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After a run of blanks in my local estuaries, I wondered if the coast might be more productive. After all, the foxgloves are flowering, and there had been several recent reports of bass gorging on pin sandeels, so it should be worth a go. But these catches were from boats, and I wondered if the fish would be within casting range of the shore.

In contrast to the relatively new (to me) marks I fish in estuaries, most of the ones I fish on the coast are like old friends – over the years I’ve come to feel comfortable with them, and know when and where they’re at their best!  I decided to give one of these a go, as the tide and conditions seemed right for it.

Matching the hatch

I’ve long since worked out where the ‘hotspots’ are on this mark, but the usual ones weren’t producing. I’d brought along a selection of lures, including some shorter ones, in attempt to ‘match the hatch’. I was sticking with surface lures – a 9cm Yozuri Arms Pencil – perhaps my all-time favourite plug. It was getting dark, so any indication of a fish taking the lure would be by feel, rather than sight. I worked the little plug across the boulder field, in the same way that Jon Hnat (see featured image), now sadly no longer with us,  had done when he introduced me to this plug a quarter of a century ago.

Turn-stop-turn of the reel handle; bang! fish on! No monster, but very welcome, and enough to encourage me to keep fishing.

Time for a change

Now fully dark, I decided to put the surface lures to bed. I was getting bumps and knocks, even the odd snatch, cycling through several small lures. I decided to change to soft plastics, and chose the smallest one I had – a white 4.5″ Cornish Snax.

At this point I would normally call it a day, but that one fish gave me the encouragement to stay, and I knew this mark could still produce at that stage of the tide. Slowly winding the lure back, with a steady, straight retrieve, there was a definite snatch – but no hook-up. Interesting, I thought, and cast out again. Another snatch, but this time there was no messing about –  a 51cm bass!

Encouraged by this success, I went on to catch another two bass (42 & 51cm) on the same lure (they’re good these!), before things finally went quiet.

Spanning the years

It struck me that, in one session, I had used lures which spanned 25 years of development, and how my fishing had changed as a result. I caught my first fish on an Arms Pencil back at the turn of the century, and here I was  catching on a soft plastic of much more recent origins, all those years later. Each development opens up the possibility of fishing in different ways and situations, enhancing our range of fishing opportunities, and the pleasure we get from pursuing these.

Another mark

It was good to know that this old friend can still produce the goods, but with the tide a little later, I fancied a go at another favourite mark the following night. I chose to start with surface lures again. This time I wanted to see if that new lure from BLUK would work with the trebles swapped for single hooks.  It wasn’t long before I had a bump, followed by that tell-tale splash. Next cast a feisty little bass latched on to the lure, proving that it works, and with single hooks too.

After last night’s experience, it was straight on with the Cornish Snax when it got dark. Several bumps and snatches later (small fish), a bass hit the lure hard. It put up a good scrap before I managed to bring it up on the rocks.

A lucky escape

I placed the fish gently on the wet rocks, and reached for my phone to take a picture. Then all hell broke loose, as the fish made a bid for freedom, the rod clattering over the rocks. I had a surreal moment just then, sensing that both rod and reel were heading for the drink, and being totally unable to do anything about it. Luckily(?) for me, in the chaos the line must have been cut on the jagged rocks and the line parted, so I got away with just  losing a lure and clip. I didn’t get to measure the fish before it escaped, but would estimate low 40’s cm. Hopefully the lure will come out of the fish’s mouth soon enough.

That was the last of the smaller lures I had, so I tackled up again with a 5 inch version of the Cornish Snax. The bass didn’t seem to mind the extra half an inch – first turn, bang – 43cm bass!

Final word

I was saddened, and angry, to learn, through Facebook, of a number of ‘anglers’ (not sure where) keeping multiples of 15-20cm juvenile bass. Not only is this illegal, it is preventing these 1-2 year-old bass from reaching the age (6-7 years for  a female bass) where they can reproduce, and provide much-needed replenishments for the stocks. Please, if you see this type of behaviour, report it to your local Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority.

That’s all for now folks. Let’s hope this blog encourages some ‘new’  anglers to join us ‘old(er)’ ones, and keep taking this great sport forward,

 

I’m not a frequent blogger, so it’s unusual for me to post so soon after my last one. It’s also unusual for me to dedicate a whole blog to a single topic, but the events described below are quite special for me, so I hope you’ll indulge me.

Never stop learning

I’m constantly amazed at how we never stop learning in bass angling. As I discussed in my last blog, in the last 12 months I’ve discovered how to catch bass on creature baits. As I’m sure you know, this is a hot topic at the moment, and many discussions are taking place around it , not least on the online BASS forum. These discussions have led onto the subject of sight fishing, and I’m particularly indebted to Keir Sims for sharing his thoughts and experience of this.

