Author: Robin Bradley

We’re at that special time of year for bass anglers. We’re full of anticipation for the season ahead, our heads filled with plans to try this and that – a new style of fishing, a new lure or bait, new marks, or improving our personal best. You might be contemplating getting a new rod or reel, some new boots or clothing, and almost certainly some new lures.

Even though I know the bass fishing was less than spectacular last year, that sense of optimism I always feel at this time of year doesn’t desert me. Maybe things will be better this year; maybe I wasn’t fishing in the right places, or at the right times before? But perhaps my optimism is misplaced – only time will tell, but I’ll have a lot of enjoyment (or frustration!) finding out.

Plans for 2021

So here we go on the annual bass merry-go-round again. I think it’s important to have a rough idea of your aims for the year; not too prescriptive – remember you want to actually enjoy this! In my case this year will be about more time in estuaries, more time in the boat, and catching that double.

Of course, this year should hopefully see things improving with the Covid situation, allowing a return to (new?) normality eventually – fishing with friends without having to worry about infecting them (or being infected), not worrying about touching that gatepost, being able to travel as far as you like.

Roadmap

Vaccination is central to the Government’s roadmap out of the Covid situation. I had my first shot of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine on February 19th, and have the second one booked for May 7th. There was some initial delay, waiting for a call from the GP, but once I found out that they weren’t doing our cohort (5) it was plain sailing. The people at the local Pharmacy where Angela and I had the jab were very pleasant, and the whole system was very efficient. It was good to get vaccinated, but more than this, I was so proud of our marvellous scientists, healthcare staff, armed forces and volunteers.

From March 29th, people will no longer be legally required to stay at home, although travel should still be minimised wherever possible, and people should not be staying away from home overnight at this stage. I’m interpreting this to mean that I can make short journeys to the coast, with perhaps the odd longer one thrown in as well.

Very fortuitously, this is the very time when I normally look to start bassing again. The fishing isn’t pretty at this time, often involving long, fruitless hours on cold nights, hoping to intercept a big fish returning to its summer feeding grounds. Some very large bass have been caught at this time, so it’s worth sticking it out if you can.

The dangers of fishing

Fishing can be a hazardous business. Every year we hear of the tragic loss of an angler. Watch this moving video about Tyler Westlake’s sad demise.  Please make a donation to the RNLI to help continue their vital work.

Take action on gill nets

One of the reasons, perhaps the main one, for last year’s poor fishing has to be the amount of gill netting going on. Early January saw the aggregating and pre-spawning bass being hammered once again. I often wonder why it’s only bass anglers that seem to care about bass conservation, and what we can do to get the public involved in stopping things like gill netting.

Enter Whale and Dolphin Conservation, with their  campaign to reduce the cruel deaths of dolphins and other cetaceans from gill nets. Please take a minute to check this out and let the Government know what you think about gill nets.

Recent catches

I’m not hearing of much being caught locally at the moment. Mind you, I doubt there are many anglers actually fishing for bass. I suspect this is down to a combination of poor catches at this time in previous years, and less comfortable weather to fish in. It will be interesting to see if the situation changes as more anglers fish through the winter, which I suspect is already starting to happen.

One thing of relevance here is the number of pilchards around. Large numbers were seen on the North Coast at the end of January, and on the South Coast during February. So there’s plenty of food for the bass which haven’t gone off to spawn.

Distribution and growth of bass

I obtained this useful map showing the distribution of bass from the NWIFCA website (with thanks).

It’s interesting to note how far north (Norway) and south (Morocco) they can be found.

The late Don Kelley tells us in his book Life with Bass that bass grow faster on the Biscay coast (about 50% faster by weight). He also notes that in the overall range (of bass distribution), the fastest growth occurs in the Mediterranean, and that a bass of 7 years old caught at Sete in southern France weighed 7lb – in the UK this fish would weigh about 2lb!

Said Elhabchi, fishing off the Morocco coast, caught an enormous bass of 11.5kg (~25lb) back in 2014. This fish was 24 years old. A UK bass of 10lb  would be about 20 years old, so you can see just how fast Said’s fish had grown!

Otters on the coast

Otters seem to be having something of a resurgence. I always pictured them in freshwater streams, but an interesting article from Roseland Online notes that they can move between rivers, estuaries and the sea, and their diets include marine fish such as bennies and gobies, and crabs.

An evening with Cornwall IFCA

Many thanks to the Angling Trust for hosting a recent online event with Sam Davis from Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority. Sam noted that communication with anglers could be improved, and this meeting was a useful step in the right direction.

Sam told us about the fisheries management and research work which CIFCA undertakes, and about the limitations they have to operate within.  It must be difficult trying to manage fisheries with such limited resources, trying to meet the sometimes competing needs of different stakeholders.

Yet I cannot help feeling frustrated by the glacial pace at which change seems to happen under CIFCA’s leadership with respect to bass. And Sam’s attempts to manage expectations worked well; nothing I heard from her gave me any confidence that bass would gain any meaningful protection from coastal netting anytime soon. It was so heartening to see the Estuarine nets bylaw introduced in 2018, but since then things have stalled.

I also came away feeling that anglers as a stakeholder group are not given sufficient weight. Yes, we understand that commercial fishermen have to make a living from the sea, but so do lots of angling businesses. In 2019 there were around 12,000 fishers working on UK registered commercial fishing vessels, landing fish with a value of £987 million. In comparison, on average 823,00 UK residents (aged 16 and over) went sea angling in the years 2015-2017  with a total economic impact of £1.94 billion and supporting 16,300 jobs in 2017.

And why is it assumed that angling is less important than commercial fishing – how would people feel if they were picking blackberries and someone pushed them out of the way because they wanted to collect them for money?

That’s all for this month folks.

Tightlines, and good luck for the season ahead.

Here we are in mid-February. We’re in the midst of another lockdown, the weather is misbehaving, and for most of us bass fishing is a little way off yet.  But let’s look on the bright side – things are improving on the Covid front, the days are getting longer and spring is just around the corner (March 1st to be precise, or 20th if you go by the astronomical seasons).

Walking solo

At least we can get out for our daily ‘exercise’. It seems really odd though – not being accompanied by my best friend Toby. This is the first winter since he passed away, and I miss him so. I’m getting out every day though – rain, shine or brass monkeys. I’m staying local, walking from home, and I’m fortunate to have a good variety of routes to take, many bringing back memories of the old boy.

Missing the coast

At this time of year I’d normally be out exploring new marks, or just enjoying favourite walks on our wonderful coast, making a day of it in the sunshine. But of course that’s out of the question at the moment.  I do miss the coast, but this is a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things, and hopefully it won’t be long before we can travel further afield again.

Catches

I’m not fishing myself at the moment; not that I could if I wanted to, with the huge seas we’ve had recently. I do very little fishing in February as a rule – perhaps just the occasional trip if the weather is kind, just to test the water, so to speak. I’ve been keeping myself busy though, spending my time preparing a talk, and writing stuff for BASS.

I am hearing of occasional anglers getting out recently though. Danny Richards has been getting some bass. One session earlier this month he and a mate caught 28 between them, mostly smallish, on bait. That he was catching so many bass at this time of year is interesting, particularly when some of the 2lbers were running with roe. This suggests to me that either these fish were very late to migrate, or that there might be an inshore spawning area nearby.

Bass are thought to spawn mainly in the western end of the English Channel, and off North Cornwall, but there may well be other areas, and these may be changing with global warming, since water temperature is important for spawning success.

Beast from the East?

The very low temperatures and strong E/SE winds blowing from Scandinavia we’ve had recently are reminiscent of the ‘Beast from the East’ of 2018. Fortunately this one doesn’t seem quite as ‘beastly’ as the last – at least in terms of duration. This is just as well, since the tiny basslets from last year’s spawning don’t do well in prolonged (more than about 3 weeks) very cold spells. I’ve been watching the forecast with more than little trepidation recently. This is also a crucial time for bass spawning, so let’s hope we don’t see too many more easterly blows like we’ve had of late.

Reading beaches

The seemingly featureless nature of beaches can  make them hard places to fish consistently. But although these features, or structures, may not be as obvious as those on rocky shorelines, they are there.

I’m indebted to a Facebook commenter for bringing Rich Troxler to my attention. For those who have not seen this previously, his video “Reading The Beach – Sandbars, Troughs, Dips – Let The Water Tell You Where to fish” really gives a great insight into how to improve your catches from beach fishing.

