Being sat in a tackle shop i get to see an awful lot of people who are going fishing but it never fails to amaze me how many folks don't take the swell, wind and tidal conditions into account when deciding where and when to go.
With this in mind i figured i should share the tools i use to help me.
In my opinion, the biggest step an occasional angler can make is to go from "were going on a Friday night because that's when we always go" to optimizing there fishing time and going when the tides and conditions are the best. Don't get me wrong, i personally don't have all the time in the world to go fishing. Six days a week i'm out of the house for around ten and a half hours and like everyone else, i have to make time for my family. On average i try to get at least two session's a week, maybe more if we are catching fish but there are plenty weeks that I'll not bother at all. I've given up flogging dead horses. If it's not worth going, it's not worth going. My point though is that you need to think about the best times to going as opposed to just going for the sake of it. Maybe try going for 2 short session's as opposed to one marathon.
At the start of every week I'll get together with woody and have a good look through the time and size of the tide's, the speed and direction of the wind and the general weather conditions. We'll then throw in a few idea's of where is likely to fish in the given condition's for that day but the critical thing is that we never commit to fishing any mark on any day but more make a general plan and then see how thing's pan out with the weather and wind and then make a decision on the day. You all know how thing's can quickly change from what was forecast earlier on in the week.
I try not pay a great deal of attention to one website for weather condtions but more look around several sites and try to build up my own picture of what i think will happen.
Below are a list of sites i use to try and predict what i think will happen and thus plan my week's fishing from there.
Magic Seaweed is the site i spend the most time looking at. It gives you the swell, the wind speed and direction, the tide sizes and times and a general overview of the weather. There are also eyeball reports of many beaches where users of the site upload the real time conditions that they see right in front of them. They also have a good selection of webcams (but generally only on the North coast beaches) which helps even more. One tip i would give you is that the swell and wave height are rarely correct. The general size is always accurate but they are measured on offshore wave buoy's and it tends to lose a bit of it's sting by the time it reaches the shore. My personal method is to knock a third off of the wave height and that is normally about right. They also have an excellent app that is easy to use and seems to be more reliable then some other weather app's.
Fishing wx is another site that gives you an awful lot of information. You have a quick overview of the week and then a much more detailed look at everyday. Weather wise it seems to be the most accurate site i look at but if anything it tends to be on the optimistic side. Again, it is easy to navigate but the site itself can be frustrating as sometimes it takes an age to load pages and sometimes doesn't bother at all. It's worth persevering with though.
Wind Guru is worth cross checking with the above sites for the wind speed and direction. Just try not to pay a great deal of attention to the gust speed's under the main wind speed as not matter what is happening, it seems to love giving silly gust speeds which rarely come to fruition. They also have a great app that is well worth a download.
Tiger24 has some very useful webcams if you fish the North coast. But for a reason unbeknown to me, if i leave a tab open for a while it seems to crash my browser every time, without fail. I don't know if anyone else suffers with this but the website is definitely safe-I've just put it down to a flash conflict.
Now I can't tell you when the best time to be going to your selected venue are but it always pay's to make mental notes when the fish come on and when they go off. The more you persevere with a mark the knowledge you will build of it and the less time you will waste waiting for the fish.
With the bloody forecast we have had to cancel our trip to Chesil again this weekend. But it's not the end of the world. The sea is getting up and the wind is picking up. As I've said in a previous blog, there is nothing better then fishing in a 10ft sea and 30mph southwesterly and if I'm being honest, i was a little bit gutted to be missing out on my favorite conditions. Hopefully in my next blog you'll be seeing some pictures of the lunker Bass we have hauled out.
If any of you guy's have any other websites you use for session planning feel free to let me know in the comments and I'll update the blog.
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Friday, 28 October 2011
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Dedication and perseverance paid off
With Woody catching that that ray last week we've been eagerly awaiting the wind and swell to ease back so we could get back out on them.
Last night was pretty much the first night the conditions were sensible enough to go and after checking the webcams at various intervals throughout the day a last minute call was made to go for it.
The only issue was the late tide. It was low water at 23:00 and with the fact that most of the North coast surf beaches are flatter then a ballet dancers tit's it would have been futile to try and fish the dropping tide. So we arranged for me to pick Woody up at 20:45 and after a 15 minute drive and a slow set up we'd be into the slacker part of the tide and it wouldn't be too bad chasing it down the beach.