Sight fishing

Inspired by these discussions, the desire to catch a bass by sight fishing began to take hold.  But the idea of catching a bass on a lure cast to a specific fish seemed about as remote a possibility for me as catching a bass on the moon! In the first place you’ve got to see them.  Despite regularly fishing in the daytime, particularly in estuaries, I’ve seen very few fish that I would confidently call  bass. Perhaps, as my mate Paul says, my eyes just weren’t tuned in to seeing them – and he knows a thing or two about sight fishing for freshwater species,

That was until recently; I don’t know if it’s because I’m doing more fishing earlier in the year than usual,  whether there is something different about this year, or it’s just that  I’ve been wearing polarising sunglasses more in the sunny weather we’ve been having, but I’ve started seeing fish which are obviously bass – some of them of good size. Interestingly I’m not seeing that many mullet yet. Does this mean that these bass are moving through, the resident population yet to return, along with the mullet.

A glimpse of a bass

Take the other day for example. I had already caught a 54cm bass on a paddletail, so I knew there might be some reasonable fish about.

Things went quiet after this, so a change of approach was called for. I headed for an area where the tide was starting to cover the weedy margins, and switched to creature baits. Wait – what was that splash? Too late, I had spooked a bass about a yard out; I did manage to get a glimpse of it though – probably about 3-4lb. I cast out in the general area where I had seen the fish, but with no sign of any interest I decided to move on.

Casting problems

I worked my way along, casting as I went. Nothing seemed to be interested – perhaps I was casting too far? As I reached an area where I have seen bass on previous visits this year,  a bass of maybe 5-6lb came into view. It just seemed to be mooching about, going from weed patch to weed patch, in about a foot of clear water. I tried casting the lure in the general vicinity of the fish, but completely cocked this up, landing virtually on top of the fish! Needless to say, it didn’t hang around. My normal casting accuracy is not bad, but I hadn’t realised how difficult it is to cast to a fish that’s so close.

Despite the frustration of missing this fish, I was enjoying myself in the sunshine and beautiful surroundings, but with a reasonable fish caught, plus two more seen, and a bit more experience of ‘sight fishing’ gained, I was happy to call it a day.

On it in an instant

As I made my way back, rod still assembled, I literally gasped as a large bass appeared about a rod length out. It looked bigger than either of the two I had already seen that day. I stopped, and considered how best to approach this one. A normal cast would almost certainly have gone too far, and probably landed nowhere near where I wanted it to. Try an underarm cast, I thought, and gently flicked the lure out, hoping it would land about a yard in front of the fish.

I barely had time to decide whether it had done so, when the fish was on the lure in an instant! I quickly wound in what little line was out there, and landed the fish. I couldn’t believe it – a stunning bass, perfectly conditioned with a lovely dark back, lay at my feet.  Thoughts of big bass caught in the past came flooding back; it isn’t often we’re graced with such specimens these days.

I tried to get a photo of her laying on the BASS competition tape, but she wouldn’t  keep still. I was anxious not to keep her out of the water any longer than I had to, so decided just to measure her with the normal BASS tape, and take a quick photo of her as she was. She went 70cm – the longest bass I’ve caught since 2019.

A special moment

This was a special moment for me – my best bass for ages, and my first caught by sight fishing – on a creature bait too, only feet from where I stood. My glass was overflowing, and I decided that would be my last cast of the day. Seeing really is believing, and now that I’ve had my first success with sight fishing, I can feel a new obsession coming on. I hope I catch a few more like this with this method – without having to go to the moon!

That’s all folks. Thanks for reading,

I can’t believe it’s been almost six years since A Bass Angler’s Life was published. The book describes my fishing life, and all the things connected to it, up to that point. While it remains largely current, life doesn’t stand still, and I’ve always been one to embrace change.

Fishing, fishing, fishing!

Angling is still very much a part of my life, and central to all my other activities. My fishing trips were slightly down last year, mainly due to more days spent on juvenile bass surveys, but I still managed to go fishing on about a third of the days in 2024 ( I have a very tolerant partner!)

In order to maintain my increasing fishing-related activities (and because I’m not getting any younger!), I’m no longer involved with British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network (but still support this important work). On the other hand, my involvement in bass research via the BASS Science Group has increased significantly.

It’s so important for your mental health to have an interest, especially one which brings you in contact with the healing and restorative power of nature, and exercises both body and mind. Without fishing, my working life would have been very difficult to sustain, and my retirement would have been far less enjoyable and purposeful.

Estuaries

“They are the one setting in bass fishing I have yet to crack, and remain a challenge I am determined to meet”, as I wrote in the book.  Fast forward  to the current time, and I think I can say that I have met that challenge – at least in the “Ria” (a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea) type of estuary. I’ve yet to do much in other types of estuary.

There’s something  about these quiet backwaters, which blur the distinction between sea and river fishing. I think they would have appealed to me at any age, but I find myself increasingly drawn to them in my later years, both during the daytime and at night. I still fish the coast, but tend to avoid the rougher conditions, and don’t travel as far afield as I used to.

It was inspiration from my visits to Southern Ireland, where estuary fishing for bass is the norm, which fuelled my quest for estuary success back home. This finally came in the autumn of 2021, on lures – still the main method I use in estuaries.  Paddletail soft plastics quickly became my lure of choice. I use them unweighted in the main, but will use them weighted (belly weights or jig heads/internal weight) where  current is involved, or I want to fish along the bottom.

