the hook in-situ, survival is much improved, especially if using barbless hooks made of materials which corrode.

Juvenile bass surveys

Our juvenile bass surveys resumed at the beginning of August. I always feel a sense of wonder when I see the first fish of this year’s spawning coming through.  These perfect miniatures of the adults we like to catch really are beautiful. I find myself wondering where and when were they spawned? what obstacles have they had to overcome to get here? how many will reach the magic 10lb after 20 years or so?

Just when our results seemed to be indicating a poor 2021 year class, a bumper catch on the Fal (1,159 ‘0’ groups) has turned this conclusion on its head. Let’s hope our remaining surveys clarify things. Please be assured that great care is taken to make sure these fish are returned alive.

This work is completely dependent  on volunteers, and the bigger the pool, the more surveys we can carry out. If you’d like to help on an occasional or regular basis, especially if you can use your boat, please get in touch via the comments box.

What it’s like to be caught in a rip

I’ve often wondered what might happen if I got caught by a wave while wading in the surf to cast. Watch this disturbing video about a swimmer who got caught in a rip current on Mawgan Porth beach in Cornwall.

That’s all for this month folks, thanks for reading. Do feel free to pass on to friends if you’ve enjoyed it, or leave a comment.

Tightlines,

I used to think that you only caught schoolies when bass fishing in estuaries. It is a fact that most bass spend the early years (up to aged 4) in such areas, so these juvenile fish will predominate, but I’m now convinced that some adult bass (including some big ones) spend their summer and autumn in estuaries, and probably return to the same ones each year.

And why wouldn’t they – with an ample supply of prawns, crabs, worms and all manner of small fish, not to mention the shoals of mackerel when they come in. Of course they have competitors, such as gilt-head bream, and predators, such as seals and possibly dolphins, maybe even tuna at times, but at least they escape the nets (in Cornwall at least – where the River and Estuarine Fishing Nets Byelaw now prohibit the legal use of these).

This new-found confidence in estuaries comes from scientific research – like this study in Cork Harbour in Ireland, from increasing reports of anglers catching good bass while fishing for gilts, and reports of big bass being caught on lures.  It’s making me explore whole new areas, in pursuit of catching a big bass in quiet conditions, away from the big seas on the coast, in tranquil and leafy (creepy at night if you’re on your own!) surroundings.

You can imagine the pleasure it gave me then, when I landed this 60cm bass a few weeks ago while fishing at one of angling friend Stuart Martinez’ marks.

Not only was this my first half-decent bass caught in an estuary, it was taken on a Dark Sleeper lure, which I wrote about in a blog last year.

Get the fork out

With reports of big bass caught in estuaries while bait fishing for gilts, I thought it was time to get the fork out. It’s been a while since I used lug, let alone dug for it, so I wasn’t sure if my old spot still produced, or if I still had the knack of getting them. Undaunted, off I went, wielding my fork and with an expectant bucket in hand.

It was a pity I chose one of the hottest days of the year to date! This, and the fact that I had been fishing late the night before, severely affecting my stamina reserves, did nothing for my resolve. Although there were plenty of casts to be seen, the little buggers didn’t want to come out to adorn my hook – most inconsiderate of them I feel! I did manage a few though (including some quite nice ones) before I sloped off the job, drenched in sweat! (bait diggers have my total respect).

Alas, apart from a couple of schoolie rattles, I had nothing to show for my efforts – not that I would expect to at the first attempt at a new mark. As I sat waiting for a bite, I wondered whether  I was more, or less, likely to catch a big bass with bait or lures in estuaries. Using lures allows large areas to be searched, and  feels like a more targeted approach, especially at night – but is it as effective as bait? I know anglers who have caught big bass on both methods in estuaries, but for the specimen hunter, I think lure fishing has a slight edge.

Bass Nursery Areas

The report on Bass Nursery Areas (BNAs) from CEFAS (Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) has finally been published. As the report says, the original BNAs (37) were introduced in the 1990s, thanks in no small measure to BASS members like the late Don Kelley, to reduce the impact of fishing in areas where the majority of bass are likely to be below the MCRS (Minimum Conservation Reference size, currently 42cm). BNAs are thought to have played an important role in protecting the stock.