I'm not usually to keen on arranging trips to go out later because after a hard day at the shop drinking coffee and smoking fag's I'm usually worm out and the moment i sit down that's the end any aspirations of going fishing. That coupled with a massive roast dinner the Mrs had waiting for me when i got home meant i was firmly glued to the sofa with little chance of moving.
But with a couple packs of Eel in the cool box and the chance of ray i somehow managed to haul my arse off of the sofa and get my gear sorted. It wasn't too much of a mission as my TSR's we still on my rod's from the last session and my beach bumbag was still loaded with all of the gear i needed. With the big tides and reasonable swell though i decided it would be fool hardy to try and fish two rod's. As much as i like to fish two rod's sometimes it's just better to concede that fishing one rod can, not only be easier but also be more productive. With any year's experience of fishing the beach we were going to i knew full well that on a big tide, with reasonable swell there would be a big surge which would mean wading the best part of 100 yards casting, and walking back and leaving an unattended rod for the best part of 5 minutes. Forgetting to loosen the drag and getting a good run could well result in seaward bound rod.
So, by 21:00 we were in the car park, waders on, jacket on, bumbag on, hat on and headlight on. A quick look down over the beach showed the tide was miles away, a bit more swell then there had been earlier and a fair amount of weed on the high tide line with other bits spread down the beach. I wasn't massively happy but I popped my rod together and set off for the beach to be called back. Guess which numb skull had brought the butt section of a zippy HSM and the tip section of a Century TTSM? I'll give you a clue.....It wasn't me! So back to car, all the gear off back out of the car park and back to Woody's house to get a matching rod section. Not a great start but these thing's are sent to test us. It was very tempting to say bugger it and go home as losing half an hour of what was always due to be short, hard session wasn't ideal.
By around 21:30 we were actually ready to go and quickly walked to our preferred spot. As we had thought there was a massive surge running and there was bound to be a hefty left to right pull. A southerly wind would also put a bit a left wind bow in the line. Common sense, something woody obviously lack's, then dictated a walk left from the sand spikes, wade left and a long cast left. This seemed to work perfectly as, the time we were back at the sand spikes it seemed to be nice and straight.
That first 5 or 10 minutes after your first cast is probably my favourite time of time any session. You've missioned to the mark, got hurriedly set up and baited up and cast out but you can then chill out, spark one up and crack a tin of Strongbow. But unfortunately that time didn't last too long. My tip bent right over to be follwed by a couple of short bounces. It certainly didn't look like a bite so picked the rod up of a few second's which only compounded my first though-weed. It's not what you want after the mission we had just had, you've waded out miles, cast even further, just started to relax and then you've got to bring the bugger in and go through it all again.
"not to worry" i though to myself. I always like to check my first cast fairly quickly to see how my rigs are doing in the condition's and if i need to make any adjustments, so i would have checked it soon after anyway. It's always far more annoying getting weed though when your raying as it's always difficult to tell for certain if it's weed or if it's a ray as a big lump of weed can catch in the rip and feel very much like a fish. Anyway, it was weed and my rig was perfect so i strapped another eel on and cast back out again.
Next was woody with more weed, then me, then him, I'm sure you get the picture. It was worth persevering though as we were fast approaching slack water at the bottom of the tide which would mean less rip, less wading and hopefully less weed.
Then around 20 minutes from the bottom of the tide Woody had the same tapping we had been getting for the last hour or so but then it went right. And not just a touch right put well right. It had to be a ray. A good little scrap later resulted in another fine double for Woody.
The Small eyed population has really suffered in recent years. For whatever reason they have been very few and far between for the last few years. Whether it's commercial activity or just a natural cycle i don't know but either way, you don't see to many big small eye's anymore so this one was again released after a quick weigh and a couple of pictures.
As a good fishing buddy does i spent 10 minutes or so helping Woody land it, weigh it and takes some pictures whilst trying to keep an eye on my rod. Bite detection was difficult when we were stood under the rod's which made it pretty much impossible from 20 yards away. On returning to my rod's my line was slacker then a prostitutes knicker elastic and well right-a ray...but a quick strike gave no resistance and no fish. It must have been a ray as there was no sign of weed on my line but sometimes you've got to accept your going to miss a few. Given the choice of my mate losing a good ray in the surge whilst i stood by my rod or helping him and risk missing a fish I'd be helping him out every time, but he would do, and has done the same for me.