One thing which struck me was just how close bass will come in; you’re as likely to catch a fish casting along the shoreline as you are straight out from it.  The other day a bass came slowly cruising in towards me, stopping right opposite my feet – no more than a yard out. My boots seemed not to bother it  in the slightest, and it was only when I reached for my phone camera in that it scooted off.

Creature Baits

Presumably these fish are searching out crabs, prawns and other tasty morsels as the tide covers the weed, or retreats from it. It was this behaviour which prompted me to try ‘Creature Baits’ when they first came to my attention a couple of years ago.

The idea of an imitating one of the ‘creatures’ bass would be looking for with a crab-like imitation crawfish pattern lure seemed to make sense to me. After a series of blanks in 2023, success finally came in August of last year. I wrote about this session in a previous blog. It was a game changer, encouraging me to use  these lures more and more, with regular success.

Bait fishing

Although I am doing less bait fishing these days, its importance  to me is no less than it was, especially during the autumn and winter; I seem to do very little during the spring and summer now.

On the open coast I am doing less rough ground legering, coming full circle to the beaches where I started my bass fishing journey over 40 years ago.  I am also increasingly turning to estuaries for bait fishing. The quieter conditions here are perfect for freelining big mackerel and squid baits. I think the simplicity of the rig, with very little between you and the fish, and the light tackle approach, is what appeals to me. The feeling when a fish takes your line through the open bail arm, totally unencumbered by weights and other tackle paraphernalia, is, for me, the ultimate angling experience.

Crab was my automatic choice of bait, especially if legering over rough ground, but I rarely use it these days, preferring the convenience of frozen mackerel, squid and razor. My experience of mackerel as a bait for bass was very limited at the time I wrote the book –  a situation I have since corrected.

Favourite lures

When I write the book my favourite lures were surface lures. I still love this type of lure when fishing in open and clear water, away from weed, but increasingly I’m moving away from plugs in favour of soft plastics.

My obsession with DoLive Sticks is only slightly dimmed , having caught many good fish on them, but my head has been turned by other soft plastics – various paddletails and Snax-type lures, which are now included in the mix

I’ve been encouraged by the increasing use of single hooks on plugs, but many anglers still seem unwilling to accept the risk of losing the occasional (mainly small) bass in exchange for improved fish welfare where a bass is to be returned. I would personally like to see the use of single hooks (and also circle hooks for bait fishing) being promoted by the authorities, especially where small fish are likely to be regularly encountered.

Changing seasons

When I first started bass fishing back in the eighties, you would start at the end of May, and finish at the end of October.

Over the years that changed. First we discovered the early fishing during April, hoping to intercept big bass making their way back to their summer feeding grounds . Then we began catching in November, but the real eye-opener was catching bass, some of them good ones, through December and into January.  This year I caught my first ever February bass.

On the other hand, the ‘resident’ fish seem later arriving these days. June used to be a good month on the South Coast, but in recent years bass fishing doesn’t seem to become consistent until late July.

Whether there has been a definite change in the movements of bass in Cornish waters is difficult to say definitively without more evidence. My feeling is that the resident fish are probably arriving and leaving later. The ‘season’, at least in Cornwall, does seem to have extended, with many bass anglers now fishing for longer, and later/earlier in the year. This must putting more money into the economy, and you wonder why this doesn’t appear to be recognised by the fishing authorities or the Tourist trade.

Still no double

The holy grail of bass angling, the 10lb bass, continues to elude me. With few larger  (>60cm) bass around these days, to be honest I have all but given up hope of catching one. In my book there were regular mentions of 6lb bass, even a few 7’s, 8’s and 9’s, but these days I struggle to catch 5lbers.

I wonder that I haven’t given up bass fishing by now, but I guess it’s my natural optimism, coupled with being prepared to do my bit to improve things, that keeps me going. There are signs that at least the number of fish seems to be increasing – I caught fish on a higher proportion of trips (44%), and caught slightly more fish per trip and hour (0.94 & 0.41 respectively) last year. Still nothing to get excited about though!

That’s all for now folks. Tightlines.

A copy of A Bass Angler’s Life can be ordered here.

Featured image photo courtesy of Matt Burgoyne, Bass Lures UK.

 

It’s that time again – when people reflect on the year just finished, and think about the one ahead. Here’s my thoughts on another year in a bass angler’s life.

An enjoyable fishing year

I went fishing a bit less than in the last couple of years, mainly due to the bass survey work (see below), but still managed a good number of trips. My catch rate was up very slightly, and I caught fish on more trips – let’s hope this trend continues. However, as with the previous 2 years, I struggled to find larger fish, with just 3 fish of 60cm or over for the year – that’s only 2.6% of all the bass I caught! And my longest bass was just 62cm.

But fishing isn’t just about statistics – it’s about doing something you love doing, in ways you like doing it, and in places which are special to you. It’s about meeting challenges and learning new things, and about creating memories. Of course, a few more fish, especially bigger ones, would have really made 2024 for me, but all in all it was an enjoyable year, albeit with a tinge of sadness at the end.