The report details 48 proposed amendments (including 39 new site designations) which were received from IFCAs (Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities) and the MMO (Marine Management Organisation). The report cites a lack of evidence for many of these proposals, and whether ANY of them have been implemented is unclear.

Perhaps this is a question of the standard of evidence required being too high, since surely just the presence of favourable habitat conditions in typical nursery areas is enough to warrant the increased protection gained from BNA status, particularly when bass recruitment is so crucial to stocks and subject to fluctuations in climate and weather conditions at the time of spawning and over the winter.

This is why our juvenile bass survey work in Cornwall is so important, and if anybody would like to help with these please let me know; it really is very enjoyable and rewarding, and only takes up a few hours now and then. Page 15 of the above report shows the existing BNAs. If you think your area would benefit from setting up a BNA, why not contact your local IFCA about it? Better still, why not set up a juvenile bass sampling programme yourself, to demonstrate the need for this? I would be happy to pass on any information I have about this.

Recent catches

Finally, there does seem to be a few bass about down here in Cornwall, although the bigger fish still seem to be few and far between. It’s still very patchy though – the west of the county seems to be having the best of it, while other areas continue to find just the odd fish here and there, although I have very recently heard of some big catches of smaller fish.

Apparently there are lots of baitfish out there – just out of range of shore anglers! The usual mackerel ‘blitz’ we see in July didn’t materialise, so perhaps that’s one reason why many bass have stayed out;  perhaps it also explains the late showing of tuna, which have only recently been reported.

August was one of my better months last year, so I’m crossing everything that this year will be the same. It started off well last night – nothing big, but very enjoyable fishing. This is one of my favourite times of year, with warm, still nights, fishing in quiet conditions with light gear where you can feel every knock, and twist and turn of the fish as they fall for your slowly retrieved soft plastic lure in the darkness.

One of the bass I caught, a 49 cm fish, took the lure just as I was about to lift the lure out of the water. The first I knew of it was when there was a great splash as the fish tried to nail the Dolive Stick sandeel imitation as it was about to run out of water.

Jellies everywhere

There seem to be jellyfish everywhere, especially the compass variety.

Be careful if you come across these, as they can give a nasty sting. A friend of mine discovered this when we came across loads of these in our sandeel net – one of them leaving a nasty red mark on his arm. Unfortunately the sandeels were mostly too small to be of use.

State of bass stocks

It’s at this time of year that I eagerly anticipate the ICES annual stock assessment for bass.   As you’ll see from the graphs in the linked document, things are still pretty precarious with the Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB), and the spawning success (Recruitment) in recent years is nothing to write home about.

Bass Fishing Guidance 2021

Given the state of the stocks, you might wonder why any changes in the Bass Fishing guidance for 2021 were made.  Not that these affect recreational bass fishing, which still only allows Catch & Release in Jan, Feb and Dec, and  two fish per day (over 42cm) from Mar – Nov. On the commercial side however, the Government have seen fit to allow shore based netting for bass, mostly in the Northwest, and in Wales; not only will this damage bass stocks, it could well interfere with the abilities of anglers to carry out their activities.

And there’s been more subtle changes – like the slight increase in bass allowed to be kept from trawls and seines, and the fact that bycatches of bass in nets only have to be ‘unavoidable’ if outside England and Wales.

An unusual fish

I received an interesting email from angling friend, and legendary bass author (Hooked on Bass), Alan Vaughan about an unusual bass he had caught – a fish of 66cm which took an Evostix lure with a small lead-head. It was an exceptionally dark fish, with a large head, “a very energetic bass that gave the kind of fight that we all like”. Alan also noted that it was a slim fish, and weighed 5lb 2oz.

The weight for length and appearance suggested a recently spent fish, yet this would be unusual for this time of year, and the fact that it gave such a good fight also goes against this.

Alan also mentioned that it was a male fish. This is unusual in itself, since male bass over 4lb are very unusual. This got me thinking about length to weight comparisons used in tapes etc. Estimates for larger (4lb+) fish will mainly be based on female fish, since these predominate. So I wonder if the relationship for male fish might be different, and whether this might account for the lower weight of Alan’s fish?

