Fishing for sea bass

[DeeGee]

[ QUOTE ]
any tips? Is there a season or is it possible all year round?

[/ QUOTE ]Textbook reply: they can be caught all year round but tend to move around, and quite quickly, so an hour can mean you are in the wrong/right spot. They like churned up water, and will even go catching (they are predators) in the surf of a beach/shoreline, hence can be found where water moving quickly and rocks, etc.

That is the textbook answer... but I have never bloody well caught one. Duncan was going to give me some stuff from his old magazines, but he forgot (nb Duncan.... !!).

I have caught loads of mackerel, trying to catch SB, they are not a close second best. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[Seven Spades]

I tried trailing a lure attached to a paravane, all the way to the West Country and back and all I got was tons of Mackerel. I was told by a fishing shop that I needed bigger lures, I can't say if that is correct as I lost them on the way from the shop to the boat /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[srp]

Rag worm or sand eel trailed behind a slow moving boat. Or an artificial sand eel (we used to call them Mevagissy eels) works well. I've also had success with a weighted lure - can't remember what its called, but its about 3" long, 3/8" wide with sparkly blue colour each side and a treble hook, which we cast and retrieve from a drifting boat. A nice calm June evening on a spring tide anywhere between Bembridge Harbour and Ryde pier seemed to bring the best results, often quite close to the shore. A light rod and a reel set so the clutch slipped a bit so you don't snap the line, and don't forget the landing net, and a dry rag to hold the bass while you get the hook out - the dorsal fin has got viscious spikes. Make sure you stick to the size limit -Defra say 40cms from April 2007 but the NFSA recommend 41 cms I think.

 

[duncan]

[ QUOTE ]
That is the textbook answer... but I have never bloody well caught one. Duncan was going to give me some stuff from his old magazines, but he forgot (nb Duncan.... !!).

[/ QUOTE ]

fair cop - the mags have all got home, and about 6 articles have been culled so far. just another 60 mags to go through.

will be just in time for next season!

 

[TheBoatman]

Well done that man!!!!

They are BASS not Sea Bass.

Flashy restaurants and yanks call 'em sea bass.

For Jimi
Don't bother to fish for them until the Lilac is in flower.
Best baits are sand eel & "joey" mackerel.

Peter.

 

[tonyg]

According to an old video on fishing for bass, you find the mackeral and drop the lure right down through them because the bass are underneath the shoal, munching away. problem is, getting through the macks.

 

[Clive_Rigden]

I've caught bass on a towed mackerel line several times. the first one i caught was quite small and it was only when I grasped it that I realised it wasn't a amkerel - Gosh those spines!