The loss of a good friend

Just a short while ago I lost a good friend. Captain Derek Goodwin MBE did so much for sea angling and conservation, particularly regarding bass. He started doing juvenile bass surveys in the Helford estuary in Cornwall back in 1994. The unique and long-standing set of data he produced  is much valued by scientists, anglers, conservationists and students. We will make sure Derek’s name lives on and and the legacy he leaves continues.

A slow start

The year got off to a slow start, things not becoming consistent until mid-July. Some would say this is entirely predictable, and I’m toying with not starting properly until then this year – we’ll see! I’d like to see if there are bass in estuaries all year round, so I’ll probably make the odd trip if we get any settled periods, especially during April, when the odd good fish could be on the cards.

From July on the fishing was quite good at times, with few blank sessions until early November, and up 7 fish a session on occasion. The year finished with a minor flourish, with the estuaries throwing up a few fish in late December. The hoped-for improvement on the coast with the migrating fish hasn’t materialised at the time of writing this.

New toys

I really wanted to catch a bass on a ‘Creature Bait’. I’m not really into fishing rods/reels etc – I’m happy to go use what others recommend  (as long as they don’t cost ‘silly money’). But I am a sucker for new lures, and these Creature Baits are proper toys (bath toys as my mate John describes them!).

After a few failed attempts, I was lucky enough to catch my first bass on one at the beginning of August – and it was a beauty of 62cm! I wrote about this in an earlier blog. I had cast parallel to the shore, and the Megabass Sleeper Craw I was using landed a couple of feet out, among the weed. I turned the reel handle once and the lure was hit hard.

Once you’ve caught on a lure your confidence increases to the point where you start using it more and more. I’ve now caught 15 bass, of mixed sizes (62cm still the biggest), on either the Sleeper Craw or the 3″ Weighted Craw from BLUK. Just a simple turn-stop-turn style of retrieve, with one turn of the reel handle every couple of seconds or so, seems to be as effective as anything. I imagine this must mimic a crab scuttling across the bottom.

Things that go bump in the night

I had just landed a 58cm bass on the excellent Cornish Snax lure from BLUK. As I was moving along the reef, I slipped and went sprawling across the rocks. No damage done – or so I thought. On the next cast about a foot of the rod tip went flying seawards,  having cracked off following damage from the fall.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, after catching up with my fishing buddy Ian I went over again – this time banging my head on a rock on the way down! That put paid to my fishing for the night. Mind you, it could have been much worse. I have since replaced my boots with beefier studs, but I will have to give a bit more thought as to the type of mark I fish from now on – especially if I’m on my own (after all I am in my 70’s!) .

Simple bait fishing

Increasingly bass anglers are turning exclusively to lures. I love lure fishing myself, but bait fishing is also a great way to catch bass. It doesn’t have to be complicated, or involve loads of time collecting bait.  What could be simpler, or nicer, than freelining a big fillet of frozen mackerel, or whole squid? All you need is a heavy lure rod, reel loaded with 20lb braid, bead and swivel on the end + 3 foot of 20lb mono/fluoro and an 8/0 circle hook. It can be a bit smelly though – especially if you leave a bait in your bag for several weeks!

I caught good bass on both these baits this year. Feeling the line slipping through your fingers, then having the patience to wait before bringing the bale arm over when you judge the timing is right,  is the ultimate fishing high – always assuming the fish hasn’t dropped the bait!.

Goals for 2025

I’m fascinated with the lifecycle of bass – from eggs to old ladies! One of the aspects of this is their migration strategy. They are now thought to be a partially migratory species, so do some prefer to stay put in some years, rather than heading off to the spawning grounds? And where do the ones which aren’t mature enough to spawn go? To that end, I’m going to try to fish through the winter, and exclusively in estuaries. Mind you – it depends how cold it gets!

Science stuff

I’ve been lucky enough to indulge my passion for marine biology after my retirement from NHS Laboratory work. This year has been very significant for me in that respect.

Future marine biologists

I was delighted to be asked to talk to marine biology students at Plymouth University in February. It was great to give a fisher’s perspective on things to the marine biologists/conservationists/fisheries managers/policy makers of the future.

Sampling small fish

My involvement with the FinVision project on behalf of BASS has continued, and this year I took part in a fish sampling workshop on the Erme in Devon during the Summer. It was great to spend a day with anglers, students, scientists and fisheries experts, learning about this beautiful estuary, and methods of sampling small fish with nets.

On the Erme we saw tiny post-larval bass, a finding which was to be repeated in our surveys in Cornwall. 2024 was perhaps the most successful yet for our survey group, Cornwall Bass Investigations Group –  in terms of the number of surveys we were able to carry out, and the number of ‘0’ group bass we found. Of course, a poor result is just as valuable, but not quite as inspiring!

All About The Bass

I was so pleased to be involved in organising and delivering the ‘All About The Bass’ symposium at Essex University in July. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of a lovely team, who were very inclusive and welcoming to an elderly citizen scientist like myself! It was inspiring to hear from some of the leading scientists in the field of bass research. The workshop in the afternoon brought scientists, anglers and policymakers together to see if ways  of fishers contributing more to science could be found. A report and some useful resources will follow soon.

That’s it for this month folks. Sorry it’s a bit longer than normal, but these annual reviews cover a lot of ground, and I doubt that I’ll be posting again for a bit.