The  fact that most larger bass are female also interests me. This is not unique to bass, and a recent scientific paper  suggests that this is because male fish are more active than females, so that less of the oxygen they obtain from their gills goes into growth; could this account for the excellent fight Alan’s fish put up?

The sex of bass is not genetically predetermined. Whether they become male or female is influenced by the water temperature during their early development (around 6 months), with warmer water  resulting in more males. Water temperatures are likely to increase with global warming, and are likely to exceed 20C on occasion in the shallow estuaries where ‘0’ group bass tend to live in the summer. So could we be seeing more male bass in the future? Will this mean more hard-fighting, but smaller bass? Which would you prefer? Come to think of it, would more, sexually mature, male bass (but fewer females) mean increased or reduced spawning success?

That’s it for this month folks. Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed it please pass on to friends.

Marine biology has always held a fascination for me. In my working life I chose a different scientific route, in NHS Pathology, but I never lost my love of marine biology.

The sea got into my blood at an early age, while living in Malta, but it was a vacation course at Bangor University which really cemented my love of the scientific study of marine life. We studied the rich diversity of seaweeds and the myriad of tiny planktonic creatures which abound in the Menai Strait.

This was as a schoolboy from Oxford, and long before my obsession with bass began. Had I been as interested in the species as I am now, I would have taken full advantage of the opportunity to learn as much as possible about Dicentrarchus labrax.

My love of bass fishing has both indulged, and furthered my love of marine biology. In thinking about catching these wonderful fish, you cannot help learning about their habits and feeding, and what makes it possible to catch them.

But with me it goes further than that – to where they spend the different phases of their lives, and how they reproduce and migrate; in short their life cycle. This article by the BASS science group summarises our current knowledge in this area, but with the amount of research which is going on in  this field, it will hopefully soon need updating.

Spawning success

One aspect of the bass lifecycle which holds particular  fascination for me is the success, or otherwise, of each year’s spawning. This is crucial to the survival of bass as a species, and being able to assess the strength of each year class, and it’s growth, gives important research and fishery management data. I have been fortunate in being able to participate in the juvenile bass surveys run by Derek Goodwin in Cornwall.

Last year’s survey programme was severely curtailed by the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s been good therefore, to be able to resume the programme this year, and carry out a reasonable number and range of surveys. We’ve reached the mid-point of our programme for 2021, so now is a good time to take stock.

In May and June, we are primarily looking for one year old bass from last year’s spawning, the so-called ‘1’ groups.  Results should (hopefully) confirm our estimates of year class strength for the previous year, and check that fish numbers have not been unduly affected by prolonged (more than three weeks)  spells of very cold weather over the winter; these can kill young bass off if they have not made sufficient growth (to 6cm) before the winter starts.

Due to very limited sampling last year,  we just weren’t able to get a fix on how good the spawning, and settlement – the movement of larvae and fry from spawning grounds to inshore areas – had been for 2020, at least as far as the south coast of mid-Cornwall is concerned.

So it was encouraging to find ‘1’ groups on all our surveys (apart from one site in the Fal which was being trialled). And as the summer has progressed, the results have improved. The numbers we’ve seen have increased to around 200 per survey in both the Fal and Helford. These are not the big numbers (~2,000) we see after a really good spawning year, but are nonetheless encouraging enough to say that the 2020 class looks like being a reasonable one; perhaps one silver lining from the awful Covid cloud? I should add that all the fish we catch are carefully returned.

Another silver lining was Derek Goodwin’s John Leballeur Conservation award from BASS, in recognition of his many years of juvenile bass sampling in Cornish estuaries. Having recently undertaken the running of the surveys on Derek’s behalf, I can vouch for how richly deserved this award is. I was very pleased to be able to present the award to Derek on behalf of the BASS Committee during one of our recent surveys. Derek’s latest award comes soon after he was awarded the MBE for services to the study of fish populations in Cornwall.

