[keith Ogden]

hi guys not been on for a few weeks kind of needed a bit of time off from fishing after having many close encounters of the bass kind without landing a single fish all year my confidence was at zero ,anyway decided to have a relaxed day out on the lovely menai straits today was very bright and the water was fairly coloured but i gave it my best shot nothing doing on the lures so collected 6 peelers chucked one out and was rewarded with this

so not exactly what i was hoping for but at least i know fish are about .Sorry to mention dirty bait tight lines all.

 

[Simon L]

Well done on adapting in order to catch. Just gotta figure out how to get em to bite something artificial now .

 

[keith Ogden]

cheers simon really need to break my duck had a week in aberdaron in late july had multiple follows and takes and nothing to show for it ,even borrowed my mates inflatable and went out of criccieth had bass follow my feed shallow 6-7 times only to turn away then fish on turns out to be a 2lb codling i kid you not i think i'm cursed

 

[keith Ogden]

Also missed out in my report that she went back to hopefully become a lure caught double

 

[Simon L]

Ahhhh it'll all come together for you Keith . . . i'm a great believe that if you keep doing the right thing, then the results will come. Stick at it - we're coming into the best part of the season now .

 

[Llyr]

stick in there mate, i know what blanking feels like but keep doing what your doing and itl all come good.

 

[trev richardson]

Well done Keith........you have to use the method that suits the fish and adapt....Would still be interesting to see if one of those rubber crab baits would work in cases like this... I would have done exactly the same if I were in your shoes mate........:wink:

 

[Tim Murphy]

That's a lovely fish Keith, sometimes it's just about doing something to get your dapper up again. You know the fish are there, go get them on the lures!

 

[keith Ogden]

cheers for the encouragement guys unfortunately for these north wales bass I'm a persistent bar-steward

 

[Gary Evans]

I have heard mixed reports about Bass catches over the weekend on the Straits,most people blaked and local anglers did catch.

These Bass have been a bit hard to catch lately on the Straits with Plugs but they are there, I only use SP,s now.

Good thinking switching over to bait to avoid a blank.

Well done !

 

[trev]

well done even if it wasnt plugging !! just nice to get your hands on one....... its been very hard work with plugs this summer (after a good start in may) along alot of the north wales coast, and yes the fish are around in some areas,in the straits they are doing pretty well with live sandeel from drifting boats but on hard plastics from the shore all i hear of is alot of blanks( quite a few which i have kindly contributed to the figure) and the odd single fish........ now September is here lets hope some one has told the shirleys its time to tango
ps would just add that local knowledge is even more important in finding a few fish when the going gets tough..........

 

[Ian Morris]

well done even if it wasnt plugging !! just nice to get your hands on one....... its been very hard work with plugs this summer (after a good start in may) along alot of the north wales coast, and yes the fish are around in some areas,in the straits they are doing pretty well with live sandeel from drifting boats but on hard plastics from the shore all i hear of is alot of blanks( quite a few which i have kindly contributed to the figure) and the odd single fish........ now September is here lets hope some one has told the shirleys its time to tango
ps would just add that local knowledge is even more important in finding a few fish when the going gets tough..........

...and getting the heads-up from folk on here helps aswell. I have blanked a lot this year, fish starting to show now but it is still very hit and miss from the shore due, in my opinion, to less biomass out there. When time is limited and sessions have to snatched and short, then with smaller and less shoals of bass patroling, it is becoming increasingly difficult to intercept them at the marks that used to produce regularly with any reliability even during prime-times in ideal conditions. I have a feeling that October and even November will produce the goods this year so we need to stick at it until the bitter end!
Cheers
Ian

 

[DavidEdwards]

due, in my opinion, to less biomass out there

Is this in reference in part to those lifting every crab in site on the foreshore? I have a quad and a bucket brigade?

 

[Ian Morris]

No but I bet that with the trapping of tons and tons for export to feed the french in the name of protecting the mussel beds doesnt help. By biomass I meant the fact that theres less bass out there than there was.

 

[trev richardson]

Interesting comments Ian. I think there was a concensus of opinion regarding the late start to the season this year but is there a consensus for this or is it just local to you're area....caused by local fishermen taking too many.....

 

[Ian Morris]

I'd agree with the late start Trev, but locally we have noticed a marked deterioration over the years. While the South suffered under commercial pressure, North Wales was once held as a bastion of good bass angling, but the tables appear to have turned somewhat, almost as if the good fish have been dramatically thinned out. Even though we have better gear than ever the good fish are either fewer or becoming much harder to catch. My gut feeling is the former.

 

[DavidEdwards]

Perhaps the rumoured overfishing of the early run last year by the netsmen of Caernarfon had a big impact!

 

[Ian Morris]

Dave I didnt hear of that. At the moment any netting of bass is overfishing in my opinion. Until the stocks are managed properly netters will take everything until there is nothing left. That is what they do. If the stocks were better, then a sustainable amount of netting could be tolerated, but until that happens it will be us anglers getting the scraps while the netters help themselves to as much as they possibly can. Hey-ho, I'll still be out at the weekend trying...

 

[fin c]

As far as nets go are there any that are legal? well what i am trying to say is if I see one would I be breaking any laws by destroying / removing it? Would they carry on putting them out if whenever they returned to collect the goods their net was either gone or destroyed......

 

[Gary Evans]

Lad,s....I agree that the netter,s do some damage but have you forgotten that we had a very cold winter?... with a lot of cold "light" easterly winds and the European Pair Trawlers and Tangle netter,s were out in force in the Channel and Celtic deeps, so if your wondering where the Bass have gone that,s your answer !