Within a couple of minutes of my next cast a small but obvious bite resulted in my first Turbot of the year.He was in size so could have come home with me but this is another fish you don't see to many of so it was nice to see him swimming away after I'd managed to safely get the 5/0 Sakuma manta out of his greedy little gob. He's next to a 7oz long tail Gemini lead to give the picture a bit of perspective.
The next cast highlighted why you need to be careful on a beach. I was very close to grabbing this little weaver fish before i noticed it. A sting from this fellow would have meant the end of the night. Funnily enough he was hooked fair and square in the mouth but he was smaller then my hooks so it was an obvious fluke and I'd probably picked him up on the retrieve.
Next up was a dog fish. I've said before that i never mind catching doggies but this one was particularly upsetting as it had a bit of weed on it and i was certain it was a ray. Especially when i picked it up with my headlight in the surge and saw the orange eyes staring back at me. With the weight and the eye's i was certain it was my first small eye of the season. I couldn't have been more gutted. But that was species number four for the night and fish number 3 (or 2 really) for me.
Last but not least I had a small Bass. Just over minimum but yet another species for the night. 5 species on a beach at the end of October!!! Then around midnight it started to rain. It was a shame as we were looking forward to the pushing tide but with the wind, the weed, the rain, the rip, the time and the tide it would have been too much to carry on.
It just goes to show that if you put the effort in and persevre when the going get's tough you can often get the rewards. Yet again i didn't catch a ray which is a bit gutting but we fish in a partnership so really it doesn't matter who catches the fish as long as we catch fish. Our next session is going to be up at Chesil, when we go away this weekend. Expect a good report from that too!
Last night was pretty much the first night the conditions were sensible enough to go and after checking the webcams at various intervals throughout the day a last minute call was made to go for it.
The only issue was the late tide. It was low water at 23:00 and with the fact that most of the North coast surf beaches are flatter then a ballet dancers tit's it would have been futile to try and fish the dropping tide. So we arranged for me to pick Woody up at 20:45 and after a 15 minute drive and a slow set up we'd be into the slacker part of the tide and it wouldn't be too bad chasing it down the beach.
I'm not usually to keen on arranging trips to go out later because after a hard day at the shop drinking coffee and smoking fag's I'm usually worm out and the moment i sit down that's the end any aspirations of going fishing. That coupled with a massive roast dinner the Mrs had waiting for me when i got home meant i was firmly glued to the sofa with little chance of moving.
But with a couple packs of Eel in the cool box and the chance of ray i somehow managed to haul my arse off of the sofa and get my gear sorted. It wasn't too much of a mission as my TSR's we still on my rod's from the last session and my beach bumbag was still loaded with all of the gear i needed. With the big tides and reasonable swell though i decided it would be fool hardy to try and fish two rod's. As much as i like to fish two rod's sometimes it's just better to concede that fishing one rod can, not only be easier but also be more productive. With any year's experience of fishing the beach we were going to i knew full well that on a big tide, with reasonable swell there would be a big surge which would mean wading the best part of 100 yards casting, and walking back and leaving an unattended rod for the best part of 5 minutes. Forgetting to loosen the drag and getting a good run could well result in seaward bound rod.
So, by 21:00 we were in the car park, waders on, jacket on, bumbag on, hat on and headlight on. A quick look down over the beach showed the tide was miles away, a bit more swell then there had been earlier and a fair amount of weed on the high tide line with other bits spread down the beach. I wasn't massively happy but I popped my rod together and set off for the beach to be called back. Guess which numb skull had brought the butt section of a zippy HSM and the tip section of a Century TTSM? I'll give you a clue.....It wasn't me! So back to car, all the gear off back out of the car park and back to Woody's house to get a matching rod section. Not a great start but these thing's are sent to test us. It was very tempting to say bugger it and go home as losing half an hour of what was always due to be short, hard session wasn't ideal.