The survey programme is. suspended during July, since the incoming fry don’t withstand the rigours of netting well due to their small size (~3cm). Work will continue, exploring potential new sites, but we won’t resume netting until August.

The second phase of the programme, during August and September, aims predominantly to assess the number of this year’s bass, the so-called ‘0’ groups. It’s difficult to predict what we might find, but the cold spring we had, with a run of easterlies in April, can’t have helped.

A big thank you to our brilliant volunteers, without whom this important work would not be possible. If you would like to help, particularly if you can spare time during the week, please let me know.

Recent catches

In my last blog, I said that if things hadn’t taken off by the time I write my next one I’d be getting worried. Well from where I’m standing they haven’t, and I am! Despite having an almost unshakable optimism that ‘they’ll be in soon’, doubts are beginning to creep in. These doubts are fuelled by the untold damage done to stocks by gill nets, and the new threat of ‘Fly-shooters’ which the authorities are seemingly unable, or unwilling, to do anything about it.

Yes, there are reports of good catches occurring, especially further east and north, but down here in Cornwall these seem to be few and far between, both on the coast and in the estuaries – even in boats.  A recent all-day boat trip with Steve Ainsworth yielded only 3 bass to 4lb – mind you, he did catch a nice pollack of around 11lbs (although I think he would have preferred it to have been a bass!).

Some encouraging reports of fish to 7lb are beginning to come through, but it hasn’t happened for me yet.

One of these reports involved local angler Bryan Robinson, who caught a nice fish of 6lb 4oz this week:

Imagine Bryan’s surprise when he found this in the fish’s guts:

Bryan thinks it might be a young turnstone, or something like that; at 10-12 inches long you wonder how the fish managed to swallow it!

One possible scenario, says Brian, is that the young bird had fallen out of its nest and been ‘mullered’ by the hungry bass; obviously the fish still felt hungry enough to snaffle Bryan’s peeler crab bait, even though the bird was only partially digested.

A new fishing companion

Readers of my book A Bass Angler’s Life  will know how much dogs are a part of my life. We lost Toby   back in October and had decided not to have another dog. Well, once a dog person, always a dog person; we weakened and nine months later we collected our latest addition to the family, young Archie.

It goes without saying that no dog will ever replace Toby, but it looks like Archie is going to make his own mark on our lives. He’s not quite ready to go fishing yet, but as soon as he’s a bit bigger, and learned not to ‘retrieve’ every lure I cast, or charge about frightening the fish (if there are any left!), he’ll be by my side at the water’s edge – day or night.

Peter Macconnell RIP

It was with great sadness that I heard the news of the sudden death of my friend Peter Macconnell. I never actually fished with Peter, but we had many conversations on the phone about fishing, family, dogs and BASS. I will always remember our epic journey to the BASS AGM in Gloucester in 2018 – the year of the ‘beast from the east’, coming back along the A30 in the snow and almost getting stuck for the night!

I was honoured when Peter agreed to write the forward to my book, and this will serve as a permanent reminder of him. This tribute from BASS is very fitting.

That’s it for this month folks. Thanks for reading and Tightlines.

With Father’s Day fast approaching, my thoughts turn to fishing and family. As passionate about fishing as most anglers are, family is still the most important thing in their lives. My book, A Bass Angler’s Life, is dedicated to, among others, my family: “To Angela, Ben and Sarah, who never minded when I wanted to go fishing, and always humoured me when I wanted to tell them something about it, or go looking for new spots”

With many anglers, a family member, or relation, was in some way instrumental  in them taking up fishing. My own father took my brother Peter and I fishing while on holiday in Scotland, and this triggered a lifelong passion for angling. The magic ‘tug-tug’ as another obliging flounder took our cockle baits, legered on thick lines and heavy weights from a wooden frame, has never left me.

Alas, my own children never felt that indefinable thing which makes anglers so ‘hooked’ on fishing, whatever the species or surroundings. That thing which, at times, can occupy our every waking moment (and even our dreams sometimes!), obsessing about marks, tides, weather, methods, and of course ten-pounders laying at our feet.

