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Big Bass

Chris Turnbull

Senior Member
Getting a bit salty here.

Last summer I caught the bass bug. While I had lots of small fish, I eventually started sorting out the bigger ones, or more precisely, I managed to hook but then drop off two big fish, due to hook pulls when using fresh mackerel heads as bait. My brother eventually found his way around this by fishing with the open bale arm open, with a loop of line pulled under a rubber band on the rod handle. This allowed the fish to run with the bait and resulted in better hookholds, rewarding him with two fish of 6.03 and a 10.04.

Next summer I'm intending to get seriously focused on catch a few big bass myself. Any input and ideas will be appreciated!
 
Down here livebaiting mackerel is easily the most effective method for the bigger bass although we often suffered hook pulls which observation showed were down to the hook being turned back into the mackerel when the bass hit them head first, which they invariably did.

One trick that has worked brilliantly was changing to Partridge double pike hooks like these which ensured that even if the hook was turned the bass still got hooked as the other point would then catch them. Unfortunately Partridge have stopped hook manufacture and we have run out so we now make them up ourselves.

5430NEW.JPG
 
That's really helpful Nigel. I was discussing the possibility with my brother of livebaiting with at least one rod next summer. What about trebles?..... though I was told they resulted in a number of deeply hooked fish. It's all new to me but terribly exciting?
 
I gave bass fishing a go when living in Suffolk and I guess that snook and pompano fishing over here is not too dissimilar.

Never got to grips with a big bass but have pictures of 10lb fish that a friend seemed to consistently get.

Apart from the bait think of it as margin fishing, only the far bank is really a long way away. Find the closest trough to the beach, I just used to walk out in waders and once it is knee depth you are good to go.

I would steer away from trebles going down the larger hook path. These fish are far from tackle shy. I guess that is one of the biggest mindset changes for freshwater fisherman making the transition to surf fishing, well I know it is mine. We have all these ideas about presentation that basically need to get thrown out of the window when you add salinity.
 
I don't think you're wrong about hook sizes Andy. I was using Sakuma 545 in 6/0. As I said I dropped two fish on them (missed one too) while by brother landed two on the same hooks. Both of us sufferred the problem of having the hook twist back into the bait. Its a bit of a steep learning curve, though I think some of my pike fishing experience is going to be useful when using live and deabaits.
 
I'm with Andy where trebles are concerned when bass fishing.

We had some fascinating night fishing from a local pier where the lights meant we could often see the bass and their reactions to baits, flies lures etc. Often when we were using freelined livebaits the bass would warily eye them before one would eventually decide to attack the bait. The unusual bit was what frequently happened next when the bass would eject the bait and let it descend and settle on the seabed. It would followed down afer a while - sometimes several minutes - where it would be circled slowly before being gingerly picked up by the bass that originally hit it. We never saw another bass come in and take the bait, it was always the same fish that had attacked it in the first place.

Having never viewed this sort of behaviour from bass elsewhere, we put it down to wariness arising from angling pressure but we couldn't be certain. (We practice C&R so it could well have been learned behaviour) It was certainly really interesting...
 
Nigel, I see that Drennan still do double hooks upto size 4 barbed or size 2 semi-barbed. Have you tried them for bass, if so, do you have an opinion?
 
take a 3.0 or 4.0 hook tie it on your hooklink, take another and put the link (other end) through the hook eye with the eye uppermost, push it down
to an inch or more from the bottom hook eye, twist the line round the shank
a couple of twists and then bring the loose end of the link back through the hook eye, this should cure most of the problem, obviously you hook the bait with both hooks even a large single worm.
 
Nigel, I see that Drennan still do double hooks upto size 4 barbed or size 2 semi-barbed. Have you tried them for bass, if so, do you have an opinion?

Tried them Chris, too small, as are the Mustad versions.

Personally I can't get on with pennel rigs when livebaiting mackerel as, if there is any form of tide running, the rig has a tendancy to pull the fish into almost a 'U' shape, preventing it from swimming freely.
 
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Yeah, I was wondering about that with livebaits. I'll perhaps try soldering some bigger hooks together!

So are you free-lining the livelies, or floatfishing them? I've tried clipping them onto the mainline after casting out. then letting them swim out. I know it has worked for others but not for me, so far!
 
I would go with circle hooks.

Since changing over to them for my surf fishing haven't lost anything I have hooked, well due to hook hold failure. Using them in freshwater I found to be a pain but for direct hooking bait fish they do a great job.

As said they are not tackle shy so start with 6/0 and go up.
 