By around 21:30 we were actually ready to go and quickly walked to our preferred spot. As we had thought there was a massive surge running and there was bound to be a hefty left to right pull. A southerly wind would also put a bit a left wind bow in the line. Common sense, something woody obviously lack's, then dictated a walk left from the sand spikes, wade left and a long cast left. This seemed to work perfectly as, the time we were back at the sand spikes it seemed to be nice and straight.
That first 5 or 10 minutes after your first cast is probably my favourite time of time any session. You've missioned to the mark, got hurriedly set up and baited up and cast out but you can then chill out, spark one up and crack a tin of Strongbow. But unfortunately that time didn't last too long. My tip bent right over to be follwed by a couple of short bounces. It certainly didn't look like a bite so picked the rod up of a few second's which only compounded my first though-weed. It's not what you want after the mission we had just had, you've waded out miles, cast even further, just started to relax and then you've got to bring the bugger in and go through it all again.
"not to worry" i though to myself. I always like to check my first cast fairly quickly to see how my rigs are doing in the condition's and if i need to make any adjustments, so i would have checked it soon after anyway. It's always far more annoying getting weed though when your raying as it's always difficult to tell for certain if it's weed or if it's a ray as a big lump of weed can catch in the rip and feel very much like a fish. Anyway, it was weed and my rig was perfect so i strapped another eel on and cast back out again.
Next was woody with more weed, then me, then him, I'm sure you get the picture. It was worth persevering though as we were fast approaching slack water at the bottom of the tide which would mean less rip, less wading and hopefully less weed.
Then around 20 minutes from the bottom of the tide Woody had the same tapping we had been getting for the last hour or so but then it went right. And not just a touch right put well right. It had to be a ray. A good little scrap later resulted in another fine double for Woody.
As a good fishing buddy does i spent 10 minutes or so helping Woody land it, weigh it and takes some pictures whilst trying to keep an eye on my rod. Bite detection was difficult when we were stood under the rod's which made it pretty much impossible from 20 yards away. On returning to my rod's my line was slacker then a prostitutes knicker elastic and well right-a ray...but a quick strike gave no resistance and no fish. It must have been a ray as there was no sign of weed on my line but sometimes you've got to accept your going to miss a few. Given the choice of my mate losing a good ray in the surge whilst i stood by my rod or helping him and risk missing a fish I'd be helping him out every time, but he would do, and has done the same for me.
It just goes to show that if you put the effort in and persevre when the going get's tough you can often get the rewards. Yet again i didn't catch a ray which is a bit gutting but we fish in a partnership so really it doesn't matter who catches the fish as long as we catch fish. Our next session is going to be up at Chesil, when we go away this weekend. Expect a good report from that too!
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Hedge your bet's with bait and tackle selection
I can Safely say that Bass are my primary target fish. Once you have the Bassing bug it can stay with you a lifetime and for many angler's-it has.
One thing all anglers should always be aware of, especially when you expect the fishing for your target species is likely to be slow, is what other species are likely to be on your chosen mark and then making slight changes to you usual tactic's. Of course you need to keep "what if i hook into a biggy" in mind so you don't want to go silly but a shorter cast, a drop in hook sizes or a drop in bait sizes can result in a fish you didn't even know were there.
On the beaches that me and my buddy fish there are plenty of other species to think about.
Turbot are common, though it's rare to catch a good size fish from the beach. The better Turbot generally come from deep water headlands. When targeting Bass using sand eel on a beach there is always a chance of a turbot and the bigger hooks don't usual deter them and they only tend to appear when it's a little flat. If I'm looking for a turbot I'd fish slightly longer traces then i normally would, cast a little further, drop down from 5/0's to 3/0's and cut the head and tail off of my sand eel to make slightly smaller bait. This then gives you a better chance if there are any Turbot on the beach but you will still quite happily catch Bass.
Plaice / Sole / Flounder are also reasonably abundant on the North coast beaches at certain times of year. I've grouped them together as they all tend to be caught when using Lug. Me and my fishing buddy have a blanket ban on using Lug worm from beach. It certainly results in more bites but catching bigger Bass on Lug worm is rare. Again, you'd want to drop a couple of sizes on your hooks to maximize you chances on the flatties but still be able to land a Bass. Maybe try using a strong 1/0 instead of a 3/0.