It wasn’t for the want of trying though, as this photo of a young Ben with an estuary schoolie, caught on float-fished live prawn shows:

Estuaries are good places to introduce youngsters to fishing, with their gentler conditions and usually obliging schoolies. Ah well – maybe the grandchildren will take to it!

It’s important that young people have the opportunity to try fishing, and we can all help in this by taking a family member with us once in a while. Hopefully this will lead to some of these youngsters becoming the next generation of anglers, without which this wonderful pastime has no future, and will become just the stuff of whisky-haze nostalgia.

What excites kids (including 60+ year-old ones!) most about fishing is catching fish, so we owe it to them to look after the stocks, and fight for more and bigger bass. By following and supporting groups like Save Our Sea Bass, the campaigning arm of BASS, you can do your bit to this end.

Recent catches

Well, the foxgloves are out in force now (see my last blog), but the bass don’t seem to be! There are some encouraging signs, like this 53cm bass I caught on the North Coast in mid-May:

followed by another of 56cm on the next cast. Both these were caught on crab, from my own traps, but we have struggled to find either fish or crabs since then. I have yet to catch a bass on lures this year.

It can be a bit worrying when the fish don’t show – have commercial catches finally damaged the stocks to the point where even our reduced expectations can’t be met? But don’t give up just yet – there could be other factors contributing. Mind you, if things haven’t taken off by the time I write my next blog I’ll be getting worried.

Keep fish wet.

I came across the excellent Keep Fish Wet website. I like its philosophy: “Our goal is to create a supportive community for learning and sharing best practices for catch-and-release. We do not support finger pointing or shaming.  Keep Fish Wet is not opposed to the lawful harvest of fish. We also acknowledge that even when we ‘catch and keep’, we often return some fish to the water (due to size limits, closed seasons etc.) and therefore practice catch-and-release. Keep Fish Wet best practices can be applied to any type of fishing in any type of water anywhere in the world.”

For any fish which you want, or need to, return, it makes sense to maximise its chances of surviving and recovering as quickly as possible. When I wrote my book, although I had stopped using treble hooks in order to minimise fish damage, I did not see the need to go further and use barbless/debarbed singles. But subsequent experience has taught me that even single hooks can take some time to extract from a fish if they are barbed, and this adds to the time the fish is out of the water. All my plugs are fitted with singles now, and I’m replacing these with barbless patterns.

I know I’m probably missing small bass by using single hooks, and whether barbless hooks also reduce the number of fish landed is unclear – but that matters much less to me than a returned fish surviving, and fully recovering after I’ve caught it.

That’s it for this month folks, but I can’t close without a mention for Pete Ryan, who I met while out fishing the other night. Pete recognised me (even with the wooly hat on!), and his first comment was to say how much he enjoyed my blog. Thanks Pete, it’s so nice to get that kind of feedback.

Tightlines, and best wishes to you and your family.

 

When the foxgloves come out it’s time to go bass fishing – as somebody told me years ago.  There’s no obvious link between the two, yet the saying is usually pretty reliable. There’s no sign of foxgloves in my area yet, so perhaps the explains the lack of fish at the moment! Maybe they’re both feeling the effects of the cool spring.

I’m not saying you won’t catch bass before this, but if you want to focus your efforts, this is a good time to think about starting. If you want to be more specific “The second set of springs in May” is another good time to aim for.

Recent catches

After an encouraging March, April was very disappointing in terms of bass catches. Just one schoolie was the sum total of my catches from nine (mostly chilly!) sessions (mainly bait). I don’t think I was alone though, with those anglers in Cornwall who actually went fishing reporting the same. Other areas (Dorset, Wales, Sussex) seem to have  been more productive though.

Reverse migration

With so few anglers fishing at this time of year, it’s difficult to draw too many conclusions, but a pattern seems to be emerging, and I would be interested in the views of others. Looking back, these catches in March are quite regular and consistent, and are probably due to a reverse migration, where fish are making their way back to their summer feeding grounds. The angler who is prepared to brave the chilly weather at this time could well hook into the fish of a lifetime.

By April, most of the fish seem to have moved past Cornwall’s shores, bringing early results to anglers further up the line. I say most, because there is still a chance of connecting with a hefty specimen down here; the odds are against you, but you could just hit the jackpot.