Bass Minimum Landing Size

I must draw your attention to a superb article from Malcolm Gilbert entitled The Bass Minimum Landing Size Debacle. You can access this via the BASS blog.

Malcolm makes some very powerful points about the painfully slow progress in bringing about the current MCRS of 42cm, and the folly of years of heel dragging by the commercials.

Two points struck me in particular: (i) we still need to increase the MCRS further (to at least 48cm) to give most female bass a chance to spawn at least once before being harvested, and (ii) why has it been left to anglers to fight for the MCRS to be increased – where are the Conservation bodies in this?

The more widely Malcolm’s document is seen, the more likely it is that support for a further increase in the MCRS is gained, so please share with others; I have made a start by sending a copy to my MP.

Ikigai

I recently gave a talk (on Zoom) on bass fishing to a local U3A (University of the third Age) group. Commenting at the end of the talk, the Chairman, Dr Roy Fisher, spoke about Ikigai, the Japanese concept of finding purpose in life, and its association with longevity. It’s what gets you up in the morning, and keeps you going. Having a hobby that you’re really into is good for ikigai, and the Chairman thought my talk demonstrated that I had plenty of it!

Fishing is something that appeals to all ages, and because it can be practiced in many different settings, it’s possible to carry on doing it into later life; I’m certainly planning on going fishing for a good few years yet!

That’s all for this month folks; thanks for reading. Keep safe, and let’s hope things improve in time for the early bass run. In the meantime, why not pick up a copy of my book to while away an hour or three; you can see an electronic preview of this here.

 

After a stop-start summer I was really looking forward to a lengthy spell of good bass fishing through the autumn and into winter. Well, basically it just didn’t happen. I managed quite a few trips right up until the end of the year, in between the storms, but the fish were hard to find – in fact the last bass I caught was on December 2nd.

So what happened to all the bass? You don’t have to look far to see what is the most likely cause. The amount of illegal netting for bass going on down here in Cornwall (which will have implications for stocks in other areas too) has been exposed by Save Our Sea Bass. Commercial overfishing has had an impact on stocks, and therefore on anglers’ catches, over the years; this may well have reached a tipping point in Cornwall, given what I, and other local anglers, have seen in 2020.

Diary review

This is where reality sets in – where we separate fact from impression! Going through my 2020 diary, I see that 62% of my 128 trips were blanks, and I managed just 118 bass from the remainder. The best of these was a modest 61cm, accompanied by just a handful of fish in the mid-late 50’s. It didn’t help that I lost the best fish of the year, a real bruiser which took a peeler crab, at my feet in October! August was my best month, accounting for 34 fish, including most of the ‘larger’ fish. Perhaps the only highpoint of the year was improving my estuary fishing.

It felt like 2020 had been the worst year I could recall, but when I went back to my 2019 diary, I was surprised by what I found. For a similar number of trips (110), I’d had a similar percentage of blanks (65%), but had actually caught fewer fish (87). Why then did it feel like 2020 had been such a poor year?

The increased number of fish caught in 2020 (even this was modest) was consistent with slightly more trips than in 2019, but there was a big difference in the number of ‘quality’ fish caught. Whereas I only managed one fish over 60cm in 2020, in 2019  I caught 11, including 2 at 71cm (excluding my Guernsey fishing).

Some of this may have been down to a reluctance to fish further afield at times due to Covid, and a fair amount of experimenting with estuary marks, but these results are nonetheless pretty concerning.

Getting bigger

Going by the number of 60cm+ fish that  were around in 2019, I was expecting to see decent numbers of 65+cm fish last year, the fish having put on an extra year’s growth. I was also hoping there might be a realistic chance of a double, given that the 70cm fish which seemed to be cropping up regularly in catch reports later in the year would have grown to mid 70’s+

But Simon Toms, Cornish Federation of Sea Anglers fish recorder, notes that only 7 bass over 7lb were recorded from the shore, with the biggest just over 8lb. This despite a lot of anglers fishing for bass in good conditions (before the weather deteriorated in the autumn), who also noted the lack of larger bass. On the bright side, Simon notes that there were good numbers of 3 and 4lbers around.

Natural causes

It’s important to take a balanced view in these situations, and consider what else might be contributing to the picture. Are natural causes also playing a part?

The hoped-for boost in catches from migrating fish in late Oct, and again in mid Dec, didn’t materialise. There were reports of large shoals of bass further east in early December, and commercials seemed to be getting lots of bass in nets in Cornwall around this time, but this didn’t translate into improved catches for anglers. These bass were often stuffed with pilchards.

Bass will follow pilchards, and if you can intercept these baitfish, you could have a bass bonanza. Mostly though, the pilchards and the bass will be out of the shore angler’s reach, except perhaps when there’s a good onshore blow to push the pilchards in. Even boat anglers will struggle, trying to compete with all that natural bait, and with bass completely full, and not able to feed again until they have digested their last meal.

Simon Toms comments on a serious lack of mackerel close inshore from July to November last year, and thinks there is a link between this and the fewer big bass we saw. The regular occurrence of tuna close inshore may have had a bearing on both the presence of mackerel, and of  bass – either indirectly, by pushing their food source further out, or directly by the need to avoid these large predators.

A measure of success

With my diary review in mind, it’s interesting to think about what constitutes successful bass fishing to each of us. I don’t get too hung up on numbers of fish (unless of course we’re talking big ones!), but rather I think in terms of the number of successful sessions I’ve had in any given season. These might include sessions where I’ve caught half a dozen 2-3lbers, or at least one fish over 4lb. Some will think this is a pretty meagre measure of success, and my sights have lowered over the years as the quality of bass fishing has declined. Even by this yardstick my bass fishing in 2020 was poor, with only 9 successful trips. Red-letter days, with the landing of an 8lb+ fish, are becoming as rare as rocking horse poo!

But success isn’t just about results. If I happen to hit the mother lode, catching numbers of fish, in quick succession, rather than cash in, I use the opportunity to prove a new lure or bait. This usually results in fewer fish caught than if I had stuck with whatever I was using. But it can also lead to gaining confidence (or not) in new things, thereby potentially enhancing your overall fishing success and pleasure, and avoiding wasted time on things that don’t work for you.

Other measures of success include discovering new marks and new methods, or just simply enjoying time spent fishing in beautiful places and inspiring conditions, time which burns itself into your memory. Trying new marks can also result in fruitless sessions and lower catch figures, but this is a price I’m prepared to pay – up to a point.

Talking of measures of success, why not pick up one of the new BASS competition tapes?

Another year, another lure

I don’t think I could be described as a ‘tackle tart’,  but I do have a penchant for lures. It’s not like I’m addicted or anything (well maybe slightly, to one or two), but I love the search for the perfect lure that casts well, can be fished through anything or in any situation, is reasonably priced and catches huge bass every cast just using a straight retrieve. OK, there’s no such lure (if there is please let me know!), so I’m continually looking at different types of lures for bass fishing, hoping to discover (or rediscover) ones which will improve my results, and are best suited to the varied and changing way I fish.

I almost feel guilty, and a little fickle, in saying that my ‘go to’ soft plastic, the good old DoLive faced stiff competition from the Swimsenko in 2020. I started using this again, after reading a post on Mike Ladle’s blog; a fish on the very first cast and I was hooked, never mind the fish! I noticed that the paddle tail on this lure seemed to gee the fish up on the very small tides, when the DoLive seemed to struggle, so it’s now first choice at such times.

I’m generally late coming to the party in relation to lures. The SF125 is a case in point. I took pity on the one which had been languishing in the fishing drawer since my Ireland days. I  was repaid with almost instant success when I took it for a swim back in the summer, and it’s become a regular when fishing in roughish conditions in daylight – single barbless hooks and all. Likewise the classic Chug Bug, now adorned with two big singles, has finally proved its worth for me.

On a more contemporary note, 2020 saw me catching my first fish on the Autowalker 115S, the Dark Sleeper and, with thanks to angling buddy Stuart Martinez,  Mishna eels. Who knows what I’ll discover in 2021; I have a feeling that needlefish lures might make an appearance.

Captain Derek Goodwin MBE

I can’t close without a word about my good friend Derek Goodwin. As readers of my book will know, Derek is something of a legend, an inspiration to us all, for his hard work and dedication to conducting juvenile bass surveys over many years in Cornish estuaries. I was delighted to learn that he had been awarded the MBE for this work. I have been pleased to help Derek since 2013, and I can say that this award is richly deserved. I know that Derek is absolutely delighted, and so pleased that this important work has been recognised in this way.

