As we come to the end of another great season chasing bass offshore It seems a good time for a round up of our trips. We had already enjoyed some good sessions on the bass as part of our tope trips in June and July. As the end of July approached and the tope moved off we turned our attention to the bass for many of our offshore trips. Most of our bass trips are based on bait fishing at anchor with worm baits over various sand banks. However, when conditions suit we will try to find a few fish on lures too. Some times the bass have balled bait up tightly and we only get one or two drifts through before they scatter then other times we find our selves chasing them around for hours until we have to head home. We had one or two trips in the height of summer when we couldn’t go wrong. One such trip saw us stop on the way to our planned mark and spend an hour or so catching bass on various lures. Strings of feathers were sent out on the first drift or two and after they came back with several bass at a time the lads soon had their quota. After this we started to mix it up a little. Luckily nowadays many of my regulars now bring a light lure fishing outfit along for such an occasion. On the next drift the lads sent out some Dexter wedges, surface plugs and poppers into the feeding frenzy. This slowed the catch rate a little but improved the sport for the lads who were now fishing on a catch and release basis. We managed several more drifts here and countless more bass before the tide went off and we continued to get anchored on our first mark. The tide was just getting under way here and although we were catching fish here it was a bit of an anti climax after the first few hours sport. Once the tide was under way we decided to move and try a mark close to where we had started this morning. This was a wise move, the fish were feeding well on the bottom now. The lads started off with 2 rods each but couldn’t keep both in the water as bites were coming thick and fast. There were plenty there and they were certainly hungry too. After couple of hours more chaos at anchor we decided to finish the day off on a high and went back to lure fishing for the last hour or so. The fish were once again in a feeding frenzy as we drifted through them with lures on light tackle. I even managed to nick a fish or two myself, I took great pleasure in christening Barry’s surface popper for him! It was as if the fish was waiting for me to cast it out as I only gave it a couple of pops and a bass burst from the water as it inhaled the lure. The fish were still feeding when I had to call time. With fish showing in numbers like this its hard to say how many we had. There were six good anglers on board the boat and I stole a fish here and there too. With 4 separate sessions on the fish and all of them productive it was certainly our best day numbers wise of the year. To say the lads had 50 odd bass each would be pretty conservative as the first couple of drifts saw them catching 5 at a time on feathers. All i can say is that at a guess we had 200-300 bass that day. the following day saw around half that amount as the fish weren’t feeding as well and seemed to have spread out.
Of course not every trip can be the same and we never know what stamp the fish are or where they will be from one tide to the next. Thankfully we had good numbers of fish in most trips. The stamp was fantastic for several trips in October. There were lots of fish around 5-6lbs coming out, these are hard to beat for sport in just a few feet of water on light tackle. Typical numbers were 60-100 bass per trip with a couple of anglers on 20+ bass for one rod. I had a two person charter one day which saw the lads catching around 35 bass each. Despite having plenty of room there was only time for 1 rod each that day. the fishing built to a beautiful crescendo as the lads kept improving on their best fish. Keith set the bar at over 7lb and over 1lb better then their previous biggest but Stuart (Dad) pulled the best fish of the day out at over 8lbs. not to be sniffed at on a spinning rod!
The last few trips saw a smaller stamp and fewer keepers but the lads were pleased to see 40-50 bass on a lovely day at the end of November. We often commented how we wouldn’t have been targeting them this late 10 years ago.
Although I am sure I could still find some bass next month, I doubt we will target them again while the lads cant keep any. Most of the lads accept the size limits and quotas nowadays but it can seem silly for the lads to return fish while there are boats illegally bass netting around us at times.
Our next offshore trips will be targeting spurdogs. Although I already have lots of days booked in for these please drop me a message if you wish to be on my contact list for upcoming dates.
The General trips have been pretty close inshore of late. This is party due to weather and partly because that’s where the best general fishing is. The Blackwater estuary and surrounding area’s are alive with whiting. When they are feeding its hard to keep a three hook rig down there for more than a few minutes before every hook is full! Besides the whiting there are still numbers of dogfish most places and numbers of Dabs if we try for them. Thankfully there are still a few roker here and there to put a decent bend in the rod although some times we have to work for them.
I have a few spaces in December including this Saturday and plenty of availability next year although prime dates are going quickly so please get in touch