If you’d like to read more about my fishing (and other) exploits, why not order a copy of my book.

We’re fortunate down here in Cornwall in that our bassing season carries on for longer than in some parts of the UK; late October through to mid-January can be one of the best periods of the year.

Mind you, it doesn’t come without frustrations. The weather for a start – plans are frequently scuppered (at least on the coast) by bad weather. And then there’s the migrations – bass searching for warmer water to ripen their eggs ahead of spawning.

To bass anglers fishing further north and east that usually spells the end of their season. But for those in other areas, it marks just a temporary pause in proceedings, with things picking up again in early December, as the migrating fish make their way along the south and west coasts. This can give some good fishing in these areas right up to mid-January, with potentially an increased  chance of a decent fish too. That’s if the netters don’t catch ’em all!

Settled weather

This year the November weather has been particularly settled, allowing me to fish more or less where and when I want to (subject to family commitments). I’ve got a bit soft in my advancing years, so the dry weather has also been very welcome. The result has been some good fishing, using a mix of methods, from a variety of locations. Nothing major, but some enjoyable sessions.

Hungry for for a Cornish Snax

This 62cm beauty was hungry for a Cornish Snax soft plastic. The fish hit close-in and hard, on a steady, slow retrieve in choppy conditions on the coast, putting up a good, but brief, scrap.

Creature capers

Next up was this 59cm cracker, taken on a Megabass Sleeper Craw  in an estuary.

These ‘Creature Baits’ have been a revelation this year.  Just a short cast, worked slowly along, or up to, the weed margin, with just the occasional gentle lift of the rod seems to do it – that’s if a bass hasn’t snapped the lure up as soon as it lands!

I had another of 53cm in the same session, and then this one of 50cm the following day at another mark.

Good things come to those who bait

This time of year always brings out the bait angler in me. With all these squid about at the moment, it’s a good time to use this as bait. Bought in 1lb packs from your local tackle dealer such as the excellent Gwinear Angling  and Lowen Chy Angling they make a cheap and convenient bait, which bass love.

This 50cm bass took frozen squid mounted on a simple running leger pennel rig – a 6/0 Mustad Viking on the end of a 3 foot length of 20lb Amnesia, and a 1/0 Varivas Chinu running above this.

After this session the coast seemed to go quiet, but there still seems to be fish in the estuaries. A recent session produced bass of 56 and 57cm on freelined/legered squid, and one of 46cm on a pearl-coloured Cornish Snax. The one on freelined squid announced its presence in no uncertain terms, rattling the rod violently, and steaming off at a rate of knots!

Another estuary foray produced this fish of 60cm, only my third 60cm+ fish this year, on freelined mackerel fillet.

She looked like she’d been feeding up/filling up with eggs in anticipation of overwintering and spawning. I love fishing in this way – just a swivel on the end of your line, with a trace and hook attached. A heavier lure rod is all you need. There couldn’t be a simpler, or lighter way of bait fishing. It’s awesome to feel the line slipping through your fingers as the fish moves off. When you judge the time is right, put the bail arm over and pull the fish up short, with the 8/0 circle hook hopefully lodging nicely in the scissors.

Taking the sleeper

A session over the height of the recent Springs seemed not to be to the liking of the Sleeper Craws, but the Megabass Dark Sleeper saved the day.

I have caught a number of fish on the 1oz version of this, but the 3/4 oz version feels a bit nicer to use, and seems just as effective.

Hope for the future?

This years’ juvenile bass surveys are now complete, and you can see the report about these here.  Some cause for optimism – as long as the stock is properly managed.

Tackling this issues

Speaking of managing the bass stock, it’s great to see the Bass Management Groups in England and Wales starting to tackle the issues. Good luck to all involved, and let’s give those representing recreational sea angling our full support.

That’s it for now folks, tight lines,

As you can probably tell from the featured image of this blog (more about this later) my fishing mojo is now fully restored !

This is no doubt due to an upturn in the bass fishing, both on the coast and in the estuaries, since late July. Ask most experienced anglers who fish the North Cornwall Coast, and they will say that the second half of July is the time to start serious shore bassing.  On the South Coast, June used to be a very good month, but things seem to have fallen more in line with the North Coast in recent years. Trouble is, it takes me a while to adjust to these (climate change-driven?) new norms, but hopefully the penny has finally dropped, and I won’t bother to start making concerted efforts until mid-July next year.

Lure obsession

Some sessions on the coast have produced up to seven fish, but nothing over 53cm. Most of these have come at night, on my current lure obsession, the Cornish Snax from Bass Lures UK. These are great lures, which cast well and withstand multiple hook-ups, and are great value for money. Just cast out and slowly straight-retrieve – about one turn every two seconds. They do some awesome colours too, and I’ve caught on most of these.

