Whats Going on?

[sam-cox]

I thought last year was bad both whether wise and the lack of decent bass. But last year I caught my first legaly sizable bass by the 15th of April with 2 fish of 38cm and 39 cm.

 

Now its the 27th of May and I have caught only 10 bass all around half a pound. Im fishing my usual shore marks with the exception of my favorite shallow water mark due to access being closed.

 

I have heard of a few better bass being caught from boats but they are few and far between.

 

The male peeler crabs seem to of finished their molt and the females are just starting, this seems early to me as the whether has been crap. Having said that the last time I was on Mats boat his echo sounders was reading 14 about right for that time of year I would of thought.

 

I went out at 04.45 this morning to fish the last two hours of the ebb at a mark that normally would produce a couple of decent bass. I caught two bass of half a pound each.

 

Im begining to dout if its going to improve very much, the 2002 year class was ment to be a very big year class. These fish should be hiting 36cm to 40cm this year, well they just aint in the places Im fishing and they really should be by now.

 

What are other people finding in their areas? I would be interested to know!

[Steve Coppolo]

I haven't started my bass campaign yet Sam. As you know, I never used to bother before June. (Starting any ear;ier just used to lead to frustration and disappointment) It's only in recent years that the bass have turned up any earlier than that in my neck of the woods. This years cold winter and crap spring will probably see things returning to what they used to be.

 

I'm not particularly worried.............................yet!

[glennk]

Similer reports right around the country m8 on all species. They are running late I think. Unless the Yorkshire Pair trawlers took all your big bass off Flambrough head. Very strange the amount of decent bass they rounded up there this winter.

[MJB]

Are they running late or have they just been arriving early in recent years?

[A Norfolk Boy]

Hi Sam, further to the info I sent you, I know of some decent fish to 6lb+ from the shore. Norfolk and N Suffolk seem to have done okay, haven't heard of that much further south. My best has been 50cm. I suspect there are several fish being caught as I know many people keep very quiet about them. Also suspect some hound activity though this weather may well have put paid to that run of fish.

[Holmesy]

I can confirm NB's comments, there have been a few hounds from the beaches in Norfolk to 8lb and I've had a Bass 6lb 4oz weighed and a pup smut. We never had too many schoolies this winter though we had a lot of codling, the winter before we had the opposite, lots of schoolies hardly any codling though the summer was crap 2005 too. Still a few codling about off Norfolk beaches if the dreaded may weed allows you to fish at distance, been a cracking winter and I reckon if we get some favourable conditions it'll be a good summer too. Edited May 27, 2006 by Holmesy

[osprey]

it seems very late this year for bass ive tried all over the blackwater sinse beginning of april and had no luck for bass im startin to think they might not even turn up at all this year, my sounder is reading about the same temp in the sea as this time last year as well

[sam-cox]

This water temp thing is what concerns me, if the fish are just late like the thornback rays were why. The water temp is correct for the time of year!

Where are all the 2002 fish that this summer would be reaching 36cm?

[Leon Roskilly]

Hmmm!

 

I wonder if they popped around the coast to South Wales and never came back?

 

http://www.swsfc.org.uk/reports7.htm

 

The larger trawlers (including those with historic entitlements) took many good catches of legal sized bass and allegedly landed up to 400 stones at a time.

 

Few fish would have made the new proposed 45cm size and much of the catch would have been below 37.5 cm legal size and dumped - believed to be as much as 80% on one inshore mark in Carmarthen Bay in August.

 

Some of this washed ashore dead.

 

The 2002 bass year class appears very prolific - currently at 20-25 cm in size.

 

2006 is likely to see this straddle the Committee/EU size of 37.5cm / 36cm respectively and give rise to enforcement issues."

 

(Note: SWSFC is one of the SFC's that have a local byelaw giving a higher mls than 36cm fortheir district, out to 6 miles)

Edited May 27, 2006 by Leon Roskilly

[chamois]

have a second hand report of an 8lb bass at hythe last week my mate has seen a picture so i think its genuine; caught on lug in the daytime apparrentely