But for me the primary species to hedge your bet's for are small eyed ray. These shark descendants are hard fighting and can often go on spectacular runs. But more then tackle the primary thing to consider is location rather then tackle. There are certain beached that seem to hold Ray and others that don't. I don't know why but that's what i have found. My own opinion is that the topography of the bigger beaches, with there stronger tides and rip's must just suit them better. Unless your lucky your going to have to find these venues yourself but fishing any of the North coast's big, flat beaches would be a good start. I slightly hedge my bet's on tackle in that i would use a short 40lb trace as opposed to 30lb and stick with one rod on eel. Where possible i would try and use a plain lead as Ray's are bottom feeders and can spook from a bait if they feel the grip wires but you'll have to suck it and see with that. Personally i have done better on the bigger tides when there is a bit of sea running so using a plain lead is impossible. Using a Pyramid lead is a viable alternative though. The main thing is that Bass also like large eels so you've got just as much chance of catching a big Bass as you do that ray. In fact my PB bass (8lb 2oz) was caught on a night i was hedging my bet's whilst my fishing buddy had a lovely ray on the same bait, rig and tactics.
Last night was a great example. We went to a beach that, with the tides and conditions we had, we knew there was a good chance of Ray as well as a Bass so instead of fishing all out for the Bass with squid on both rod's we both upped our usual traces to 40lb, slightly shorted them and stuck with large eel on one all night. This resulted in 5 small Bass around 2lb between us and this fantastic Small Eye for Woody that tipped my digi's at 10lb 11oz and was safely released to swim another day after a superb fight.
So give it a try. Have a think and see what you can change.
One thing all anglers should always be aware of, especially when you expect the fishing for your target species is likely to be slow, is what other species are likely to be on your chosen mark and then making slight changes to you usual tactic's. Of course you need to keep "what if i hook into a biggy" in mind so you don't want to go silly but a shorter cast, a drop in hook sizes or a drop in bait sizes can result in a fish you didn't even know were there.
On the beaches that me and my buddy fish there are plenty of other species to think about.
Turbot are common, though it's rare to catch a good size fish from the beach. The better Turbot generally come from deep water headlands. When targeting Bass using sand eel on a beach there is always a chance of a turbot and the bigger hooks don't usual deter them and they only tend to appear when it's a little flat. If I'm looking for a turbot I'd fish slightly longer traces then i normally would, cast a little further, drop down from 5/0's to 3/0's and cut the head and tail off of my sand eel to make slightly smaller bait. This then gives you a better chance if there are any Turbot on the beach but you will still quite happily catch Bass.
Plaice / Sole / Flounder are also reasonably abundant on the North coast beaches at certain times of year. I've grouped them together as they all tend to be caught when using Lug. Me and my fishing buddy have a blanket ban on using Lug worm from beach. It certainly results in more bites but catching bigger Bass on Lug worm is rare. Again, you'd want to drop a couple of sizes on your hooks to maximize you chances on the flatties but still be able to land a Bass. Maybe try using a strong 1/0 instead of a 3/0.
But for me the primary species to hedge your bet's for are small eyed ray. These shark descendants are hard fighting and can often go on spectacular runs. But more then tackle the primary thing to consider is location rather then tackle. There are certain beached that seem to hold Ray and others that don't. I don't know why but that's what i have found. My own opinion is that the topography of the bigger beaches, with there stronger tides and rip's must just suit them better. Unless your lucky your going to have to find these venues yourself but fishing any of the North coast's big, flat beaches would be a good start. I slightly hedge my bet's on tackle in that i would use a short 40lb trace as opposed to 30lb and stick with one rod on eel. Where possible i would try and use a plain lead as Ray's are bottom feeders and can spook from a bait if they feel the grip wires but you'll have to suck it and see with that. Personally i have done better on the bigger tides when there is a bit of sea running so using a plain lead is impossible. Using a Pyramid lead is a viable alternative though. The main thing is that Bass also like large eels so you've got just as much chance of catching a big Bass as you do that ray. In fact my PB bass (8lb 2oz) was caught on a night i was hedging my bet's whilst my fishing buddy had a lovely ray on the same bait, rig and tactics.
So give it a try. Have a think and see what you can change.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Rock mark Bass fishing
Whilst Bass seem to be an elusive species for many an angler i am blessed to live in county that holds these aggressive predators in abundance.
