bass.

[a.g.]

this year i would like to catch a bass or 2.due to transport i can fish the coast from north shields up to blyth pier. advice on locations, tackle ,rigs,bait etc .any help would b greatfull. cheers

[5150]

anywhere on the stretch of beach from blyth pier along to seaton sluice, but you'll need to work at it regularly to get any results.

edit - good tips are things like watching for the seabirds diving after small fish the bass will feed on, the start of the flood is usually when they start to feed, they tend to be amongst or just behind the waves so you don't need to chuck miles out to sea. Keep a diary, not the sea state/times/dates etc when you do catch any.

[The Great Wallsendo]

or any of the rock edges with lures...in fact just apply any of the text book theory to locations round these parts and you might be surprised by all accounts

[a.g.]

cheers for the replies and advice.what bait should i use and if spinning what lure.

[mick dunn]

Hello mate-funny i was thinking about bass fishing earlier. I have had quite a lot of success with these fish and caught many. The best method for me is to fish from a sandy beach into surf.Usually behind the third breaker. i use rag as my main bait on long traces.
Many people chose not to disclose hot spots as netters move in and clear the ground. This happened in a hot spot at Hartlepool last year.
Mick.

[broony]

If bait fishing I would recommend:

Bait: Peeler, Rag, Lug
Rod: 10 - 12 ft 1-3oz rod
Reel: Fixed spool or Multiplier
Line: Clean ground 20 -30 lb braid, Rough ground / Mixed 20 -30lb mono
Rigs: Running ledger with 3-5 ft trace, Size 3/0 or 4/0 hooks, can use a Pennel or Pulley with 3 ft trace for rougher ground.

Tips: Hold your rod at all times. A bite is often one tap then a sharp bang so you need to be able to hit it at the right time.
Look for birds diving on bait fish.
Look for current and rips and fish into them.
When handleing them, stick your thuimb in their gob and hold the bottom lip, with the other hand hold them under the belly. This reduces the risk of spiking yourself and also supports the fish properly so you don't cause damage if you intend to return them.
Legal size is 35 cms with a recommended take home size of 41cms. Even then a Bass of 41cms is still immature and may not have spawned yet. If you want to keep fishing for them over the years it may be worth condiering returning the smaller ones if not all. Each to their own of course.
Locations:
Surf beaches - Look for the rips and cast either directly into them or just on the edges. Look at low tide for holes and gullies in the sand and then fish them as the tide floods. Don't be afraid to fish shjallow ish water, they can be there in only a couple of feet.

Rocks and Reefs: Again dont be afraid of shallow water, look for rough mixed ground with boulders and gullies. Look for weed cover over rocks and again fish the flood and first few hours of the ebb. Many places that fish for Cod, fish for Bass in the summer months.

Time of day:
Dawn and dusk are the best times but you can catch in the middle of the day or when dark. Try out your mark at different times of day and tide.

If you want to Lure fish for them, here is some info I posted last year:

If you are thinking about bass lures which are typically between 10-20g then I would go for a rod thats designed for plugging. You want a short stiff rod thats rated for 10-50g.

Heres a few ideas:

Bushwacker
These are pike plugging rods but loads of UK Bass pluggers are using them. Cheap and good quality.

Quantum

These are slightly more expensive but suposedly very good quality. Comparible to some of the £200+ rods. The castign weight onthem is suposed to be way below stated and are suitable for typical Bass plugs.

Sakura Shukan

The site is french but you can get them here although they are not listed on the site. £130 but were £250 six months agao. Just ordered one of these myself, supposed to be the bizness.

From here you can spend £350 plus on a Tenryu but these are serious rods and you would have to know you definately wanted to go this way before spending that amount of cash.

Another thing I would say is if you are going to be lure fishing with the lighter Bass plugs I would suggest a fixed spool. you want to be using braid for the best response and feedback from the plugs and a fixed spool is much easier and reliable to use with braid. You don't have to spend hundreds to get a decent reel. I've got a Shimano Exage that you can find for around £50 and its a cracking reel. Go for a 3000 or 4000 size.

For braid I have been using Power Pro and have had no problems with windknots or anything else. It definately makes a huge difference using this as aposed to mono, much more feedback and you can put much more life into your lures with twitches and flicks.