Roll on next season

Well, that’s me done fishing for now – time to hunker down for the rest of the winter I think. Let’s hope this year’s fishing is better than last!

I hope you and your family stay safe, and that things get back to something approaching normality just as soon as possible.

Featured image from Pixabay

In my last blog I spoke about the weather putting the kibosh on the fishing. Well, now that the weather is playing ball, and we have some lovely conditions, the fish seem to have disappeared; such are the frustrations of bass angling!

It’s not quite as bad as that, as you’ll see from my ramblings below, but it certainly feels that way. Not that this is totally unexpected though, going by past catches at this time of year. Is it something to do with migration? Is it something to do with the number of pilchards around? But then that doubt starts to creep in – has the effect of commercial fishing on the bass stocks reached a tipping point?

Netting carnage

I would love to be telling you in my next (January) blog that I’ve had a brilliant end to my bass angling season. But I’m not holding my breath, especially after hearing recent reports of big catches of fish by gillnetters locally.

These fish are aggregating and migrating ahead of  overwintering offshore. They follow a well-known path every year, which puts them at the mercy of those who would intercept them for commercial gain. I have nothing against people earning a living, but this mass slaughter seems like crass stupidity to me. Not only is it doing great damage to bass stocks, the flooding of the market that results makes the price obtained go through the floor. If nothing else, please have respect for this noble fish, and don’t reduce it to being sold for pet food.

And aren’t the current bass regs supposed to stop people targeting bass with gillnets anyway? I’ve already written to Cornwall IFCA about this; please do the same. Save Our Sea Bass have all the info here, and have made it easy for you do this. And remember, this isn’t just a  Cornish issue – these fish come from far and wide.

I can recall being very depressed each winter by reports of huge catches of bass in the pair trawl fishery. Thankfully this has now been stopped, which shows that things can be improved. But for this improvement to be fully realised and maintained, this annual slaughter of migrating and prespawning fish by gill netters must go the same way. The current ban on all commercial methods of catching bass in February and March must be extended locally for gill netters to cover the peak months (Nov, Dec and Jan for Cornwall). We know that spawning fish are making their way back up the coast in April, so that should be included as well.

A lousy bass

Rob Franklin caught a very nice 74cm bass recently.  Going by its length, this fish would have been estimated at 9lb+ using the BASS tape and yet it weighed 7.5lb. This is odd, since bass are usually fattening up at this time of year, and if anything can weigh more than the tape weight suggests.

One possible explanation might be the louse that Rob found on one of the fish’s fins (not visible on the photo above), which looked “like a giant wood lice”. He sent me a photo of one like it:

The Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) identified the louse in this photo as belonging to the family Caligidae.

Is it possible that this thing, feeding on the fish’s flesh, could account for the loss of weight? PML think that low numbers of lice are unlikely to cause significant issues to the host, so this seems unlikely.

Rob says that these lice have been found in the mouths and bellies of cod and whiting locally, leading to the conclusion that they have been eating fish with lice attached.

Rob wonders if the presence of these lice could be linked to reduced numbers of wrasse, which have been harvested as ‘cleaner fish’ for salmon farms, but Mike Ladle (personal communication) thinks this is unlikely.  Whatever is happening here, it will be interesting to see if more reports like Rob’s are forthcoming; Ash Gower recently caught a whiting with two lice attached to its tongue. Thanks to Rob and Ash for their observations.

Cream of Cornish

Angling pal Paul Wallace caught a cracking bass of a smidge under 8lb (7-15-11), one of the best bass registered with the CFSA so far this year.

Paul’s fish, a new Personal Best, was 73cm when caught, and weighed 8lb 5oz, so was nearer the weight predicted by the BASS tape (8-12) or the CFSA chart (8-8), than Rob Franklin’s fish. However, by the time that Paul was able to get his fish officially weighed, 12 hours later, it had lost over 5oz, and its length had shrunk by 4cm. The fish was stored in the fridge, in a plastic bag during the intervening time.

The only reason that Paul kept his fish was that it had taken the needlefish lure well down, and this could not be easily removed.  He was distraught that it couldn’t be returned, but he only keeps the occasional bass, and this one made a good feed for his family. When gutting the fish, Paul noted that its stomach was completely empty; it must have been one hungry bass – perhaps explaining why it took the lure so readily.

How big was that bass?

Both Rob and Paul’s fish got me thinking about the whole issue of how we gauge the size of our bass. Many bass anglers release most of their fish these days, and indeed we are not allowed to retain any bass at certain times of the year (such as now). The use of tapes has become increasingly popular in bass angling, and allows us to get a quick estimate of the size of the fish without having to weigh it. This is more convenient for the angler, easily documented with photographic evidence, and speeds up the return of the fish – important in maximising its post-release survival.

Yet we know that the weights produced by tapes/charts tend to be based on average fish, and may overestimate the weight early in the season, when many fish are thin and spent after the winter and spawning, and underestimate it late in the season when they are fattening up for the winter.

The traditional measure of a fish’s size used by anglers is its weight. Although I suspect this may be changing slowly, we still talk about size in terms of lbs and oz (in the UK), with the magic ‘ten-pounder’ being the holy grail for many bass anglers.

But, as discussed above, the weight of a fish can fluctuate markedly; it will vary over the year as its reproductive organs wax and wane, and if Paul’s fish had swallowed a big mackerel just before he caught it, he could well have been landing a fish nudging double figures. There is a case to say that length is a truer measure of a fish’s size, since this is less influenced by such variations, so should we now adopt this as our default? At least we would all be competing (if that’s what floats your boat) on a level playing field. And in these days, when it is increasingly difficult to catch really big bass, perhaps we should lower our sights slightly, and aim for a ’75er’ (about 9 1/2lb) as the new ‘holy grail’ (it’s also easier than saying 76.5lber!)?

It was bigger  when I caught it!

Seeing how Paul’s fish shrunk and lost weight so quickly, means that he could have lost out to a freshly-caught fish in any competition which requires fish to be brought to the scales at the the end of the weekend. Surely this is an additional reason to consider catch and release competitions, with the fish being measured at the time of capture?

The current minimum retention size (Minimum Conservation Reference Size) for bass is 42cm.  It’s worth thinking about what might happen if your catch was  ever inspected by an enforcement officer – has your fish shrunk below the  MCRS? Granted, it’s unlikely to have shrunk by much during a short shore session, and you would hope that a degree of latitude would be given in such circumstances, but it’s probably better to err on the side of caution when deciding if a fish can be legally kept. I wouldn’t keep a fish under 48cm anyway – that way I know it’s had at least one chance to spawn.

Recent catches

As I indicated above, things have been very quiet for me in the last few weeks on the bass angling front, and from what I’m hearing, things are pretty quiet elsewhere in Cornwall. Mind you, there are still a few showing on the coast, and the odd good fish is turning up in estuaries.

I’ve had a couple of notable sessions while beach fishing with bait. One night, in mid-November, we were catching lots of very small (32cm) bass on lug and razor; I did try a whole squid, thinking to tempt a bigger one, but it got snaffled by one of the tiddlers.

I took some scales from one of these small bass, which showed it was 3 years old, so from the 2017 year class. Our surveys in the Fal and Helford river suggested this was not a particularly good year class, but perhaps it was better than we first thought. Not that these fish are necessarily from those two estuaries – they could be moving along the coast, searching for an area to settle after leaving their nursery area. At any rate, they seem to have moved through now.

It looks like my Guernsey pals are enjoying some good fishing at the moment, with Simon De La Mare and Bryn Le Poidevin having some good sport. How I wish I was with them!

Good luck to Simon on his new guiding venture. I can vouch for his excellent company, and this nice bass he put me onto demonstrates his extensive knowledge of local marks.

Simon is hoping to provide the complete package, including accommodation. If you’d like to contact him for more information, you can reach him on 07781 188444.

Old mark, new perspective

On another occasion recently, we were catching fewer fish, but of a slightly better stamp. When you regularly fish a mark, patterns emerge, or are learned from others, about the best state of tide and conditions to fish it. Over the years you tend to stick to these patterns, in order to maximise your catches, with perhaps just the occasional, half-hearted attempt to fish outside these.