A bright light

Fishing with Ian Ingram one night, I had just landed two bass in two casts on one of these lures. A bright light appeared at the far end of the beach. As the light got nearer we could see that it was a fishing boat. It came in very close, and we could make out a line of floats in the water. Clearly it was pointless to continue fishing. We slowly made our way back along the beach, stopping to see what was in the net; the irony that any fish could have been ones we had just put back was not lost on us. At this point the boat came within yards of the beach, the owner seemingly intent on coming ashore. As if it wasn’t bad enough that we had to stop fishing, we were now faced with quite an intimidating situation. After a brief (and frank) exchange of views, we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and moved on. The incident was reported to Cornwall IFCA the next day, who I’m sure will do what they can.

Master class

Judging which surface lure to use, and how to work it in different sea conditions and depths can be tricky – as I found to my cost recently when boat fishing with Ian, who gave us a master class while I struggled to catch the odd fish!

Fishing on another occasion from the shore, over some bouldery ground with the sea coming up a little, I opted to try an old favourite – an Aile Mag Popper. It was the right choice, and just to prove that the old classics still work, a nice 50cm fish hammered it!

Estuary fishing improved

The estuary fishing has also improved. One notable catch was a 52cm bass I caught on a sunny afternoon. When I say notable, I don’t mean for its size, but for the fact that I actually saw the fish take the soft plastic I was using  right at my feet. I don’t know where the fish came from, but it was on the lure like a missile!

Creature baits

Back to that featured image. As you can see I’m rather pleased! One of my goals for this year was to catch a bass on a ‘Creature Bait’. I had several (half-hearted) attempts last year, but all I ended up with was a blob of plastic (the one I used doesn’t like mixing with other soft plastics!). I tried several types, but all to no avail.

This year I continued my quest, and to make it slightly easier I restricted my efforts to the Sleeper Craw. I like this one because it comes ready to use, with internal weight and weedless hook fitted. Admittedly they’re not cheap for a soft plastic, but I consider the investment worthwhile – and they certainly catch fish, as this 62cm beauty (same fish as the featured image), my first ever on this lure, shows. Goal achieved!

Having caught six bass on this lure now, between 27 and 62cm, I can vouch for their ability to withstand hooking by fish and being caught up in weed – that’s where you need to place them. I’ve found that casting ahead of you, so as not to spook the fish before you arrive, parallel with the shore so that the lure lands about a yard out (or “as far as you can piss” as Pete Bottono used to say!) seems to work.

That’s where the fish will be – nosing around in the weed after crabs. As soon as I started to turn the reel handle the fish hit the lure. It was quite a surreal moment, and I must admit to not quite knowing what was happening.  It was as if the splash had attracted the fish, and it didn’t want to let such a tasty morsel escape. It’s a bit like when a soft plastic hits the water, and the fish takes it on the drop – the fish must be drawn to that splash.

It’s a different type of fishing. The approach seems to be to pick your spot, cast, and if you haven’t had a bite almost instantly, bring your lure straight in. You can get fish if the lure is slowly worked back, but these seem to be the smaller ones. This also means you have more chance of getting caught up in the weed, wasting time, and potentially spooking other fish – stealth is key.

A Montagu’s takeover?

Taking about crabs, has anybody noticed a reduction in shore crabs in their local estuary? There has been some talk of this is scientific circles, and in one place I fish there seem to be very few shore crabs – most of the crabs you see here are furrowed (Montagu’s) crabs. You wonder what effect this apparent change  might have on bass presence.

A good spawning year?

The juvenile bass surveys are going well so far, with good numbers of fish from this year’s spawning being found. To follow what’s been happening (and we’re always looking for more volunteers), have a look at the latest news page on the CBIG website.

That’s all for this month folks. Thanks for reading. If you’d like to read more about my fishing (and other) adventures, why not purchase a copy of my book.

 

I like to post quite regularly, but recent science commitments have limited fishing time, and to be honest I haven’t had much to write about when I have gone. From what I can make out, and please correct me if I’m wrong, while other areas are starting to see bass, things are still pretty quiet on the whole in Cornwall. The longer this goes on, the more you begin to wonder if the resident fish have been wiped out over the winter by the gill netters who target the pre-spawning aggregations off the Southwest.

Mojo coming back

It had got to the point where my fishing mojo, usually bullet-proof, was flagging, but recent boat fishing reports, and some modest success from a recent shore trip on the coast, have  led to a mojo revival (at least partially!). Note that this was followed by another couple of blanks!

After a pretty rubbish start to my season, it was nice to feel a bend in the rod again; let’s hope this is a sign of better things to come. Things (at least in my world) still seem pretty quiet in the estuaries though. If others are finding the same this probably means the fish are late arriving – if not, it could suggest that all the resident fish on the marks where I fish have ended up on a fish slab somewhere.

Keeping a record

As readers may know, I run the BASS Catch Recording Scheme. In addition to this, I’ve just started recording my catches in the Sea Angling Diary scheme. The latter is focussed on providing estimates of participation, catches (all species) and spend at population level – good for making the case for the recognition of sea angling as an important stakeholder, and hopefully giving a more accurate picture of the number of fish kept. I’ll feed back later in the year when I’ve had a chance to get to know the scheme, and how it compares with the BASS scheme.

All About The Bass

I really enjoyed being involved, on behalf of BASS, from the outset in planning and delivering the ‘All About The Bass’ symposium at Essex University. Not something I envisaged doing in my 70’s, but you never know what you can achieve when you  step out of your comfort zone. The team at Essex, and all the speakers, were so nice, and I took some treasured memories back to Cornwall, which will stay with me always.

