3 Pbs In A Day!!!!

[BigMac]

We slipped off the mooring,quietly, at 4.00am, Rupe at the helm, me on the spotlight (spottiing channel markers for Rupe) and Wedger as guest crew. It was black as pitch as we accelerated out of the run and all eyes were peeled for the dreaded pot buoys. It was more in hope than expectation that we lowered the feathers over the side in the inky darkness but the sky was starting to lighten in the east and it would only be 15 or 20 minutes before it was light enough. As always, maybe a tad enthusiastic on our start time. Just as we finished filling the livebait tank, Adam and Gordon arrived and we waved them a "good morning" as we left for the mark.

 

At 5.18 we started the first drift, at 5.21 Wdgers hooked to a solid fish. Every lunge or shake of the fishes head, brought an "ooh" or an "ahh" from Trev that had us smiling and Rupe mentioned that he sounded like the soundtrack from a german porn movie Perhaps a lucrative sideline there for you Trev Rupe does the business with the net and an 8lb fish is in the bag. Unhooked quickly and Trev gets time to put another bait in before the end of the drift. a minute later he's in again and a 3lber comes to the boat.

 

The second drift begins with a 4lber and then another straight away of 3lb, both to my rod. 5.34 and already 4 fish landed. Not a bad start!! As we motor up for the 3rd drift, I ask Wedger what his pb is? "Bout the same as that one in the fishbox" he says with a grin.

 

Halfway through the third drift, Trevs in again. The fish goes crazy at the boat, but Rupe picks his moment and scoops it into the landing net at the first attempt. "That'll be a new pb then,mate" says Rupe. Sure enough 9lb exactly on the scales. Result

 

"Blue Warrior" with Adam and Gordon arrive as we start our 4th drift. Wedger notices that the handle on the reel that he's using is on the wrong side for a cack handed person like himself and swaps it over. Damn, sussed out the ploy to slow him up!

 

4th drift, I have a ballistic 5lber before Trev is into another good fish. He's into the swing of things and quickly brings his next monster to the waiting net. "better weigh that on too" 9lb 8oz and his grin is threatening to swallow his ears

 

5th drift. Rupe seems to be using bass repellant mackerel and hasn't had a touch, I take a 6lber at the start of the drift and Trev hooks another proper un. This one brings longer and slower "oohs" and "ahhs" but she comes to the boat and I hit her straight on the nose with the rim of the landing net!!! "Oops, sorry Trev" I get her second attempt, turn to Rupe, " I'll get the scales and camera then."

10lb 8oz!!!!!!!! His third pb of the morning and its only 6.15!!

 

Sadly, by 6.40 the feeding spell has died for us along with the best of the flood tide. We carry on, but its a struggle. The ebb fails to live up to expectations, we're still getting takes but failing to connect with 90% and reason that their full and only half hearted about eating anything else, leading to tentative takes. We call a halt at 12.30 and head home, the total for today being 15 fish.

 

Congratulations on your 3 pbs and your first double Trev!! Glad you caught it on "Aquafresh" I'm sure I speak on behalf of Rupe as well, it was a total pleasure to have you on board and share those captures with you. That grin on your face holding that double, should remind us all why we go fishing.

 

Al

 

Ps. having trouble with camera, will post photos asap.

[Newboy]

Well done Trev.

[Sam]

well done trev cracking fish can't wait till i am out there again enjoying those fish still need to beat 5lb

 

sam

[Bob F]

No wonder Adam and Gordon were about to throw the towel in. Must have been very frustrating watching from 100yds.

 

Well done Trev and Aquafresh.

 

BF

[TomBettle]

Superb fishing Trev.

 

Those "toothpaste" boys really do know what they are up to and will put you over the fish.

 

I am feeling a little bit smug that Rup had a bad day, not maliciously, it just makes my cr@p endeavours with the boys seem slightly less pants and puts it into a little bit of perspective.

 

Well done chaps, keep the reports coming as they make great reading.

 

Tom

[Wedger]

Wow

What a day........

 

Thank you, Al & Rupe

Edited August 6, 2006 by Wedger

[Paul D]

Sounds like you had one hell of a day Trevor - fantastic. How frustrating it must have been watching all the action from Blue Warrior - but there again I experienced that watching last week !!

 

Proof enough that you don't need the bigger tides for the mark to fish.

 

and the good news for me is that Helen is reading this and wants to go on another trip when I get back from the states. ( But there again she does have the bigger fish to her name )

 

 

[Coddy]

Well done Trev and all on Aquafresh

 

I will soon get the hang of this fishing lark ................................I hope

 

Coddy

[BigMac]

Sorry it took so long.

 

Happy bunny Wedger with PB 10lb 8oz!!!

[Wedger]

Many thanks Al......

 

 

I am still glowing from the experience.

 

 

 

 

Cheers to Big Mac & Large Fries for a cracking day ....

 

 

[Wedger]

It may interest some to note that at the time of capture, the four bass that were measured, weighed and scale sampled had only achieved 80% of the weight to length average ratio. Perhaps this is indicative of a late spawning and the late start to the season. The 10lb 8oz bass was 16 years old and has a potential to make 13 lbs this year, under average conditions.

Wonderful fish.

