How does a bass hunt? - Introduction.

Vision, smell, lateral line, taste and hearing.

"Evidence from nature and the experience of many anglers suggest that eyes on baitfish imitations increase their effectiveness. The oversized eyes on many patterns underscore Dan Blantons assertions that predacious fishes are 'head hunters' or 'head hitters'."

But what other factors influence and affect a bass when hunting in visual mode. Bass dont see detail the way you or I do so why do we bother with realistically finished lures and flies. In the photograph below clients and I have caught hundreds of bass on each of the flies or lures - yet each is very different - but they also share some similar characteristics -

More in this series coming soon!

Part I - Vision

Part II - Smell

Part III - Hearing

Probassfisher - Bi-monthly E-zine - Coming soon

Publication 1

Green ragworm anyone? II

Physical Description
Ragworms have long, flattened bodies, consisting of many segments each with a pair of parapods, or swimming legs. These parapods are covered with bristles called chaete and are used for crawling and swimming. At the head end, they have a toothed proboscis, four eyes, and two pairs of antennae.

They are variable in colour, typically appearing reddish brown but turning quite green during the spawning season.

Habitat
Abundant in estuaries and sandy or muddy beaches. They inhabit U- or J-shaped burrows in the sand that may stretch for around 20cm (8 inches) depth.

Diet
The ragworm is both an omnivorous scavenger and efficient predator. When scavenging, it feeds on mud, detritus, phytoplankton and plankton. It is also a active predator, rapidly shooting out its powerful jaws to catch other soft-bodied invertebrates. This species also feeds on phytoplankton by spinning a net at the top of the burrow. By undulating it's body within its burrow it causes a water current which carries phytoplankton into the sticky net. After a while it consumes the net and the particles, then spins another.

Behaviour
The feeding behaviour of the ragworm depends on phytoplankton densities. When densities are high, it uses its net to catch prey. When densities are low, it scavenges or actively hunts prey.
Ragworms are tuned to the lunar phase, reproducing in synchrony at distinct times in the moon phase (e.g. new or full moon, depending on the locality).

Reproduction
Spawning is triggered by a rise in temperature during spring. Females brood eggs within their bodies. As the eggs develop, the female's body becomes brittle and ultimately ruptures, releasing the eggs into the burrow. Males are drawn to the burrow by pheromones and discharge their sperm around the burrow entrance. The female draws this sperm down into the burrow using water currents where they fertilise the eggs. After spawning, both males and female ragworms die.
Source - BBC Science & Nature

Green ragworm anyone?

To everybody who spoke to me on Saturday or Sunday I just wanted to say thanks a million for all of the positive and kind words. I was suprised at how much the articles in Irish Angler, the blog, the workshops and all the other stuff meant to a lot of people. I was left dumbfounded at times.
I left the show on Sunday having had a great experience - meeting everybody and chatting was fantastic - it left me feeling re-charged and full of energy for fishing again!

Breaking the rules

I think its probably easy to interpret what some people say or write in bass fishing and then apply it as a rule, even if it is only a generalisation or something that applies to particular circumstances. When this is done of course it is often perceived as an ‘issue’ for anglers to go out and ‘break’. This attempt to ‘break’ the ‘rules’ is often done on the basis of nothing like what the original words might have meant. Unless of course it’s a blatantly obvious statement. Can you show me the RULE BOOK please? Particulalry the chapter on fly choice, lure choice, tide choice, location choice, colour of your underwear choice..........

I saw one of these blatantly obvious statements recently – ‘- if bass will take a shallow feed then they will also take a surface lure’. Its simply not true. Sometimes they wont.

The big fly big fish is another one of these debates that will continue to rage, and yes of course we have all done the contrary – and if we are clever anglers we will fish after the circumstances.

I like to use Andy Elliotts flies in certain places here in Wexford at certain times. Most of the flies are in the six to eight inch in length category and I fish with either a #8 or #9. In this type of fishing where I intend purposefully to catch (I hope) a big fish – I very seldom make regular casts. I sit and watch and make maybe five casts in one hour, maybe I choose to move a little………..I take my time and wait for situations to develop.

Have I taken bigger fish on smaller flies? Yes, many times in many places, do I feel more confident fishing slightly bigger flies in the circumstances above? Yes. Why? Under the few circumstances/locations above I have caught bigger fish with bigger flies – simple. But it doesn’t apply to the whole of the Wexford coastline all of the time!

The only rules that need to be broken are the ones you have interpreted as such.

An Irish Saltwater Sportfish

Im off to hooked.ie on Thursday evening where I will have a stand at the two day show. I hope to be able to capture peoples imagination and interest at the show in order to demonstrate that saltwater fly & lure fishing for bass is as good, challenging, interesting and as rewarding as that done for our freshwater sporting species.

Irish bass fishing remains as one of the great potential sport fishing resources of Europe.

Hope to see you there - Jim.

















drawing courtesy of Ruth Hendrick - aged 7

Why should every bassfisherman own two goldfish?