This was a great opportunity to hear about the latest in bass science from leading experts in the field around the UK, Europe and Ireland, and to co-develop ways of anglers collaborating with scientists to provide data and evidence to improve the management of the bass fishery. It was nice to see BASS’ contribution to bass science recognised in several of the presentations, which also included research findings which reflect some of our concerns and should help to move the dial. A useful platform for anglers to voice concerns to scientists and those in a position to influence management and policy, and to develop good links with them.

Here’s an Executive Summary of the symposium:

AAB Executive Summary-2

Tagging bass

One of the areas where anglers have helped with bass monitoring and research is tagging bass. Anglers in Ireland do this on a regular basis, and I’d like to see this happening in the UK, if any barriers to this can be overcome. Here’s a video from SpecimenDaveTV. Not only is this a great watch, it shows how easy it is to tag bass with just a little training, and how a number of fish can be tagged in a short space of time. Hopefully someone will find these tagged fish, so that scientists can work out where the fish are going.

Juvenile bass surveys

Another area where  anglers can help in conservation and science is juvenile bass surveys. Check out our Cornwall Bass Investigations Group website for information. You can download a very short interim report, which we posted on 1st July.

I’d really like to see surveys like these happening elsewhere in the Country, so have a think about starting them yourself – I’d be happy to share my experience with you.

That’s it for now folks. Tight lines,

 

 

Just when the bass fishing season seemed to have kicked off down here in Cornwall, things have gone very quiet. I’m hoping this ‘false start’ just reflects the fact that these are probably fish migrating along the coasts to their summer feeding grounds, and that our summer residents will soon be with us. And with the foxgloves in full bloom it won’t be long.

June used to be an excellent month, with the fish often stuffed with mini-sand eels and other small baitfish, but things seem to have got pushed back a little in recent years, perhaps as a result of climate change? It’ll be interesting to see what happens this year.

Springtime surprises

I guess any decent bass caught in the spring is a (pleasant) surprise. Bryn Le Poidevin kicked things off with this nice fish of 5lb 8oz while fishing on Herm on April 11th. Not that this was his first of the year – he’s had bass of 7lb 4oz in January and 8lb 1 oz in March already this year. All these fish have come on his favourite verm bait – in daylight.

Next up was Ian Ingram with a nice fish of 57cm, one of two of this size plus a couple of smaller fish, from an excellent session on April 26th (while yours truly looked on!).

Ian caught this one on  a black/speckled 4.5 inch shad from Bass Lures UK.

Ben Harris had this 68cm beauty on a black seeker (original) on 3rd May.

 

Brad Wiffen  really pulled it out of the bag with a 70cm+ cracker (see featured image) from a fantastic session on May 9th.  Brad lured the fish with a 120mm Fiiish Crazy  Paddletail with a 15g head:

Hooray for a good year class

The juvenile bass survey programme is now in full swing. Our initial results seem to confirm our provisional assessment of the 2023 class as good. Both the Helford and the Fal have produced some good catches of ‘1’ groups (1 year-old fish) this year, the best so far being at Lamorran on the Fal, where we netted 266.

Bass science

I’m involved in several great projects with Universities on behalf of BASS, including ‘FinVision’ with Plymouth University, and the ‘All About The Bass’ symposium with Essex University.

The FinVision project is running some great events on June 14th in Plymouth including a practical demonstration of fish ecology, sampling and identification followed by a talk on the same subject in the evening. There will also be limited places available for a practical workshop on the River Erme the next day; information about this will be publicised soon.

The ‘All About The Bass’ symposium  follows on from the Supper4Science project (now finished from an angling perspective). The symposium will present the initial findings from this, but it’s about much more. It brings together the leading scientists working on bass from the UK, Ireland and Europe, and top bass anglers like Dr Mike Ladle.

It’s aim is to both inform, through a fascinating programme of talks, and bring out, through workshops, ways in which anglers can work with scientists to identify and fill some of the knowledge and evidence gaps in bass science, and how this data an be used to improve bass management. This should be a ‘landmark’ event, so well worth dropping in, either in person, or online.

Greetings folks! Apologies for the radio silence over the winter.  Although I haven’t done much actual fishing, I have been busy with various fishing-related projects (more about these later) and activities, and getting some domestic chores out of the way.

Fishing not much to write home about

Last year’s fishing wasn’t much to write home about. I’d better not mention how many trips I made (too many!), but only 36% of these produced fish, and the number of fish I caught per hour was just 0.36. The  average size was 42.3cm. The longest fish I caught was 60cm; I  had 3 of this size (one of which is the featured image to this post).

As always, I expect this was partly down to me messing about too much (although I did try to focus more last year!), but it doesn’t paint a particularly good picture about the state of the bass stocks at the moment. There are signs that numbers may be on the increase, perhaps boosted by recent good year classes (e.g. 2016), but few would argue that the size just isn’t there –  just 2% of my fish were 60cm or over, and this is fairly typical of anglers’ catches.

