Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society AGM – My Presentation

Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society AGM – My Presentation

Apologies for not releasing a blog post of any description for some time… I’ll be very honest, completing the re-painting of every wall, interior window frame, beam, staircase and skirting board of the home we purchased in October, followed by the preparation and then full landscaping of a large section of my garden has taken up most of my time this winter and early-spring.

Furthermore, although I (thankfully) didn’t get overly poorly with COVID, it did set me back a bit when combined with everything else I’ve been doing to the extent that I hadn’t fished for 3 weeks up until a couple of evening’s ago… I made up for it yesterday with the capture of a 64cm/6lb+ ‘porker’ that I’ll write about in my next post though!!!

BASS and SOSB

Anyhow, enough with the boring house stuff! So, with my guiding season now upon me, having sought and received permission from The Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society (something I am very grateful to them for) it is my pleasure to be able to share the presentation that I researched, prepared and gave at their AGM on the 20th March to you – my readers and followers.

A couple of things first though. I would like to expressly thank Andy Davies (BASS Secretary) for taking the time to pre-record the presentation with me a couple of evenings prior to the day of the AGM. The reason he did this was because I was suffering a bit with COVID (you’ll hear me coughing and being a bit croaky on the video whilst sat in my pyjamas and dressing gown 😂 so apologies in advance for that) and I wasn’t entirely sure I would be fully up to remembering everything I wanted to say within the brief – despite my notes.

Secondly, I would like to thank The Chairman (Steve Pitts) and the committee members of BASS (especially Nigel, who hounded me in the nicest possible sense) for asking me to do this, and for all of their hard work behind the scenes and within the public eye in ensuring us bass anglers have a voice, and are kept informed of what is occurring in relation to bass stocks/restoration.

Moreover, I would also like to highlight the work that (Save Our Sea Bass) SOSB completes alongside BASS. Their hard work is absolutely essential to the future stocks of this fascinating species, and one that we love to catch, admire and happily release in the majority of cases.

The Presentation

Titled “Bass Marks: Finding The Features…” I did stick religiously to the brief they gave me, which was to compile something that would appeal not only to the new members of BASS (you can join here incidentally), but that would also enable/assist anglers of all levels of experience to locate the types of underwater terrain that bass like to feed over, hunt within or generally frequent.

So what is contained within the presentation then? If you’ve read either of my books (The Lure of The Bass or Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective Volume 1) then some of it will be familiar to you. I commence by describing my ‘initial considerations’ when attempting to ‘find’ bass marks -namely the following:

• Safety
• Direction of the current (tidal influence essentially).
• Daylight vs Darkness
• Biotic and Abiotic Factors (living and non-living things within an ecosystem).
• What are, for me, the four key moments in a season
• Territorial or Transitory bass (which type might you be targeting).
• Stick or Twist (remaining in one spot and waiting for bass to come to you, or becoming the hunter).
• The ultimate venue – is there one?
• Being very specific (in regards to when and where you place that lure).
• Building the portfolio (how to find very similar venues orientated/positioned differently).

I then move onto describing six very different types of terrain via the use of Google Earth.

NOTE: The places highlighted are not in the UK although they are in Europe. Basically, all I did whilst researching the presentation was to ‘eyeball’ the terrain, looking for areas that contained all of the elements/ingredients I would be looking for, and that you may well complete yourself if you use this or a similar programme (Bing Maps for example). The six types of venues I discuss are:

• Intertidal Reefs
• Contrasting Zones (Beaches)
• Estuary Mouths
• Lagoons/Brackish Environments
• Promontories and Headlands
• Temporary Shallow Surf Beaches

Click the link below for the full presentation:

To join The Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society (BASS)

What Are The Benefits Of BASS Membership?

There are many benefits of becoming a member of BASS, a few of the highlights are:

• Become part of an iconic group of bass anglers, dedicated to the pursuit and conservation of bass since 1973.
• Improve your bass angling by tapping in to the wealth of information, knowledge and experience available to members through our quarterly magazine, our private online forum, and our “members only” website pages.
• Get to know other bass anglers at “fish-ins”, at our annual meeting in Gloucester and by meeting other BASS members living in your area.
• Keep up to date on bass issues via our e-newsletter.
• Be part of our campaign for more and bigger bass.
• Get involved in bass research.
• Discounts from leading tackle suppliers.

Who Can Join BASS?

Membership of BASS is open to everyone, who shares our aspirations for the enjoyment and conservation of this beautiful fish. Our current membership categories and subscription rates are:

• Individual (Adult): £25.00
• Family, Club or Organisation: £35.00
• Senior Citizen (65 yrs or over): £20.00

How Do I Join BASS?

You can join BASS online using the shop on our website. There are two membership options available:

1. Recurring annual membership by Direct Debit
2. or, a single one year membership by Paypal or Debit/Credit card.

Our membership year runs for one calendar year from the date of joining.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions about membership or are experiencing difficulties joining online please contact the BASS Membership Secretary

My Books

To reserve my most recent title Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective (Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society review here and Henry Gilbey’s review here) or to purchase my first release ‘The Lure of The Bass‘ (BASS review here) then please contact me via the Contact Form at the bottom of this page and I will send you the payment details. I can accept PayPal or a Bank Transfer.

Booking Enquiries

If you would like to enquire about my South Devon Bass Guide guiding services in 2022 and 2023 (including my 3 Day Packages that include BB accommodation for £499 per person, then please email me directly at southdevonbassguide@yahoo.com. Alternatively, you can complete the Contact Form at the bottom of the page and I will endeavour to get back to as soon as I possibly can.

Thanks for reading and watching!

Marc Cowling