I'm not usually an angler that like's to set myself a target but this year i decided to try and catch Bass every month of the year. We are now obviously most of the way through that year and i am happy to report that, up until now, i have landed several Bass every month. February and March were the 2 months that i was most worried about but both passed without issue. It was just a case of being in the right place at the right time.
In this blog i'll be trying to offer a few pointers to those that wish to have a go at catching Bass from the rocks.
Mark selection:
Without doubt my favorite time of the year to be out Bassing is from now until early December. As much as i like the space and flexibility of being on a beach i am yet to come close to anything that surpasses the adrenaline rush of being out fishing on rock mark in an Autumn storm. The fish tend to drop into deeper water in bigger swell's as it is just too messy for the fish to be inside.
As a rule you are looking for rock marks that on either side of a beach and behind the swell. It is also going to need to be high enough to offer protection from the swell but also low enough to be able to land and return fish.
The main thing's that we are looking for at this time of year are pounding sea's, that not only can you hear and see but you can actually feel and strong Southwest winds. The kind of winds that would make most pleasure angler's think more of being tucked up indoor rather then being out Bassing. But yet another blessing of our Cornish coast is that in effect we have 3 coastlines to choose from: North, South and west, so no matter where the wind is blowing from we are able to shelter from it.
Safety is by far and away the most important thing to think of if you looking at going out rock mark Bassing. You will already know the sea can be a savage, unpredictable and unforgiving thing so it's just not worth taking any risk's. No fish is worth risking your life for. Year's of experience usually dictate where we go, in what conditions and at what state of tide but those of you without that knowledge really need to going with someone that does. Even now we spend a good 10 minutes surveying the mark we intend to fish from high above to ensure it's going to be safe. This is not really the type of angling for an inexperienced angler.
Tackle:
The gear you are using is also going to be very important. When your casting a lead and bait into 8ft+ sea's a light beach rod is never going to cut the mustard. I use 7oz long tail gemini grip leads (I'll save the details on why for another blog) as anything smaller risk's popping out and being washed onto the rocks in minutes. When this is coupled with a whole squid bait your looking at a good 8oz so a good rod capable of casting that weight is essential. Another point to bear in mind is that you are going to have to lift the fish, usually 20 - 30 ft, so a bit of backbone is required as well.
My preference on the rod's front are my trusty AWB'S. They have a sensitive enough tip to pick up a fish fart but more then enough grunt to haul a 6lb'er straight up. I then couple these with a pair of Torium 14's. These are tough old reel's and although they dont have the out and out casting ability of a TSR they have a vastly superior drag and much more winching power. I have winched 5lb Bass straight up without stopping many a time. You just couldn't do that with a 6500. Penn 525's are what my fishing buddy uses and these are equally capable. These are loaded up with 20lb Ultima F1 and a 40ft 60lb leader.
Terminal tackle wises i prefer to use pulley rig's. I like the ability to clip down bait's. It not only adds distance but it help you stay tangle free. I use 60lb rig body and 40lb amnesia for the trace. I'm a big fan of breakaway imps too (now that they have returned back to the original design) as opposed to using leads with inbuilt clips-they just don't give you the versatility and imp does. A pair of Sakuma 540 manta's in a 5/0 then complete my rig. These are strong, wide gaped hook's that have never let me down.
Bait:
Bigger bait's = bigger Bass. It's as simple as that. The mainstay of my fishing is unwashed squid. It's big and it's smelly but it certainly does pick the bigger fish out. There are of course situations where you just cant use fish bait....When the dreaded dog's turn up. My favorite haunt has been plagued with dog fish of late and any fish bait has resulted in a dog within minutes. I never begrudge catching any fish but when your out there targeting bass it can get extremely frustrating. So we have had to switch to lug worm which seems to be the only bait the dog's will leave alone. This has resulted in lots more bites, an awful lot them missed. This is due to the smaller fish being able to take the smaller baits but at least using 5/0's tends to stop the hooking up.
Then it's just down to time. Like any other form of fishing, the more time you have to put into it the better result's you likely to get.
Thanks for looking and keep an eye out of my future blog's. I'll try and differ from the usual fishing blog's just giving reports and general advice in that i'll be going into more finite details about tackle and bait that most blog's wouldn't cover.