New challenges

As for this year, I’m hoping to catch a bass on ‘creature baits’, like these from Bass Lures UK. Mind you, I’m not the only one – it seems like most anglers who fish with lures in estuaries, are going to try them! That’s what’s great about bass fishing – it keeps throwing up new challenges, so even if the fishing is not what it might be, there’s still something new to keep our interest up. I’m going to try them both weighted and unweighted, worked slowly along the bottom with occasional pauses and twitches.

With the blackthorn in bloom, the bass will be making their way to their summer feeding grounds, so it’s time to start thinking about testing the water.

Catch recording scheme

One of the fishing-related activities I’ve been busy with over the winter is preparing the annual report of the BASS Catch Recording Scheme. This scheme is in its third year now, and producing some interesting data. Hopefully this is of value to anglers with regard to their fishing, and in helping to bring about improvements in the management of bass stocks. If you’d like to take part in the scheme, you can find more information here,  but please note that you’ll need to be a BASS member to do so (or see the report); you can join for the modest sum of £25 here.

Talking to students

In February I was asked to talk to undergraduates at Plymouth University as part of their final year module on fish and fisheries. I thoroughly enjoyed talking about the various roles and projects I’m involved in (including my fishing!), and it was a privilege to help the marine biologists and policymakers of the future appreciate some of the issues affecting the bass fishery from a recreational anglers perspective.

All about the bass

As a follow-on from the Supper4science project I’ve been helping with the organisation of a one-day symposium at Essex University dedicated to bass.

This is very much a first for me, and not something I envisaged doing in my seventies! It’s such a privilege to be involved in what will be a very interesting and useful day. You can find more information about the symposium, and register your interest, here.

Juvenile bass surveys

I’ve also been busy preparing for the start of this year’s juvenile bass surveys, which we’re hoping to start early next month. You can find out all about these via our website, and if you’d like to help with the surveys, just leave a comment, or get in touch via the contact page on my website.

As part of this year’s surveys, we’ll be helping scientists from Plymouth University, both in collecting samples for research, and in deploying underwater cameras as part of the ‘Finvision’ project.

Looks like it’s going to be a busy summer!

All the best,

Bah, humbug! I’m not feeling much Christmas cheer at the moment! I haven’t caught a single bass since early November. Whether it’s just a series of unhappy coincidences, or something else, I’m not sure. Boat anglers seem to be catching a few here (Cornwall) – no great size though, but whether I try the coast or estuary, all I get is blanks. The netters seem to be making hay, and there seems to be plenty of bait fish (anchovies/pilchards etc) around, so I don’t know why it’s not happening for me. The other night Ian Ingram and I were treated to quite a spectacle of loads of garfish thrashing about in the water, seemingly oblivious to our lights – no bass though.

This isn’t a totally unique situation though. Take 2014 for example. Just when I was expecting the season to go out with a whimper, the (shore) fishing really took off around the time of the full moon. The photo in the featured image of this blog is from that year.

Plan B

It was December the 15th to be precise. Arriving at a favourite mark, I was greeted by the sight of  a boat laying a net right across the front of it. I won’t go into the politics of this, but I’ll just say that I was totally gutted! Not only would I have been wasting my time on the day in question, but the fishing would be that bit poorer afterwards – and not just in Cornwall either.

I traipsed back to the car. To say I was cheesed off was putting it mildly (and diplomatically!) , but I didn’t want to miss out on my fishing fix. After running through a mental map of the area, taking into account the tide and conditions, plan B was hatched.

Conditions looked good, and there was no sign of nets. Things started well, with a couple of bass to 50cm on a Z Claw surface lure. At that time I hadn’t even started using soft plastics at night – it was all plugs. One in particular which produced well was the Duel Hardcore Minnow 130F in rainbow colours – aka the ‘Joker’. He certainly wasn’t having a laugh that night, when he produced this nice 60cm bass.

It’s the same fish that appears in the featured image (you can also just make out the eyes of my then golden retriever Toby!).

That same period produced this cracking bass for fishing pal Paul Wallace on squid when we were out together, so I’m not giving up just yet!

FinVision

As part of my role as Science Lead for BASS, and also as organiser of juvenile bass surveys in Cornwall   I’m involved with the ‘FinVision’ project. This is a great opportunity to get involved in bass research by viewing and commenting on images of juvenile fish from the comfort of your own home. These are collected by novel underwater cameras being developed by Plymouth University. You can do this, and find out more about the project,  via this ‘Zooniverse’ web portal.

Bass Fisheries Management Plan

The Bass FMP has now been published. I’m still digesting this, so won’t comment yet, but feel free to share your own thoughts if you’d like to.

Devon and Severn IFCA netting consultation

D&SIFCA are consulting on the possible reintroduction of netting in the Salcombe Estuary.  If you care about bass fishing I would urge you to respond. I have made a personal submission, and ones on behalf of the Cornish Federation of Sea Anglers and the Cornwall Bass Investigations Group.

That’s about it for this month folks. Have a great Christmas and New Year. Thanks for reading the blog; it’s great to see the number of subscribers going up steadily.  If you don’t hear from me for a bit it’ll just be because I’ve run out go things to write about over the winter – but I will be back!