This is going to be the best Bass fishing season for years!
I am sure most of you are like me and itching to get out fishing again. Covid-19 may be playing havoc with our social lives and preventing us getting out fishing, but it could well have some added bonuses. We are still early in the fishing year and still a few weeks away from the start of the Bass season. Hopefully when the first Bass start to arrive in numbers we will be out of lockdown, but once we are I believe we will see one of the best Bass fishing seasons since the heydays of the 70’s. There is no way that I am saying we will see a return to the catch levels back then, when fish like this one below, caught by Tom Tarrier a couple of years ago were not uncommon, but compared to what we have experienced over the past 10 years, we should be in for a great year.
So what makes this year so special? As we are all aware the past few years have seen what many would call an attack on recreational anglers, with the introduction of a 1 bag limit and a closed season. Many have complained that recreational sea anglers have a tiny effect on the stocks compared with a single trawler and I would agree with that, if trawlers were still allowed to target the Bass, but they are not. Stringent quotas and limits on the type of boats that can fish for them and also closed seasons for commercial fishing have had a positive impact.
An increase in the size limit to 42cm has allowed tens of thousands of Bass the opportunity to breed for at least one season. This combined with the closed fishery during the breading season has had an impact that I hope will continue for many years to come.
From personal experience I have caught a lot more school Bass in the previous year than I can ever remember and almost all of those have fallen to lures. I remember on two sessions last year that between myself and my mate Gavin we had over 50 small Bass in just a few hours. The average size was 38cm, which should mean those fish will be larger this year and may well have had a season or two to breed.
This video from showing a huge shoal of Bass off the Eddystone Reef late last year, just before they headed to the spawning grounds, shows the potential stocks that we can look forward to if we continue to look after them.
Over the next few weeks I am going to let you into some of my secrets on how to catch yourself a good Bass or two this year. I will show you the small variety of lures that I use and I am even going to give you the times and locations to catch these amazing sporting fish. I will start with probably one of the most successful reasonably priced lures that I use, the Savage Gear Sandeel in White in 12.5cm. They are deadly for Pollock as well. Don’t forget to use my Amazon links when you want to buy from Amazon, it keeps the site going.
I am also delighted to say that we have been rated in the top 20 fishing sites in blog.Feedspot.com blog list
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We MAY have some fish this year if that erking great Dutch trawler isn’t around taking all the Mackerel (250 ton a day), people have been blaming the government for them being here, the reason is British trawler men are selling them their quotas, there is short sighted and then there is “sit down there while I get you a guide dog” type of blind
Early indicators are that the Mackerel are already around this year, which is back to the normal cycle. In truth the reason why the Mackerel have been later and later, is not because of over fishing for them. In fact it is the opposite. The mackerel shoals have become so huge that they have moved as far north as Iceland in to the nutrient rich and baitfish plentiful waters, that can sustain their numbers.
What ever effect this lock-down will have on Bass wont be noticeable to anglers for a few years if at all. This year won’t be alot different in numbers or size, there are no more Bass in the sea than there was in March in anything there are fewer as some commercials are still working
I Disagree with you John.
Numbers are significantly increasing because of the minimum landing size, reduction in commercial fishing and the fact that more juveniles are coming through. You fail to realise that only rod and line Bass boats are allowed to target Bass. This alone has had a significant effect on the bio-mass. Yes the true effect of all the measures won’t be felt for at least another four years, when they nursery stock become mature. However I feel that with continued measures, we will still have a Bass fishery in 10 years time.