If you are going to be using heavier lures then what has been suggested to you sounds fine, but if you are going for the lighter Bass specialised lures then you may struggle. Good luck with whatever you go for.

For my rod I'm using a shakespear salt flattie that cost £25 quid. It's far from ideal to be honest, the action is far too sloppy. If you just fancy giving it a try any pike lure rod, or sea spinning outfit should do. Don't go for a 'Bass' rod as these are usually about 2-4 oz casting weight that is too heavy. Aim for something that casts 10 - 50grams. Carp rods are too floppy, you need to be able to twitch and jerk the lure so you need a stiffer more responsive rod.

You can get a Savage Gear Bushwacker (Pike Rod) for about 50-60 quid, 8 and a half foot. It's supposed top be a cracking rod for the price.

But proper lure rods for sea bass are mostly japenese and go from about £120 quid up to £400 for a Tenryu.

A decent metal spooled fixed spool reel of 3000 or 4000 size should do you. You want your rod and reel to be nice and light as your going to be casting over and over again. I've got a shimano syncopate which was part of a course setup I bought from aldi last summer for £20. I don't think you can buy them in this country by themselves. It's only cheap but it does it's job. I would spend at least £50 on the reel though to make sure its decent quality. I plan to upgrade both me rod and reel for next summer, can't aford it with a new baby coming in October.

Lures are the bit I've spent the most money on. Many are better at catching the angler then catching fish. Nowehere in the North East seems to have decent stock of good quality lures, just the odd few that are usually cheaper imitations of the proper stuff. I order mine online either here:

https://www.veals.co.uk/acatalog/Artificials.html

or here:

Tenryu Rods Duo Tide Lures Mr Fish Jersey

But you can find stuff on ebay etc.

They are pricey so make sure you buy suitable ones for where you intend to fish. Don't buy something that dives 4 feet if you plan on fishing a reef that is 3 foot deep and full of boulders. Few I would recommend

Angels Kiss (Veals)
Maria chase BW and SW(Veals)
Duo Tide Minnow (MrFish)
Tackle House Feed Shallow (MrFish)

Mix up you colours, darker lures are supposed to work better in darker conditions, brighter work better in bright conditions.

Of course though, Bass will take you normal quid or two spinners. So it doesn't have to cost much at all. The advantage of lures though is they float and hold position in the water, allowing you to vary the speed and put life into them over shallow ground where a normal spinner would sink and snag.

Again I sound like I know something, but I'm a total novice, have a read around, the Whitby Sea Anglers website has a lot of good info that has been really helpful:

Bass Fishing | Kayak Fishing, Rock And Boat Fishing – Articles & Forums

[a.g.]

great advice from all cheers

[Wayne Eastlake]

Aye totally agree wiv a.g., thanks for all the good advice lads!!!!!!

[seanyrooroo]

One final piece of advice, if you do catch them make sure you keep the location quiet.

[Wayne Eastlake]

One final piece of advice, if you do catch them make sure you keep the location quiet.

Nee bother m8!!!!!!

[critchaz]

is it to early in the year for using things like poppers???

[critchaz]

is it ok to use poppers this time of year or do they work better in the summer months

[el_sid]

is it ok to use poppers this time of year or do they work better in the summer months

a would wait another month or two mate, bass are about as av had canny few on bait but am gonna wait till april before a get the lures out nowt stoppin you gettin out and havin ago, as you never know wats lurkin and it'll give you a chance to learn how to work diff type lures etc

[critchaz]

a would wait another month or two mate, bass are about as av had canny few on bait but am gonna wait till april before a get the lures out nowt stoppin you gettin out and havin ago, as you never know wats lurkin and it'll give you a chance to learn how to work diff type lures etc

av only done it the once in scotland last september so dnt realy no the crack like just the last few days when i have finished graft (6am) its been a couple of acany morns so thought of givin it a shot

[el_sid]

av only done it the once in scotland last september so dnt realy no the crack like just the last few days when i have finished graft (6am) its been a couple of acany morns so thought of givin it a shot

well giv it ago mate if youve got the time, u have much luck in scotland, al be gettin out in april, started last year wit the lures and deff get addicted to it like thing is their affected by water temperature so might be preserving energy till it warms up, just work ur lures alot slower