Great thread this! Like you Chris i'd really like to catch a big Bass! During my time living in Nottingham i used to make 5 or 6 trips per year out to the north Norfolk coast where i managed to catch my first - a schoolie of about 1lb! Since moving to the North West a few years ago i still make those half a dozen trips to the coast but now head west to North Wales and in particular, Angelsey - a stunning coastline to fish from.

Now i'll confess i'm no expert so will be following the thread with interest. Ive just been watching one of Henry Gilby's programmes where he was using fish heads as bait. He used a pennel type arrangement with the top hook sliding free on the snood. The fish head ( a mackerel ) was hooked first with the bottom hook through the top of the snout as when using a single hook, the second hook was then slid down and hooked through the snout in the opposite direction to the first ( ie. inserted under the chin and out through the snout ). This produced a presentation where both hooks lay together, back to back, similar to using a double hook. I'm wondering if this method would work with live baits? I'll be giving Circles a go too as they seem to be very popular with the boat anglers when using live macs.

Another tip i picked up from some of the more dedicated salty types is that autumn is the best time for a really big one, with October and November the key months. Spring can be good but too many small ones to contend with and Summer is best avoided on most marks unless you want some new piercings from a set of mackerel feathers! :eek:
 
Just found this thread and was going to suggest circle hooks...............Andy beat me to it! I have heard great things about these hooks but you must not strike as with normal hooks. The idea being that as a fish moves away with the hook in its mouth the hook will automatically find a hold as the line tightens and become more secure as pressure mounts...... Have yet to try myself but the theory looks to be sound. I will certainly be putting them to the test this coming spring;)

Darren.
 
I use a similar rig to a pennel when livebaiting with large launce, the only difference is that I use 2 fixed hooks, both 2/0 0r 3/0 ...one about 12" up the line from the other . The advantage of tying the hooks in place is that you will not get the effect of "shortening" the distance between the hooks.. the launce can swim free, with one hook in through the roof of the mouth and out the back of the head, the second nicked into the skin of the back , with the hook point protruding upwards and out, to give a good presentation. The Launce will live and swim with this setup, when I have had the occasional trip with no hits, the Launce can be released to swim away .
I use this setup when drifting the reefs, and occasionally get a hit from good sized Pollock.

Dave

Forgot to mention, this also works with Joey Mackerel, although the second hook is placed just above the tail root in this case.

Dave.
 
hi Chris .i used to do a fair bit of bass fishing in my local estuarise (Arun/Adur) in the early nineties and we found that the real big ones seemed to feed around high/low water just as the tide starts to run .i had doubles from both rivers ,my best being 12lb 8 oz on a free lined mackeral cast just as the tide was stopping so it would come to rest in a natural place for food to be. good sport on 2lb tc carp rod and still my personal favourite capture .also C&R.
 
Bass fishing

Dear Chris back in the 1950's -70's I done a lot of beach and boat fishing for bass, One beach venue that attracted me was Dungeness with its steep beaches sloping down onto hard sand, with its famed Dustbin area, caused by the strong tides racing around the point creating what is best described as a giant eddy. Where all manner of marine life would be swept into the area on the strong tides, Apart from cod big and small, it also attracted some big bass double figure fish. Fishing this area, you had to make sure you could cast a hundred yards plus. You needed top quality casting gear. I had a pair of Penn Squidders in the early days which were probably the top casting reel available, mine were finely tuned by Bill Watson an RAF engineer. I matched these with one piece eleven foot rods I built myself. later I switched to ABU 7000 reels which I reckon were the best beach fishing reels money could buy. Apart from using whole squid as bait for bass, we used live pouting, on a size 5/0 hook to a three 30lb nylon link with a swivel link at the opposite end to the hook. Having cast out a weight into an area where we expected bass, we would tighten the line, then clip the link swivel on the line, this allowed the pouting to slide down the line towards the weight, stopped about three feet from the weight by a swivel. There were times when a bass would hit the pouting in midwater. Other times you could get a hit within two feet of the surface especially on a calm sea at night. In the 1960's when boat fishing off Beachy Head we would often fish live mackerel on float tackle fishing the bait between six and ten feet of the surface. The takes were the most savage I have ever experienced. The best guy at his method I reckon was the late John Darling from Sussex a great angler and photographer. I hope all his helps, these days most of my bass fishing is done with a fly rod. Regards Martin James
 
Interesting post Martin. I used to fish Dungeness back in the 70's as well. We also used to livebait at distance as well only we used a two hook rig with lug on the smaller hook punched out as far as we could. It was then simply a wait until either a whiting or a pouting hung itself out there and then sit back and wait for the cod to grab the livebait!

It worked a treat.

Used to fish occasionally with John - and have the odd pint or four with him in the Galleon at Exceat ;)
 
Thanks for the input chaps. It's much appreciated. Sorry I've been out the loop but my broadband has been down.
 
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