One of the benefits of fishing with other people is that they can make you look at old marks from a new perspective. I fished such a mark with Stuart Martinez, spurred on by his own experiences there.

It wasn’t long before a plump schoolie on crab signalled that Stuart was onto something, and when I landed this 61cm fish on squid, I was convinced.

So, after years (decades) of fishing the mark,  I realised that I had been missing out by not fishing at other stages of the tide, which potentially could produce bigger fish.

Picking up

Things are just starting to pick up. Stuart Martinez caught this 59cm fish recently on a Swimsenko lure, just as it was getting light:

I managed to land this 55cm fish among a catch of 3 one afternoon:

It was notable for several reasons: it was a real fatty, not unlike others I have caught from the same mark at this time of year, and it was one of the palest bass (the photo doesn’t show this well) I’ve ever seen – almost like a different species. Bass can take on many shades of colour, from almost black, through blues and greens to, like this one,  almost white. The ability to do this allows the fish to blend in with its surroundings, to avoid predators and sneak up on their prey.  As Mike Ladle says (personal communication), “fish usually change colour quite quickly, minutes rather than hours or days.” I caught this fish over sand, surrounded by reefy ground.

Interestingly, the only plug the fish were interested in that day was a red-belly Nabarone (fitted with 3 x size 1 singles) – the Feed Shallow, SF125 and Komomo II just didn’t seem to work. The other thing to note is that these fish were caught in an easterly wind – further confirmation that bass can be caught in these (at least when they’re onshore).

So, if you live in areas like Cornwall, it’s important not to give up just yet; if things follow the usual pattern, we could get some of the best fishing of the year, right into January (netters permitting). If you do go out, with the rough seas we can get at this time of year, it’s so important to keep safe. Have a look at the excellent safety advice provided by the RNLI for anglers and if you can afford to, why not make a donation to them – after all, you never know when you might need them.

Thankyou

That’s it for this month, and this year, folks. Thanks so much for reading my blogs; I hope they have  informed and/or entertained in some small way. I’ve certainly enjoyed writing them, and it’s given me a way of continuing the story of my book. For those who may be considering buying this, please have a look at the reviews it’s received, including one from Mike Ladle which I’ve recently added.

I hope you have a good Christmas, wherever, and with whoever, you’re spending it. Let’s hope we can all get back to normal next year. Keep safe.

Tightlines,

 

Featured image: Stuart Martinez.

 

I don’t know about you, but 2020 is turning out to be a bass fishing disaster for me. The weather seems to have been even more unfriendly than usual this autumn, severely cramping my style just when I usually catch my best fish of the year. Let’s hope the current quiet spell of weather lasts, although the fish seem to have disappeared from my marks at the moment. I’ve even managed to break a favourite rod wrestling with a pile of weed!

And like many others this year, my fishing opportunities have been very disrupted. What with the late start due to the first coronavirus lockdown,  a good chunk of time away visiting family during the summer Covid window, the recent passing of Toby, and of course the bad weather, trips have been fewer than in normal years. And just to cap it off,  the chances of catching that lunker seem much reduced this year, with few big bass being caught so far in Cornwall.

And with the Angling Trust advising us to fish locally during this second lockdown, some of my big fish marks will be inaccessible to me for at least the next month. But it’s great that we can fish, and we are indebted to the Angling Trust for facilitating this.

It’s blowing a gale out there!

Over the years I’ve tried to give myself as many options as possible in the event of stormy weather. There’s usually somewhere I can fish, especially now that I’m increasingly turning to estuaries. Yet even these are not completely protected from the strong winds from the west or southwest we get at this time of year. Sure, you don’t get the huge waves you do on the coasts, but casting into headwinds is still a problem, and the leaf and other debris which these autumnal winds bring can also be challenging.  If any inspiration was needed to fish in estuaries, have a look at this amazing video which James Lean sent me.

Even if you can find a relatively sheltered spot on the coast, there’s often still a deflected swell present.  I suspect this puts bass off feeding over very rough ground. You may still catch them on sandy beaches, but even here the fish may be well out to sea in very rough weather. Either that, or some may seek the relative shelter of estuaries, so if you can find somewhere out of the wind it could be worth trying these.

In any event, safety is the overriding consideration, and I certainly would NOT go near the coast In conditions like we’ve had recently, which have sadly claimed lives.

Where have all the bass gone?

For bass anglers in some parts of the Country, the bass fishing season has already come to a close. For others, like me living in Cornwall, there’s a good chance of catching a bass or two, including some decent ones, right up to the end of January. Yet even here you could be forgiven for thinking that the season is over, going by the poor catches of late.

This is a familiar conundrum – have the fish been hammered by the commercials, or is there a more natural cause? Are the fish offshore chasing herrings etc? Have they been predated upon by the increasing number of seals? A grey seal needs about 11lb of food per day on average. They feed on various species of fish, and on sandeels, but they are not averse to the odd octopus (and presumably squid and cuttle) and even lobsters, so they are not entirely dependent on fish. Mind you, just the other day, a young seal popped up with a bass in its mouth while I was fishing, as if to say “this is how it’s done mate!” Note that they don’t feed every day though, and during the breeding season (August to December in Cornwall) they may not feed for prolonged periods. The increasing numbers of tuna which are coming to our coasts, presumably following the baitfish, may well be having an effect on the local bass populations (either by displacement or predation).

Migration

One further explanation for the absence (or presence) of fish may be the migration of bass. They move south and west in the autumn, heading for overwintering and pre-spawning areas in the western English Channel. There’s a good chance that the fish in your area will already be on the move by now.

Depending on where you fish, this can either signal the end of your bass fishing season, or a temporary pause until migrating fish from areas further north or east make their way past your shores.

In Cornwall, the ‘local’ or ‘resident’ fish stocks seem to be boosted by the arrival of the first main run of migrating fish towards the end of October, potentially giving some very good fishing. Depending on the level of stocks in general, both numbers and size of fish may be increased.

Like most things in nature, the timing of these events may vary, and it may be that there is a gap between the local fish departing and the migrating ones arriving, giving one possible reason why catches are poor when we are expecting them to be good. Have recent storms disrupted their usual migration patterns?  All this just serves to illustrate that sea anglers are fishing in a highly dynamic situation.

Last good session

The last good session I had was in the SE’lies in mid October, where I had 8+ fish (but biggest only about 3lb) on lures. The day after this I lost a real bruiser, while fishing with crab in rough conditions. The fish was really thumping as I brought her in. I had to negotiate my way down some rocks, using one hand to steady myself, while she tore off to the right. As if this wasn’t enough, I had to contend with some quite big wave surges. Just when I thought she was nearly home and dry, everything went slack! Since then the fishing’s been poor, and the frustration of that moment is being reinforced on a regular basis!

 

Do you only catch bass?

My brother Nick asked me the other day if I only catch bass. I have been asked this question a few times before, or variations of it, such as “how do you know you’re just going to catch bass?”

The answer, of course, is that we don’t. Depending on what’s about, or the way we fish, we might catch a few garfish, pollack, wrasse or even the occasional sea trout when lure fishing, or wrasse (in the day), dogfish/huss, rockling, conger or ray when legering.

And yet, despite these ‘bycatches’, most of the time I catch mainly bass. If I wanted to restrict these bycatches further, I guess I would limit myself to lure fishing at night, but even then the occasional pollack might show its hand.

Catching big bass in the daytime

Bass fishing has always been thought to be better in the dark. When lure fishing first became popular, anglers realised that good catches of bass could be made in daylight, but this tended to be in the summer evenings or early mornings.

On several occasions, I  have encountered (but lost) seriously large bass during the daytime. I’m talking about the middle of the day, usually when I’ve only been fishing because I was on a fishing holiday, or fishing a competition, and I might as well go, as sit around twiddling my thumbs.

What brought this topic to mind was a recent article in Sea Angler magazine, describing Don Cook’s capture of his 17lb bass, a new Welsh record, in 1980. Fishing was just an afterthought, since Don’s main intention was to collect crabs for an evening session; he stuck his fishing gear in the car just on the off chance – good thing he did!

The question is, are these just flukes, or should we target the bigger fish during the middle of the day? Well, it makes you think – must be worth a try. About the only common denominator is that these fish were hooked in rough ground, so that’s where I would focus my efforts.

Don’t cast too far

The Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society have a great blog. A recent post serves as a useful reminder about not overcasting for bass, fishing in calm conditions and how good mackerel is as bait. The article describes big bass (8-12lb) being caught just one to two rod lengths out.

