To Catch A Big Bass

[fishfingers]

MJB, there is an easy way to tell the gender of a bass.

 

If you bass fell for something expensive and shiny, and played hard to get when you got alongside it………,wait for it,…..It was a female!

 

Seriously, this is obviously an emotive subject, which is encouraging.

 

I just wish anglers would stop wasting energy fighting each other.

 

Both those anglers who let all their Bass go, which is what I do unless they are damaged, and those who like to take the odd one for the table (within the law) have a vested interest in keeping fish stocks in the sea.

 

It’s the average voter at Tescos fish counter, who is blissfully unaware of the plight of fish stocks, and perhaps more importantly the whole marine ecosystem, that will kill the seas.

 

As a long standing member of the wildlife trust, just appreciate how hard a problem we have getting people to care about the sea bed damage done by trawlers, let alone the fish these trawls catch.

 

Without the habitat protection, its mute focussing on fish size alone, the result will be the same in the long run.

 

I would be a lot happier if some of the angling groups widened their lobbying a bit to include the whole marine ecosystem. This is not to say that some of these organisations don’t do this, its just that some of their members, due to their passion, are transfixed purely on the end product, Fish!

 

Passion is a good thing, and without it you cant achieve anything at all. It just needs to then be transformed into resolve, followed by personal action, to do any real good.

 

I do tend to spend a lot of time thinking about fish myself, as you can probably tell, and have in my past had a tendency towards environmental ‘fishism’.

 

By the way, environmental awareness is why I like the idea of kayak fishing. Plastic logs are both fuel efficient (if you don’t eat too many ‘legal size’ bass), quite, and totally recyclable.

 

I don’t know about you guys, sometimes I feel unless its cute ‘n’ fury and in Disney’s latest movie, theirs little chance for most creatures on this predominantly ‘BLUE’, not green, planet.

 

I lobby so my children’s children will have not just Bass on a spinning rod, but crabs in their buckets, puffins on their cliffs and corals on their reefs, long after I’ve gone the way of all flesh/fish.

 

‘nuff said, Fishfinger. (aka Fish Hugger)

[fishfingers]

Yakerbass, sorry for showing my age again. By Aberdeen hook I mean any light wire long shank hook. With this type of fishing you need a light hook in order that the baitfish swims without sinking or tiring to much.

 

I do use the obligatory 2/0 Kamassan for dead bait fishing frozen eels from some rock marks. These are excellent modern ‘bass’ hooks which I would also call light, its all relative.

 

I would however urge anyone from becoming complacent in their hook selection. The Kamassan have the advantage of not straightening when you need to lift fish up a long way on rock marks for safety reasons. On the other hand when you snag bottom with a hook, half the time you lose the whole rig at the point where the shock leader joins.

 

If I have a net with me or know I can get to the water, I use Mustad Aberdeen’s, as you pointed out you can straighten these hooks on snags but better this than loose your whole pulley rig and spent 20 minutes before your fishing again.

 

If your giving a fish so much stick that you straighten a Mustad Aberdeen in the fight from a kayak I would suggest better drag setting, lighter tackle and more patience.

 

(I get too excited more times than I would care to admit, and I have straightened hooks in fish before now.)

 

As far as big fish baits are concerned for bass. It would appear all the ‘really’ big fish do tend to fall for fish baits intended for other species. The topic was aimed at guidance on catching mature, sporting bass say 5lb to 10lb, and avoiding schoolies.

 

If you want to catch a record bass then I would whole heartedly agree with your comments about mackerel heads and squid, problem is there will either be a lot of either fishless days, ,hundreds of dogfish, or some very fat crabs before you bag your record. I’m not that patient but respect to the man who is, he deserves his record fish.

 

Fishfingers.

[finn17]

Great tip Mr Fingers! I look forward to trying it out

[Prowler]

Thank you for this topic FishFinger, a real pleasure to read.

Edited July 27, 2006 by Prowler

[Starvinmarvin]

I can't wait for Simon Everett to come back can you imagine the length of some of these threads :D

 

Joking aside, some good points by all.

 

Fishfingers, if your as keen to save BASS for future generations hope your a member of B.A.S.S. a worthy organisation for all Bass fishermen to join.

 

SM

[GB]

Hi Fishfingers

 

Welcome aboard.

 

I read with interest your method of using 1 large and 1 small hook for livebaiting (we call it hair rigging) I use this method from the shore as a livebait does not stay live for long after even a modest cast. However there is little advantage in using this method when afloat as the extra weight of the large hook causes too much drag. If targeted correctly a live bait will not blow when reeled in from a modest depth and if handled and stored correctly will stay fresh long enough to catch bass.

 

Have you tried using smaller hooks for the sandeel, the comercial rod and line bass fishermen use hooks such as drennan specialist and kamasan B983 in sizes 8-2.

 

Also wire traces however fine are at the moment no match for supple mono's and fluoro's, try amnesia, berkely vanish, drennan double strength or berkely trileene.

[kishkash]

lol - i just love threads about Bass

 

heres a thought, if we fish them into extinction maybe it will allow a better and bigger specimen to take position in the food chain for our future generations

 

studied any Darwin?

 

how did the "current" uk Bass get here

 

lol

[Zzippy]

lol - i just love threads about Bass

 

heres a thought, if we fish them into extinction maybe it will allow a better and bigger specimen to take position in the food chain for our future generations

 

studied any Darwin?

 

how did the "current" uk Bass get here

 

lol

 

Errrrrrrrr....Dont tell me....SWAM

[kishkash]

with a lickle flick of his tail i bet he did!

 

has anyone joined B.L.E.N.N.Y?

[Simon Everett]

Just one or two pointers - bass don't have teeth at all, they have boney plates.

36cm bass have not yet spawned - at all.

To preserve stocks you should release all bass below 55cms and all bass above 60cms - that equates to keeping fish in the 4lb - 5lb bracket ONLY. Everything else should be returned. That way we can reconstruct a natural population balance. At the moment the stock is heavily oversubscribed in the 36cm - 42cm bracket. As has been proven with other species all over the globe, if you have a minimum size that is below the mean size of the population spread then you will chase the size down to that.

The commercials are hitting the bass as soon as they venture out of the nursery protection areas - and then again when the mature fish gather for spawning. They are taking from both ends at the same time - and you don't need to be a scientist to know what happens if you light the candle at both ends.....

 

It is heartening to read of fellow conservationists keen to encourage restraint when it comes to taking the odd fish for the table - but make it one that has spawned. Be a good fellow, don't go round encouraging folks to keep small bass - given a chace our bass should be averaging 5lbs in weight, not the 1.5lbs currently experienced.