Client Catches – Healthy Competition…

Client Catches – Healthy Competition…

With a number of quality (5-6lb) bass to report on, the next few blog posts will describe the catches my clients have achieved, in addition to briefly depicting the background, and my thoughts as to the potential reasons behind them… The overall theme running through these posts however, will be what is presently the ‘perfect’ surface lure in my eyes – the Patchinko 125.

Shoals or Singletons

Onto the capture in the featured image then. In my opinion, two of the biggest fallacies within bass lure fishing is that if you catch a small (sub-1lb) bass, then there will always be others close by, in that it is acting as part of a shoal or school. Expanding on this further, is the notion that if you catch a respectable or indeed a big bass (4lb+) that it will be swimming around on its own…

It is well documented and indeed accepted, that bass are a known ‘shoal fish’. But whether this means they will routinely ‘hunt’ when in very large (hundreds and hundreds) troupes is open to debate. On a broader level, these often massive groups will be migrating in line with their natural and annual pilgrimage from our south-western approaches, up to the western and eastern coasts of Scotland, via the Irish and North sea coasts and back again (what I would describe as ‘transitory bass) all whilst keeping a very close eye on the sandeel, mackerel, sprat and herring shoals in season I would suggest.

Going local…

Bass feeding avidly on the semi-resident bait fish is clearly of interest to me, and there are certain areas (Start Bay as a whole is a good example) when if the bass are rounding them up, the fishing can be spectacularly good for a series of tides, or perhaps a week-to-three weeks. But it is the bass found on a much more of a local level, the fish found within specific beaches, estuaries, and even creeks for far more extended periods of time (resident and territorial fish) that I find exceptionally curious…

As a professional guide, it goes without saying that I am always looking to narrow the odds or place as many of them in our favour – with one of my ‘reasoning processes’ being to place my clients in an area where there will potentially be concentrations of bass moving through on the current – something I will expand on in greater detail in a follow up post.

With the above in mind then, I believe there will be an increased chance or probability that bass that are effectively transiting through an intricate area, during the middle hours of the tide when the velocity to the current is at its greatest, will be swimming and prowling as a pair, a threesome, or a foursome.

Eat or go hungry!

And this is when the perhaps unheeded or unappreciated ‘competition aspect’ comes into play, whereby it really is a case of ‘if I don’t eat that small fish splashing and/or struggling on the surface, my mate swimming beside me will!‘ This is something that the bass lure angler can capitalise on, a ‘Marginal Gain’ such as the type I cover in great detail within my third book: Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective (Volume 2).

For sure, judging from the ‘attacks’ on the lure(s) just prior to the confirmed ‘hook up’ when my client Andrzej latched into the 61cm bass in the featured image (a fish that did its utmost to impersonate a Great White Shark in more ways than one!) I knew instantly that she was unlikely to be hunting alone. But even I was a little taken aback when, as I stooped to scoop his prize into the net, a second shadowy figure almost followed her into the mesh!

Yep, there is no doubt that Andrzej’s stunning 61cm bass (his new PB incidentally and yet another to add to the collection this season at South Devon Bass Guide Ltd) was hunting within a collective group. Further, at least one of them had decided to shepherd its mate into the uber-shallows, before darting off into the current that was swishing past as I captured the moment, and Andrzej released her as efficiently as we could. What a cracker, and I do hope she met up with the group again later in the tide.

To book a session

To book or to enquiry about a ‘Professionally Guided/Tutored Bass Lure Fishing Session’ with either myself Marc Cowling, or my 2nd Guide Joe (who you can read about here), please complete the Contact Form below. Alternatively, you can email me directly at southdevonbassguide@yahoo.com and I will endeavour to reply as soon as I possibly can. Further, please feel free to peruse my Testimonials, The Experience, What I Offer, and About pages.

Thanks for reading.

Marc Cowling

South Devon Bass Guide Ltd