For sea anglers it can be very hard to convince yourself that bass will come in this close. To my good friend Richard Brandon, with his pike and carp fishing background, this comes naturally. His results, with several good bass taken while legering with squid/razor close in, have convinced me it works. For example, this one took a whole squid just 3 rod lengths out in a heavy sea.

4lb 8oz bass for Richard Brandon, caught only 3 rod lengths out.

Fish the water’s edge

It’s not just bait fishing that can work with a close-in approach. This video from Marcin Kantor shows how this can work for lure fishing as well. As Marcin says “fish the water’s edge and fish the features”. Casting in the open water will catch bass, but this is more dependent on coincidence, with the fish just happening to encounter your lure as it passes by.

Here today, gone tomorrow

Have you ever gone back to a mark the day after a blinding session, only to blank? I certainly have. There are many things that might explain this, but Alan Bulmer suggests in this article  on the excellent Active Angling New Zealand website, that fish digestion may play a particularly important role.

A sudden glut of food items may lead to fish gorging themselves to the extent that they may not feed for days afterwards. The length of time may depend on how long it takes the food to be digested, which in turn depends on the size of fish, the amount eaten and the water temperature. Furthermore, a change in water temperature, away from that which is optimal for digestion in any given species, can have a marked effect on food digestion times, going from hours to days, even to weeks.

Keeping an eye on sea temperatures is an important part of our bass fishing. I measure the water temperature where I am fishing on an ad hoc basis, and this usually ties in well with figures from well known websites. The sea temperature in Cornwall typically ranges from 9-16C over the course of the year, so even without knowing what the optimum temperature is for food digestion in bass, you can see how this could affect their feeding throughout the seasons. In estuaries this fluctuation in water temperature is likely to be even greater.

Bass surveys

Our bass survey programme this year has been very disrupted by Covid. We didn’t manage any ‘1’ group surveys at all, and the 0′ group surveys were limited to shore-based ones only – some of these on a trial basis. The few surveys we did manage to carry out were disappointing, in terms of numbers of ‘0’ groups, but it’s difficult to draw any definite conclusions about the strength of the 2020 class on the basis of such limited data.

Here’s a short description of this work.

That’s it for this month folks. If your season is over, I hope you’ve had a good one. If not, I hope the remainder sees you landing that new PB.

 

 

 

Any dog lover who’s lost one will know the pain this brings. And so it is with Toby, our wonderful golden retriever. After 15 years, we’ve had to say farewell to him.  He battled on with great stoicism, but in the end it was just too much for him. A true friend and much-loved member of the family, he will be sadly missed.

Look what Santa’s brought!

I can still recall the night my son stood on our doorstep with this bundle of golden cuteness in his arms.

Ben had collected Toby (registered name Kadaka Caricolake) from a breeder in Ivybridge on his way home for Christmas. He knew that we were missing our first retriever, Bouncer, and wanted to show his appreciation for helping him get through medical school. It was a wonderful surprise, and what a present Toby turned out to be – not just a pet who gave us so much pleasure and love, but the embodiment of what Ben had achieved, and his appreciation of our support.

Cheeky monkey

Like all puppies, Toby was a proper mischief maker, with a taste for carpet tiles and underlay! On his first trip to what turned out to be his favourite beach (Carne – on the Roseland peninsula in Cornwall), the little monkey got under an elderly gentleman’s feet, and nearly caused him to have a serious mishap – much to his displeasure!

People often ask when retrievers settle down – well from our experience it’s not until they get to about two. In the meantime be prepared for lots of naughtiness – including running off and jumping in someone else’s car boot!

Growing bond

With Ben and Sarah having left home, Toby helped to fill the gap they left, and became so much a part of mine and Angela’s lives. Like most retrievers, Toby was an outdoor dog. He was never happier than when on the beach, or walking through the woods or along the coast path.  In these, him and I had a shared passion, and the bond between us grew stronger and stronger, particularly without the constraints of work after I retired in 2013. We’d had family pets before, which of course were much-loved, but my friendship with Toby was somehow closer, and he became ‘my dog’, as Angela would say.

Unconditional love

Toby was always great company, and as good as gold (most of the time!). The unconditional love which dogs give makes you feel so good. He always had a cheerful, waggy greeting, bringing me his favourite toy when I got home,  putting a smile on my face and easing the problems of a day at work. He asked for nothing, save for food, drink and shelter, and gave everything, without complaint. He was a healing dog too, and I will forever remember how he helped me recover from a breakdown in 2012.

Going fishing with Toby

I started taking Toby fishing quite early on. It took him a little while to realise that I wasn’t casting lures out for him to retrieve, and that splashing around in the shallows doesn’t exactly help the fishing, but he got there. He used to get impatient, and if I wasn’t catching he would run over to my fishing partner and see how they were doing.

We had many fishing exploits together, and those who have fished with me, or read my book, will know that he became a bit of a fishing legend. He was the perfect fishing partner – he always wanted to go, never minded where to, and never gave marks away!

He always knew when a fishing trip was on, and if I didn’t take him he would sulk until I got home, taking himself upstairs and laying on some article of clothing with my scent on it.

Catch and keep

Toby didn’t believe in catch and release. On one occasion, I landed a bass, measured it, and took a few scales from it, before returning it to the water. As I did so, Toby pushed past me, and made a grab for the fish; he often does this, but usually they are much too quick for him!

On this occasion however, he was successful, and his head popped up with the bass hanging from his mouth – he looked very pleased with himself! I shouted at him to leave the fish, but he was having none of it, and promptly ran off up the beach.

I chased him, and was about to give up, when he placed it, ever so gently, on the sand. To my great surprise, the fish was still alive, and had not a mark on its body. Wasting no time, I took the fish back to the water and slipped it in for a second time, holding his Lordship off; amazingly it swam off, seemingly none the worse for its doggy encounter with the terrestrial world!

Handsome dog

I have so many wonderful memories of Toby. Take the day Toby was runner-up in the ‘most handsome dog’ contest at the Trewithen Country and Classics show in 2013. I have never entered Toby in anything, either before or since this. So many people said what a beautiful dog he was over the years (and did so until he died), so I couldn’t resist entering him, and it was all done in a spirit of fun in any case. When he was awarded second prize, I was as pleased as any ‘dad’ could be, and proudly walked him round to show off his posh rosette.

It was so hard to let Toby go, but he had a good, long life, and we were blessed that he spent it with us. He will be greatly missed, and leave a gaping hole in our lives. Our lovely boy will always be in our hearts, and will never be replaced.

 

The last few weeks have seen me on my travels, visiting family and snatching fishing opportunities at home and away, as and when they present themselves.

Together again

Like many who have family in other parts, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to be with loved ones. After negotiating our way through self-isolation, with an obligatory Covid test at the end of it, Angela and I were finally able to be with Ben and his family, including our two wonderful granddaughters, on Guernsey. It was so nice to see them again for the first time in nearly six months. And it was so good to experience the simple pleasures of hugs, handshakes, eating out, and going for a pint as the sun goes down, in the Covid-free environment on the island.

Time was precious, having already lost a week of our visit in self-isolation, and not being sure when we could be with them again, so the emphasis was firmly on family, rather than fishing. And very enjoyable it was too, with some lovely weather and lots of memories to treasure.

Seeing the Red Arrows is one of the highlights of summer for me, but I had given up hope of doing so in this strange year. So when they roared across St Peter Port, suddenly appearing from behind us, you couldn’t help but be inspired and moved.

Guernsey bassing

I did manage to squeeze in a couple of bassing trips with my Guernsey pals; I’m lucky to have such good anglers, and good friends to hook up with over there.

First up was a bait session with Bryn Le Poidevin. I had taken some frozen bluey along, which has produced good bass for me on Guernsey before, but when Bryn tempted me with some verm I was happy to use this instead – I’ve seen Bryn catch nice bass on this. It wasn’t long before a plump schoolie was rattling away on the line, and I’d caught my first bass on this bait.

Next up was a lure session with Simon De La Mare. Fishing Guernsey at night, moving over difficult terrain as the tide makes, calls for expert local knowledge, and I was glad of Simon’s expert guidance. Soft plastics were the order of the day – DoLives, Swimsenkos and Senkos, with a white DoLive finally accounting for another plump schoolie, after moving to a sandy bay in flat calm conditions.