But it’s not until May that most of the resident bass return to Cornwall, and fishing should become more consistent. By resident, I mean those fish who habitually return every year, and spend the summer and autumn feeding in the same localised areas, exhibiting so-called ‘site fidelity’.

Exploring

One of the highlights of the early part of the year for me is using the quiet time to discover new marks. In recent years however, I’ve run out of steam a bit on this. I think this is partly because there aren’t many places in my part of Cornwall I haven’t already checked out, and partly down to a desire to consolidate what I already know, and turn this into actual results.

Bit when an old and trusted fishing partner suggests looking at somewhere, it spurs you on to make the effort.  Steve Ainsworth and I like fishing the same sort of weedy rocky ground, with lots of ledges and gullies, so I knew it would be worth the effort. Without giving anything away, the ‘bassometer’ was going off the scale as we checked out the mark, with visions of great fishing nights of the past being repeated. This mark had everything – boulders for lure fishing over, gullies and flatter ground for legering. And it was so enjoyable just to be on our beautiful, inspiring Cornish coast again, now that the Covid restrictions are easing.

One area of my fishing where I  still have much exploring to do is estuary bassing. Now convinced that larger bass do live in estuaries for much of the year, working out where to fish for them is high up my list of priorities. But it’s like starting all over again, so I’m anticipating my catch rate suffering a bit. Only time will tell if this is a price worth paying,  but  I’m looking forward to finding out.

Water temperature

The relationship between bass fishing and water temperature is a complex one. Localised warm, or cool spots may cause a temporary increase, or decrease in bass activity, depending on how long they spend there, due to the fish being poikilothermic (their body temperature varies with their surroundings).

A temperature of 10C is thought to be the trigger for bass to begin feeding. Yet they will still feed in water temperatures of 7.5C, although probably less often since it takes longer to digest their food at this temperature.

When thinking about when bass fishing will really take off, I have always set more store by the time of year than water temperature (allowing for year-to-year variations), since this determines whereabouts the fish are in their annual cycle of movements – as the old saying goes, if the fish aren’t there you can’t catch them.

But once they are there, the water temperature may make them more, or less active, and make their food take longer, or shorter, to digest so that feeding will take place less or more often. Rising water temperatures may also make their inshore food more active – whether this makes them more attractive to bass is uncertain, but it will make them grow faster, providing a bigger meal for a hungry bass.

Bass surveys

We have just begun our 2021 juvenile bass surveys in Cornwall. In May and June, we’re looking for juveniles from last year, or earlier. This helps to support our assessment of the previous year’s spawning. However, since our surveys were severely curtailed by Covid last year, we weren’t able to draw any conclusions about the strength of the 2020 class, and the work we are doing now will be our main opportunity to assess this.

Our latest survey results were encouraging, which is a good sign for the strength of the 2020 class.

With regard to this year’s bass spawning, I’m a little concerned about how well the larvae and fry will have grown, given the cooler temperatures we’ve had recently, and how many will reach our coast and estuaries this summer, given the run of easterlies we had a few weeks ago. We’re keeping our fingers crossed, but we won’t know until we start looking for the ‘0’ groups in August.

All the best, and tightlines.

 

My buildup for the bass fishing season ahead was given a sudden boost by news of Cornwall angler Jordan Griffiths’ superb 10lb 5oz bass, which can be seen in the featured image above.

What a fantastic achievement by Jordan, who’s not been fishing long. “After a year and half of fishing can say I’ve caught a fish that I will possibly never beat, I’m over the moon!! ” There’s many an angler (myself included) who have yet to land the magic ‘double’ after fishing a lot longer than that, so well done Jordan.

He caught the fish on bait – squid and cart. If, like me, you’re unfamiliar with ‘cart’,  it’s made from the insides of a brown crab.  Jordan cuts open the squid, puts a small amount of cart inside the squid, and binds it together with bait elastic.

Jordan’s is not the first big bass I’ve heard of being caught at this time of year in Cornwall, but they’re not exactly commonplace. These fish are probably making their way back to their summer feeding grounds. Some may not have spawned yet, and a bass the size of Jordan’s could contain around 2 million eggs, so well done to Jordan for returning her to the sea.

