I, like many authors have written about bass being territorial and sticking to regular patterns of behaviour when swimming and feeding around specific areas of coastline, under a particular set of sea and tidal conditions. That these inspiring predators consistently frequent certain gullies, pools and reefs to a time table of their own is beyond reproach - but something I’ve been wondering about recently is whether the bass encountered are the same fish (group or shoal) or perhaps that the places these bass are caught are just simply ‘magnets’ to bass? Furthermore, on those occasions when you feel you’ve planned well and fished at your maximum - is there a reason why they just haven’t put in an appearance?

Tagged

Recently, I read a study in relation to the tagging and subsequent recapture of adult bass over successive years. It confirmed that 55% of bass were re-caught with a 16 km radius of where they were originally tagged. Now to me, this suggests that yes, upon reaching maturity, they do return each spring/summer (if they haven’t been caught in a net) to more or less their regular haunts. However, it may also support the theory that bass will either roam considerable distances within a set boundary - or perhaps, that they do in fact transit vast stretches of the UK coastline (South- West England to Eastern Scotland for example) on their way to and from a predetermined area.

I’ve heard and read stories of bait anglers being broken off by a decent bass,having been hooked from a very precise zone (patch of sand, shingle or a gully for instance) only for them to return the next day, in almost identical sea and tidal conditions, and hook and land that very bass with their hook/line still in its mouth. Clearly, this isn’t a coincidence, but could that bass be one of a number that will venture into that area because it possesses all the ingredients required to make it a place for continual streams of bass to visit and hunt - a magnet if you like. Constituents such as ambushing points situated within or just out of the current, areas where copious amounts of available food are either in situ or likely to swim by, or possibly zones were food items scoured out of the sand and rocks naturally collect.

What I haven’t heard of (and it would be very interesting to know if anyone has achieved this) is of a bass being lost on a lure when the line has snapped, only for it to be caught and lure recovered within hours or days of each other?

A decent bass for me taken on a venue that has been remarkably consistent for me this season - but only when fished on a certain tide height, on the ebbing tide and when a specific wind direction is prevalent.

Why aren’t they there!

Keeping a diary of those all important catch results (and just as importantly, the blanks) will undoubtedly assist in your quest to becoming a consistently successful bass lure angler. However, what about those days or nights when everything is right and all the boxes for what you think should be a bumper session have been ticked, but you don’t catch a thing - what might have occurred to have prevented these expected bass from turning up?

Remember, most wild animals (bass included) are very opportunistic, meaning that alongside going to the places they know will provide a feed - they will also deviate from this agenda of events to capitalise on an even easier meal or an unexpectedly abundant but short lived food source. Furthermore, something that I suspect happens far more regularly than many of us realise, and that will have a detrimental effect on the bass population (for a tide at least), is seal activity. Many times, the bites and fish have seemingly dried up when out of nowhere, up pops a head, whiskers and eyeballs! In addition to a lure not looking and acting like it should, without a doubt, there are other factors and events taking place under the water that only the species living there will be aware of - and that we as anglers will probably never come close to understanding.

Two examples, two marks, two different results

What occurred last night during a guided session with a client is a fantastic example of how you can be left scratching your head in disbelief, yet literally 200 yards away on another mark the bass arrived like clockwork. Having arrived on the first mark ready to fish what I consider to be the most opportune period in the tide in darkness, I showed my client a photograph of the terrain (a reef with a feature set within it) under the 4ft of water in front of him, before adding instructions on where to cast and how to work the respective lure. I was fully expecting (based on many successful sessions in exactly the same tidal and sea conditions) for him to catch - yet he didn’t even receive a bite.

My client with one of two bass he landed on the second mark he fished in darkness - quite why he didn’t receive a touch on the first mark is what makes bass such an alluring species.

Fast forward to the next mark around the corner, where the water was about to ebb strongly off of a mixture of reef and shingle and onto an expanse of pure flat sand in the final hour and a half of a very low tide... Two bites and two bass caught right on cue! I guess bass lure fishing in general wouldn’t be the thrill and challenge it is if it they were always that easy to predict...

Marc Cowling (South Devon Bass Guide) is a highly successful guide specialising in guiding clients to catching bass, on lures, from the beautiful south Devon coastline.