Nipping out for a bass

Before heading off to Guernsey at the end of August the fishing back home was starting to pick up, with some enjoyable sessions, enhanced by valuable learning points.

I’ve never had a problem fishing neap (or ‘nip’ as they call them on Guernsey) tides, but on the very small ones I have come to the opinion that you’re better off fishing a lure with plenty of action, rather than a subtle lure like a DoLive Stick; I suspect the fish need this increased action/disturbance to gee them up on the smaller tides.  The tide on Thursday 13th August was at the bottom of the series, a very small  5.1m High Water (Newquay table). Despite fishing in good conditions, and at the optimum stage of tide in darkness, I could only manage one snatch and a couple of tentative bites on DoLives, Swimsenkos and Senkos, while Sam Wallace and friends caught numerous bass on aggressively worked surface plugs in daylight.

A couple of nights later, the tide had increased to 5.5m. This time I did catch – four bass (including a couple of 55/56cm), on a Swimsenko; the DoLives didn’t produce however. I’m left wondering if the Swimsenko’s paddle tail gave it the edge, in terms of lure action, on this (still quite small) tide height? Conditions were similar and the marks were in the same area.

Is your crab fresh enough?

Bait fishing a couple of nights later with Steve Ainsworth, I was enjoying some good sport, with a bite a cast on shore peeler crab. Steve however was having a lean time, and it became clear that the fish weren’t interested in his live sandeel or his two week-old crabs – as soon as he put one of my fresh (collected by me that morning) ones on he was straight into fish.

I ended up landing six, including three around the 57cm mark. One of these had taken the hook down too far (a risk when bait fishing with ‘J’ hooks). The hook could not be easily extracted, so I snipped the trace as close to the eye as possible. Alas, it was obvious that the fish wasn’t going to survive, and had to be despatched.

That fish has got worms

Interestingly, this fish had occasional tiny worms in its flesh. Steve had commented that fish he kept from this mark always had these worms, whereas he hadn’t noticed this in fish from other marks, so perhaps their presence is a marker for local stocks. Overall, it seems these are quite common in fish – one study found that 65-85% of bass can be infected with these anisakis worms (thanks to Mike Ladle for this reference), which they acquire by eating infected crustaceans. Eating raw or undercooked infected fish can lead to a parasitic infection in humans called Anisakiasis.

 

Getting back to prawns

I love using live prawns under a float for bass, but in recent times other methods have taken precedence. This is in part due to the effort of having to run a tank to keep them alive, which I have not done for several years. This limits you to using them as you collect them – in my case at low water in an estuary.

I recently came across an article in Sea Angler magazine, describing keeping live prawns in shallow trays in the fridge (at its warmest setting), filled with just enough water to cover them. A couple of such trays from the gardening section at B&Q did the job nicely. I filled one with water from my local estuary, and after allowing the water to adjust to the fridge temperature, I added a dozen or so medium-sized prawns. I changed the water after four days.

On day six the prawns were still live and kicking, so I decided to give them a swim on the coast that night. Using my standard 15g ‘Buldo’ float rig, complete with tip light fixed to the top, I cast out, eagerly anticipating this disappearing and shooting along, just under the surface, as a bass made off with the bait.

 

Alas there were few fish around that evening, but I did have a couple of really good takes. I missed both of these, and started wondering if the Varivas 1/0 circle hooks (simply tied onto the 15lb mono main line with the float adjusted to about 4ft above this) I was using in an attempt to reduce deep hooking were the case of the problem; Fish Locker  doesn’t seem to have any problems with Cox and Rawle 2/0 Matsu circles though.

Two old codgers who should know better?

It was foggy, very foggy. The sort of night I don’t like fishing on my own – especially where I had in mind. Just as well that Steve was up for it then. I had a sense of foreboding as we made our way down the cliff, with our headlight beams bouncing off the misty air, and attracting every moth in the vicinity.

All seemed to be going well when Steve landed a 6lber. In my haste to share in his success, I lost my footing and came down hard on both knees.

It’s funny how you assume you can just brush off these mishaps; fortunately all was well – not even a busted rod tip, but one day I know I won’t be so lucky. I thought that day had come when I was upended for a second time on the slippery rocks, hitting my lower back hard. Amazingly, I managed to avoid serious injury this time as well. Steve was just saying how I should get some boots like his, when he stumbled forward, nearly face-planting on his fishing box which was strewn across a rocky ledge.

The next day we both felt a bit sore in several places, but happily no bones were broken – just a few cuts and bruises. We reflected on the possible scenarios in the event of more serious injury, and determined that we should give our footwear some attention. Two old codgers we may be, but we’re not giving up on this mark just yet!

A classic surface lure proven

The Chug Bug (4 3/8″, 11cm) is a legendary surface lure, but for some reason I had never fully got to grips with it. Inspiration from Alan Vaughan, who has caught many good bass on it (and some big stripers) made me dust off one which was lurking in the draw of passed over lures, and vow to prove them.

Fishing in an east wind and a roughish sea, my first choice shallow-diving plugs weren’t producing. A switch to a black and chrome Chug Bug brought instant success.

Simply turning the reel handle one turn at a time is sufficient to get it spitting water out well enough for fish to notice it, even in these conditions.

The first of the three fish I caught on the Chug Bug felt odd when I was bringing it in. The cause was clear – the rear hook had become embedded in the fish’s flesh just above its eye. I have never been convinced of the need to flatten hook barbs – until now. I really struggled to get the hook out, and this can’t have been good for the fish. OK, it’s unusual to hook a fish in the flesh like this, and there isn’t usually a problem with lip-hooked fish, but I’m minded to start doing this now. Having made the change to single hooks, in the interests of increased post-release survival, the extra step of flattening the barbs with some pliers, even if of modest value, now seems logical. It might also increase the chances of the hook coming out in the event that your line breaks with the plug still in the fish’s mouth, not to mention those hook-in-finger accidents!

A new type of surface lure proven

The Autowalker 115s is a surface lure with a difference. It ‘walks the dog’ simply by using a medium speed, steady retrieve, without any rod action. It also casts like a rocket!

I acquired one of these (in the EMIL colour) a while ago, but had only given it cursory attention. Buoyed by my recent success with the Chug Bug, I decided now would be a good time to try to prove the Autowalker as well.

Despite shallow divers not working, the first cast with the Autowalker produced a knock; four fish later I was convinced – only small fish but that probably just reflects what was out there, rather than the lure’s fish-catching abilities. As if to prove the point, the next evening this hard-fighting 59cm bass took the Autowalker virtually as it landed; these things are lethal!

That’s all for this month folks. The fishing should be good over the next couple of months – as long as the weather doesn’t misbehave too much!

Tightlines.

Robin

PS I’ve had some more nice feedback on my book. If you’d like to see this please check out the book reviews page of my website.

The other night, I was returning from an enjoyable (and productive) bass fishing session. It was a warm end to a beautiful August day, and for a moment I was in another time, my mind filled with all those summery things you think about at this time of year – holidaying with family, barbecues on the beach, fishing with mates.

But then the reality hit me – this is not a normal summer. Such things are problematic, particularly if your loved ones live in another Country, and there’s a great big Corona cloud hanging over us all. But we carry on, making the best of things, hoping they get back to normal (or as near as can be) as soon as possible, and that our family and friends get through unscathed.

At least we can go bass fishing

For those who are fortunate enough to be able to get out fishing, this a chance to get away from the doom and gloom, and reconnect with familiar things, especially as things are starting to warm up.

No question that things are improving, with regular reports of good catches. Standing out among these is Jamie Strike’s absolute stunner of 12lb 12oz. Well done Jamie – superb angling! I would say ‘fish of a lifetime’, but he’s hoping it won’t be – he’s got his sights set on an even bigger one! You can read about the capture of this superb specimen in the next BASS magazine – of course you’ll have to be a member to do this, so if you haven’t already, why not join?

It looks like things are picking up elsewhere as well. My good pal from Guernsey, Simon De La Mare, has recently spent a couple of very successful weeks on Alderney. His tally for the trip was 57 bass to 5lb, mostly caught on an Abu Mo lure (yellow) or a white 6″ DoLive Stick .

Trying out new lures

With a few fish about, I’ve been taking some new/unproven lures out. Although these are well-known bass catchers, there’s nothing like catching on them yourself to convince you of their potential. Take the Komomo SF125 for example – I’ve had one of these for a while, and really wanted to give it a proper go, to see if I could catch a bass on it.