Great to be by the sea again

Over the last few weeks I’ve been getting ready for the coming season – checking out rods and reels, topping up on bits of tackle etc, in anticipation of the ‘stay at home’ Covid requirement coming to an end on March 29th.

The day itself coincided with some very big tides, so some razor collecting was on the cards. If you’ve never done this, have a go – it’s great fun, and they make superb bass bait (and eating – apparently).

It was wonderful, driving to the coast and being by the sea again, especially on such a beautiful spring day; a real tonic for lockdown blues. I used to be able to collect enough razors for the season in one go, but not now. So I was off again the next day, to another venue. I should have enough to last a while now, and there’s another set of suitable tides for collecting at the end of this month.

While in bait collecting mode, I decided to check my crab traps out. This was mainly to clear them out, after silting up over the winter, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the spring peel had already started. And I landed a schoolie on one the other night – my first bass of the year.

 

Can fish feel pain?

A recent news item from the Angling Trust contained a reference to a paper entitled “Can fish really feel pain”, which concludes “fishes are unlikely to experience pain”. Not long after this, I watched the “Seaspiracy” film (more about this later) which also raises this subject. Wanting to know more about this difficult and controversial subject, I did a literature search.  I found this more recent paper (among others) entitled “Evolution of nociception and pain: evidence from fish models”, which concludes that “it is highly likely that fish experience pain”. So there seems to be conflicting messages out there, and the fact is that it is impossible to provide a definitive answer to this question, since fish are unable to communicate directly with us.

If we accept that fish may have the hardware to experience pain, does this mean they actually feel it, in relation to angling activities? It’s not as simple as yes or no  – different parts of the body may have different pain thresholds. Being able to feel pain is held out as a good adaptation, which allows animals to avoid injury. But what if this were to put a fish at a disadvantage? Fish eat all manner of spikey objects, and if they felt pain in their mouth this would surely discourage them from doing so, potentially leading to starvation.

I well remember hooking a good fish, only to lose it in a snag. A little later, my fishing partner hooked, and landed a bass of about 5lb – with my hook and elastic band in it’s throat! Clearly this fish had not been put off by its encounter with my hook, and me pulling for a break.

No doubt the debate will rumble on…………

Seaspiracy

This Netflix film is quite a difficult watch in parts. One of the standout features is the damage being done to the planet by commercial fishing. Equally disturbing is the apparently passive acceptance of this by some marine conservation groups. I experienced this myself, when raising concerns about immature bass being caught in gill nets with too small a mesh size.

Feeling the pressure

Another excellent article from Alan Bulmer “How fish use their later line” contains some useful lessons for the lure angler.

A fish’s lateral line senses pressure waves, but it seems that this is only efficient over short distances (less than one body length). “Experiments have also shown that fish rely on sound and sight to detect prey and approach it whereas the final strike and catching of the prey is mostly based on the lateral line.” “When the water clarity is poor, or in low light, the importance of the lateral line in locating prey becomes critical.” So presumably your lure needs to be passing quite close to a fish for it to be detected in the dark, or in coloured water, since sight is much reduced and sound pressure waves cannot be perceived by the lateral line.

“Torpedo and arrow body shapes give off less pronounced oscillations when moving through the water than sinuous eel like shapes.” Does this mean that soft plastics catch more bass at night? But that’s presumably not taking into account the good vibrations that many plugs give off. I’ve caught bass on both in the dark, although I tend to use soft plastics more now – mainly because I don’t have to worry about snags so much.

“Changing treble hooks for singles, replacing split rings or increasing the gauge of hooks used could completely change the pressure wave “fingerprint” and attractiveness of a particular lure.” I change the trebles on all my plugs to singles, and I’ve not noticed any effect on catches yet, other than perhaps losing the odd schoolie. I think it helps to get the weight of the singles + split rings as close as possible to the  original trebles + split rings, at least for shallow-diving plugs.

That’s it for this month folks. Tightlines to you all, and let’s hope one of those big girls come your way.