I'm not usually an angler that like's to set myself a target but this year i decided to try and catch Bass every month of the year. We are now obviously most of the way through that year and i am happy to report that, up until now, i have landed several Bass every month. February and March were the 2 months that i was most worried about but both passed without issue. It was just a case of being in the right place at the right time.
In this blog i'll be trying to offer a few pointers to those that wish to have a go at catching Bass from the rocks.
Mark selection:
Without doubt my favorite time of the year to be out Bassing is from now until early December. As much as i like the space and flexibility of being on a beach i am yet to come close to anything that surpasses the adrenaline rush of being out fishing on rock mark in an Autumn storm. The fish tend to drop into deeper water in bigger swell's as it is just too messy for the fish to be inside.
As a rule you are looking for rock marks that on either side of a beach and behind the swell. It is also going to need to be high enough to offer protection from the swell but also low enough to be able to land and return fish.
The main thing's that we are looking for at this time of year are pounding sea's, that not only can you hear and see but you can actually feel and strong Southwest winds. The kind of winds that would make most pleasure angler's think more of being tucked up indoor rather then being out Bassing. But yet another blessing of our Cornish coast is that in effect we have 3 coastlines to choose from: North, South and west, so no matter where the wind is blowing from we are able to shelter from it.
Safety is by far and away the most important thing to think of if you looking at going out rock mark Bassing. You will already know the sea can be a savage, unpredictable and unforgiving thing so it's just not worth taking any risk's. No fish is worth risking your life for. Year's of experience usually dictate where we go, in what conditions and at what state of tide but those of you without that knowledge really need to going with someone that does. Even now we spend a good 10 minutes surveying the mark we intend to fish from high above to ensure it's going to be safe. This is not really the type of angling for an inexperienced angler.
Tackle:
The gear you are using is also going to be very important. When your casting a lead and bait into 8ft+ sea's a light beach rod is never going to cut the mustard. I use 7oz long tail gemini grip leads (I'll save the details on why for another blog) as anything smaller risk's popping out and being washed onto the rocks in minutes. When this is coupled with a whole squid bait your looking at a good 8oz so a good rod capable of casting that weight is essential. Another point to bear in mind is that you are going to have to lift the fish, usually 20 - 30 ft, so a bit of backbone is required as well.
My preference on the rod's front are my trusty AWB'S. They have a sensitive enough tip to pick up a fish fart but more then enough grunt to haul a 6lb'er straight up. I then couple these with a pair of Torium 14's. These are tough old reel's and although they dont have the out and out casting ability of a TSR they have a vastly superior drag and much more winching power. I have winched 5lb Bass straight up without stopping many a time. You just couldn't do that with a 6500. Penn 525's are what my fishing buddy uses and these are equally capable. These are loaded up with 20lb Ultima F1 and a 40ft 60lb leader.
Terminal tackle wises i prefer to use pulley rig's. I like the ability to clip down bait's. It not only adds distance but it help you stay tangle free. I use 60lb rig body and 40lb amnesia for the trace. I'm a big fan of breakaway imps too (now that they have returned back to the original design) as opposed to using leads with inbuilt clips-they just don't give you the versatility and imp does. A pair of Sakuma 540 manta's in a 5/0 then complete my rig. These are strong, wide gaped hook's that have never let me down.
Bait:
Bigger bait's = bigger Bass. It's as simple as that. The mainstay of my fishing is unwashed squid. It's big and it's smelly but it certainly does pick the bigger fish out. There are of course situations where you just cant use fish bait....When the dreaded dog's turn up. My favorite haunt has been plagued with dog fish of late and any fish bait has resulted in a dog within minutes. I never begrudge catching any fish but when your out there targeting bass it can get extremely frustrating. So we have had to switch to lug worm which seems to be the only bait the dog's will leave alone. This has resulted in lots more bites, an awful lot them missed. This is due to the smaller fish being able to take the smaller baits but at least using 5/0's tends to stop the hooking up.
Then it's just down to time. Like any other form of fishing, the more time you have to put into it the better result's you likely to get.
Thanks for looking and keep an eye out of my future blog's. I'll try and differ from the usual fishing blog's just giving reports and general advice in that i'll be going into more finite details about tackle and bait that most blog's wouldn't cover.
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