Thinking about what lures to take one evening last week, the anticipated rough conditions suggested a shallow diver with a good action, which would cast well in the wind, would be a good choice. As I looked along the lures hanging from the shelf, this little guy was calling out “take me, take me”

A couple of missed/dropped fish made me glad that I had given him a place in the lure box, but something was clearly wrong. Could it be the missing middle hook, which I had deliberately left off, I wondered? A quick transplant from another lure, so that he was now fitted with size 1/0 Seaspin Gamu SW’s back and front, plus size 1 in the middle, improved things, with a couple of fish landed. But I was still missing fish which were chasing the plug right up the beach. Maybe I should slow down the retrieve, I thought. Result – two fish landed on the next two casts!

Adapting to the situation

This session reminded me how important it is to adapt to the situation when fishing, and this was brought home during another recent trip. This time I was fishing on a favourite North Coast beach at night with old friend Steve Ainsworth. It was one of those special nights, which prove that you don’t have to catch lots of big fish to enjoy your fishing – the moon was full, the surf was perfect, the surroundings were stunning, and the bass were biting – one for the memory bank.

The small (1-2 foot) surf suggested a modest cast, and sure enough, this found the fish from the off. Bass patrol the strand along a narrow band, parallel to the shoreline, the distance out determined by the size of the surf and state of the tide, so it’s important to adjust your casting distance accordingly. They weren’t big fish, it has to be said, but when you serve them what they want (live sandeel), where they want it (40-50 yards out on this occasion), they readily oblige with some spectacular bites.

When the bites stopped, a move further along the beach put us in touch with the fish again – but only until the surf had moved out beyond a shallowing bar.  A bit of wading, and a longer cast out beyond this, resulted in the bites resuming.

Food for bass

Netting sandeels is almost as enjoyable as fishing with them, so I was glad to be able to give Steve and other friends a hand to top up their live eel tanks on a recent trip . We were blessed with a good haul which included a variety of fish, showing that the seemingly barren sand is in fact teeming with life – and food for bass.

Soft plastic success

The best of my recent catches is this bass of 59cm which took a 6 inch Senko (Hawg Lures) while fishing over shallow, rough ground in calm and clear conditions.

This was another lure that I’d never really persisted with, despite some initial success in Ireland with it, but regular reports of good fish caught prompted me to give it another go. It wasn’t the only one either – I also caught a smaller bass on a white version of the same lure. The night before, I landed another small bass on a 6″ Yamasenko (baby bass  -green), and another on a 5inch Flash J Split (Crystal Flake/Aurora) – both new to me. The session had started off with a 49cm bass taken on a white/speckled 6″ DoLive Stick, its slightly weathered look evidence of previous outings, and suggesting that the scent they come with (by now surely washed out) has little effect on their catching ability.

Patterns emerging

When you’re thinking about which lures to take, bear in mind that not even proven lures work all the time. A chance encounter with Sam Wallace reminded me of a previous session with him and his dad Paul, when Sam outfished us both with plugs, while the fish simply refused to take my soft plastics.

The same thing happened again on this occasion, with Sam and friends doing well on surface lures, while I blanked! Looking back through my records, it now seems clear that, at this mark at least, hard lures seem to work better than soft plastics on the very small tides, when all you seem to get is the odd snatch, or tentative plucks. Maybe the key here is lure action, with plugs producing more of this, especially if worked aggressively.

Big bait, big fish

I seem to be developing a serious thing for soft plastics, which seem so effective at night, particularly when it’s calm and clear over rough ground. I’m coming to the conclusion that this way of fishing is more effective than bait fishing in such circumstances. Even so, I still have a notion that the chances of catching a donkey, pig, or whatever other animal you equate to a seriously large bass, are arguably higher with a big bait than with lures (not that these don’t produce big bass as well); as the old saying goes “big bait, big fish”.

The trouble with bait fishing is that it seems slightly out of step with today’s ultra-light, ultra-convenient, grab and go approach which has made lure fishing so popular today – and drawn in so many new anglers. Those who enjoy bait fishing are happy to accept the extra paraphernalia and preparation that goes with it, in return for the different experience it brings.

But some types of bait fishing can be almost as convenient as lure fishing. Freelining a large mackerel bait, for example, simply requires a swivel tied to your main line, with a 3ft (or so) trace and 6/0 circle hook attached. I use a dedicated rod, rated 40-100g and 9ft long, with a small fixed-spool reel filled with 30lb braid, but at a push you can use the same rod that you use for lure fishing. And by attaching a prepared swivel and trace to your lure clip, you can switch between the two; a couple of mackerel fillets/heads and away you go – if the conditions (calm and weed-free) allow.

The one downside to bait fishing, when compared to lures, is it’s ability to attract our canine friends, who also have a taste for mackerel fillets, crab, squid etc – so you may have to put up with a few huss and dogs before the donkey turns up!

Tackle changes

In the time that I’ve been beach fishing (30+ years) there have been few changes to the tackle we use for it. Perhaps the biggest of these has been the use of braid as main line. I have made the transition from mono to braid for my rough ground legering with fixed-spool reels, but not yet for beach fishing with a multiplier. Problems with the leader knot getting coated with weed and stuck in the tip ring, and the increased bite sensitivity of braid, have convinced me to adopt Steve Ainsworth’s method, and change to 50lb braid ( Berkley Whiplash) straight through, with just a mono trace (30-40lb).

Lure fishing on the other hand, changes by the minute! Take just one small aspect of this – knots. I use a fluoro rubbing leader at the end of my braid mainline. Because this is short (approx 18 inches), the knot hangs outside the tip ring, so  doesn’t catch on this when casting. The standard double-uni knot has served me well, but when Henry Gilbey flagged up this video  about the GT knot in his blog I took note. Not only is this knot twice as strong as the double-uni (although I’m not sure how important this is since I can’t recall a single problem with it), but it’s even easier to tie. Having used this for a couple of weeks now, I’m sold on it, so thanks Henry!

Taking the temperature

Water temperature can affect the activity of fish, and potentially our catches. Most anglers, I suspect, go by the sea temperature given on TV, or on websites like Global Sea Temperature (GST).

These are useful averages, but I have recently purchased this Exo Terra Infrared Digital Pocket Thermometer so that I can measure the water temperature when I’m fishing; you simply point it at the water surface and press the button. You have to get quite close to the water for it to work, but once you get the hang of this it’s easy enough. So far, my readings have been within a degree or so of the GST figure for that day. You can get localised warm or cool spots, depending on weather conditions, water depth and substrate (sand, rocks etc), and it will be useful to see whether these might influence my catches (among many other things!). With thanks to friends on the BASS  Forum for their thoughts on this topic.

Seeing the light

With my scientist’s mind, I can’t resist the opportunity to test theories when the opportunity arises. Like the other night, when there were mackerel everywhere, chasing thousands of whitebait.

The first thing that struck me was that the mackerel seemed oblivious to the state of the tide, feeding right down the ebb. The second thing was that they carried on feeding well into darkness (I had always thought of mackerel as daylight feeders). As I stood on my rocky perch, I could hear the mackerel ripping into whitebait all around me. I couldn’t resist a look, but as soon as I put my torch on the fish scattered. When I repeated this a couple of minutes later, but using the red beam this time, the fish (by then the mackerel had been joined in the feast by scad) seemed much less bothered – proof that red light spooks fish less than white?

Too bright for bass?

Most bass anglers prefer to fish in dull, overcast conditions, or at night, but there may be occasions when our only opportunity coincides with bright, sunny weather. So, is it worth bothering to go fishing in these conditions? Well yes – if you adapt. This video from the Cornish Shore and Kayak Fishermen  shows how weedless soft plastics (Fiiish Black Minnows in this case) twitched along the bottom,  can take bass on such days, when they are likely to be down deep, among the weed and rocks.

Facebook forays

I’ve been toying with the idea of going on Facebook for a while. My hesitation centred around concerns about the amount of trivial information I had heard was posted, and the amount of time taken up by it; did I really want to spend my life reading about what people  had for tea etc, when I could be out actually doing stuff – like fishing!

Friends told me I was missing out on publicity for my book by not being on Facebook, and with BASS wanting to increase its social media presence, I thought the time had come to take the plunge, so that I could help with this. Well, I’m still finding my way around, but so far I’ve been pleasantly surprised. My screen time has more than doubled, but I’ve tried to convince Angela that this will settle down!

Juvenile bass surveys

We’ve had some pretty exceptional weather this year, including the sunniest spring on record. Hopeful that this might lead to a successful bass spawning this year, our group of intrepid volunteers, with several new recruits from BASS, commenced our juvenile bass surveys in the Fal and Helford estuaries recently.

Our first result was a little disappointing, but we did manage to find about 100 ‘0’ groups (this year’s fish) including these beautiful perfect miniatures of (hopefully) the ten-pounders of the future, measuring between 3.8 and 7.4cm.

 

Thanks for reading, and tight lines.

A book on bass fishing, and life

Today marks the first anniversary of my book on bass fishing A Bass Angler’s Life going on sale. Twelve months on, I can say that the book has been a success – perhaps not in financial terms (as yet), but most definitely from a personal perspective.

Achieving a long-held ambition to have a book on bass fishing published has been very satisfying, and A Bass Angler’s Life  has brought me into contact with many people. I always thought its appeal would be to a niche market, by virtue of its slightly different content – it’s about life, as well as bass fishing. It may not follow the usual format, but hopefully I’ve got the balance right. It was the book I wanted to write, and I’m delighted and honoured that more than 170 people have so far bought it. If you’re thinking of buying a copy yourself, you can see an electronic preview of the book here,  and you can also read a short story from the book on the BASS blog.

The many kind messages people have sent, and comments made, about A Bass Angler’s Life, have been particularly rewarding, and gratifying. Some of the comments are shown (with permission) on the book reviews page of my website. If you’ve read the book yourself, and would like to comment, please let me know.

Recent catches

There’s no getting away from it – things are pretty tough at the moment, with some anglers in Cornwall reporting that this is their worst start to a season ever. I cling to the hope that this might be down to natural phenomena, like the availability of baitfish, but increasingly I’m getting concerned that this is down to the sustained and cumulative effects of netting.  A recent press release from SOSB  draws attention to this, and poor catches on my home patch over the last 12 months or so certainly reflect this increase in netting. If you haven’t already written to your MP about this, please do – even if you’re not from Cornwall. Remember that at some point fish from your area may be migrating along the south coast of Cornwall and subject to removal by these monofilament killing machines, leaving you wondering where all your fish have gone next summer.

There does seem to be quite a few fish around in estuaries at the moment, but these are mostly small (30cm).  Scales I’ve taken from one of these suggest that they are 3 years old – so from the 2017 year class.

I’ve been picking up the odd fish here and there on the coast, including several on 5.5 inch Swimsenkos. I can still remember catching my first bass in Ireland  on one of these lures (in green) back in 2014. For some reason, I only started using them in Cornwall recently, prompted by an entry in MikeLadle’s online fishing diary – pity I left it so long!

My very first cast with a white Swimsenko produced this bass of about 3lb.

That’s enough to give anyone confidence in a lure, and although I didn’t catch any more that night, I have caught more on subsequent sessions, including on a dark blue one. Oh dear – I hope this isn’t the start of another soft plastic obsession!

Lack of fight

Some nice bass are being caught in other areas though – like this 76cm (fork length) beauty which Mike Ladle took on a freelined mackerel fillet. I reckon this is equivalent to about 81cm total length (x1.07), which the BASS tape puts at 12lb (nice one Mike!). He was disappointed by the lack of resistance the fish put up when being caught. This put me in mind of an excerpt from Don Kelley’s book Life With Bass, called When Bass Don’t React which was recently posted on the BASS blog. Given when Mike’s fish was caught (June), it would seem that spawning  was most likely the cause of the fish’s lack of fight.

Estuary bassing

With the fishing being a bit quiet on the coasts, I’ve taken the opportunity to continue my search for estuary marks, encouraged by several reports of big bass caught by anglers fishing for Gilthead bream, and the ban on netting in estuaries . It’s actually rather pleasant, exploring beautiful parts of Cornwall I haven’t seen before. It’s generally a more peaceful way of fishing – unless you happen to come across a swan guarding its nest with a very aggressive hissing!

Why should some bass decide to take up summer residency each year in an estuary system, while others choose the open coast? How much (if any) do they move between the two? I realise these are moot points to my mates on Guernsey – where there are no estuaries!

Angling lore says that bass will move down estuaries on the ebb, hang around at the mouth over low water, and move back up on the flood. But thinking about this, a fish is unlikely to travel the entire length of the estuary (10-20 Km) every tide. The Cork Harbour Study, which used acoustic telemetry to track the summer movements of individual bass, found that within that estuary system, most bass showed very limited movement during their summer residency phase, with 80% of fish spending 90% of their total residency between 2 receivers located <3km apart, with core areas within this range used for resting and foraging.

So it seems that rather than ranging up and down the entire estuary system, fish will choose a small part of it for their summer foraging period, and move within this. I can envisage fish moving up creeks off the main channel with the flood, searching for crabs, prawns, small fish etc as they go, and then moving back down again on the ebb, perhaps feeding in the main channel over low water as they wait for the flood to start again.

Beach angling

Beach angling is an established part of bass angling in Cornwall – with bait. Anglers are now also increasingly targeting bass on the surf beaches with lures, with great success. Anglers like Jamie Strike have become very proficient at this, and shares some great tips in this excellent podcast.

State of bass stocks

The latest advice from ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) regarding bass stocks shows that the stock has increased slightly (by 5%), but is still only just above the critical level, and still in need of emergency measures to prevent collapse. Although fishing mortality has reduced, it would take several years (i.e. until beyond 2022) to reach a safe level, even if no fish were caught. Recruitment of fish to the stock has been patchy; there have been some promising year classes (2013, 2014 & 2016), but 2017 and 2019 were only fair or reasonable, and 2018 was a near total failure (according to our juvenile bass surveys in Cornwall), so it’s vital that we look after what juveniles are coming through.

Sea Angling in the UK

The long-awaited report entitled Participation, catches and economic impact of sea anglers resident in the UK in 2016 & 2017 has finally been published. I was one of the anglers who participated in this survey, keeping an online diary, recording activity, catches and spend on a regular basis.

On average 823,000 UK residents went sea angling. The total number of fish caught in 2017 was 54.5 million, with 80% of these being released; 7% of the fish caught were bass. The average total spend per angler in 2017 was £1742. The total economic impact of sea angling was £1.94 billion, supporting around 16,300 jobs. The financial worth of recreational bass angling dwarfs that of commercial fishing for bass, so when is this going to be recognised by fisheries policymakers?

Highly Protected Marine Areas

The Benyon Review into Highly Protected Marine Areas   calls for anglers (and others) to be excluded from a number of areas. It was disappointing that anglers were not involved in the preparation of these proposals, and that their activities have been included with trawling, despite the fact that our activities are low impact and highly selective, and that we can act as monitors of compliance with any restrictions.

Catch and release survey

Adam Duhamel is a Jersey bass angler and MSc student at Bangor University. For his dissertation he is looking at Catch and Release practices in bass angling. Please check this out via this link  and complete the survey if you wish to help.

Big bass caught in shrimp net

I bet, like me, when you arrive at your fishing mark you head straight for the water, assuming that any bass will have vacated the rock pools you have to get through to get there, so as not to get stranded by the outgoing tide. I have heard of anglers occasionally disturbing bass as they wade through gullies, but this amazing video from Smash Fishing, where Jay Le Gallic catches an 8lb bass, just sitting in a pool, with a shrimp net  just blew me away! The fact that it’s filmed on Guernsey, my adopted second home, only added to my enjoyment of the video. I wonder how often this happens; was this accidental, or is the fish just resting up in the dark until the tide comes in. It’s interesting that Jay notes how bass aren’t spooked by lights in such situations, but I wonder if this behaviour is influenced by the fact that they are confined within a rockpool?

Big bass on lures

Thanks to Steve Ainsworth for sending me this link to an awesome video of Grant Woodgate catching 9 double-figure bass on lures, in  just three trips to Portugal.

Several things stuck me about this video – apart from the amazing fishing of course. It shows that big bass can be caught on lures, as well as bait (although I don’t know how many hours he spent on these three trips doing so), and during the day.  Mind you, these were difficult conditions, and I take my hat off to Grant for landing the fish. A word of caution though – fishing in these sorts of conditions, and from this sort of terrain, can be dangerous, so take care if you try something similar – and I’d suggest you wear a life jacket.

That’s all for this month folks. Tightlines, and let’s hope the fishing improves. Keep safe.

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