 

[Swainiac]

Interesting note, T, it amazes me when so many posts re. this specific mark report that macky are generally hard to find, so perhaps the growth season for these bass will be at a lesser rate, due to a supposed lack of baitfish?? Pictures posted on here, and in mags show lengthy fish, with little in the way of girth, showing good potential for far bigger specimans to be taken. One thing I would likie to know, is what percentage of released fish survive the first 24hrs after capture. Is tagging possible on Bass?? Food for thought there. Also, do we know whether males or females reach bigger sizes before they are sexually mature, and what the success rate is of spawning fish?

 

Reports in BFM, TSF and SA gave different views from all the major "hotspots", but all showed a good presence of speciman sized Bass, a good reflection on catch and release. I also know that the Solent is chucking up a good head of sizeable fish, as is the general area fished by members of the club, outside a well known local slip. If the sea water temp stays put as it is, then one can only assume that the Bass season will stay well into the latter months. My only worry is that you lot will have nabbed all the good fish before I get back out!! One article showed a baitwell holding poorcod, from experience, these little criters dont stay alive too long, unlike Scad, Macky or your other bait

 

I guess I'll have to beg a session when I get back from Florida, unless Nipper has been launched, and Mark and I can get out there.

 

Rich

[Wedger]

Slightly drifting off the thread now but just a comment on bass feeding on this day.

Our fish appeared to be just coming onto the feed and had various contents. One of the plumpest sounded like a bag of gravel and surely contained a fair number of broken crustaceans and/or molluscs. Another larger fish had a raging hunger for mackerel that was to be its eventual downfall.

Firstly, a slightly digested mackerel from late the day previous, probably a good 8 oz fish. Next to this was two very fresh mackerel of equal size. Each of these fresh fish had been used as baits as the hook holes were very clear. One still had one of our hooks attached with no line. I'm fairly sure this was lost on a snag a short while earlier and then cleared up by the hungry bass. The next had the marks where the hook had been clearly torn out but also a damaged eye and broken jaw which is classic bass strike. This mackerel may have been smashed from the hook with an attack on an earlier drift or might simply be a discarded bait. Not content with three 8 oz mackerel on board, she went for another, which as luck would have it, was connected to my rod. A clear demonstration of the aggressive feeding habits of these lovely fish. Not sure about the shortage of mackerel generally but on this day there were plenty about.

 

 

[Gruffy]

Interesting note, T, it amazes me when so many posts re. this specific mark report that macky are generally hard to find, so perhaps the growth season for these bass will be at a lesser rate, due to a supposed lack of baitfish?? Pictures posted on here, and in mags show lengthy fish, with little in the way of girth, showing good potential for far bigger specimans to be taken. One thing I would likie to know, is what percentage of released fish survive the first 24hrs after capture. Is tagging possible on Bass?? Food for thought there. Also, do we know whether males or females reach bigger sizes before they are sexually mature, and what the success rate is of spawning fish?

 

Reports in BFM, TSF and SA gave different views from all the major "hotspots", but all showed a good presence of speciman sized Bass, a good reflection on catch and release. I also know that the Solent is chucking up a good head of sizeable fish, as is the general area fished by members of the club, outside a well known local slip. If the sea water temp stays put as it is, then one can only assume that the Bass season will stay well into the latter months. My only worry is that you lot will have nabbed all the good fish before I get back out!! One article showed a baitwell holding poorcod, from experience, these little criters dont stay alive too long, unlike Scad, Macky or your other bait

[Swainiac]

Allan, thanks for that, it has cleared up a few points in my thick swede!!!! Along with the scale sampling project, I would be more than happy to undertake the arduous task of getting a Bass Tagging scheme for the PBSBAC off the ground.

 

Interesting read about a fish being handled twice and surviving o be caught a third time............... that's excellent news. Are commercials duty bound to report tagged fish?? Not really appropriate for this thread I know, appologies in advance.

 

Rich

[Coddy]

Very interesting, I thought Bass were some of the most intelligent fish according to the latest BFM mag, but to get caught twice is bad luck but three times AND in the same area, well that is just plain stupid!

 

Coddy

 

[Swainiac]

I would stab a guess that the fish was taken on the same-ish tides, usng the same methods, and the same baits, which would make the way they feed succesfull in that they are continuing to thrive, even though they continue to get landed. Fish are supposed to have a very short memory, therefore they may not remember being caught unhooked and returned?? The fact that they stay in the same areas, leave, then return a year later, to the exact same spot geographically would suggest that the Darwinian theory prevails here, the fish that dont feed well, dont survive to breed, the survivors return to breed, giving a good stock, which are more likely to be succesfull, and so on. (Very deep and intense for 07.59hrs on a monday morning!!).

 

I have returned to the same holliday resort in Clearwater five times in three years, and every night, at the same time, a Snook returns to the same pier to feed on baitfish circling under a lamp. I have moved the lamp, to move the circling baitfish shoal away from a couple of pier supports, and the fish moves with it. Its the same fish, having the same markings where it has historically been hooked, with marks across its back also. This fish has been hooked by me, Debbs Dad, and another guy on holls there, but still comes back to the same pier to hunt, night after night, year after year, purly because it has hunted succesfully historically. I guess the same follows re. Bass.

 

Anyway, I'm well up for a Bass Tagging Scheme to be run within the club, and would certainly be happy to admin the scheme. What do you guys think??

 

Perhaps this should be moved to a new thread, Martin, I havent the technical know how, and in Darwins theory, would fail in this area!!!!!!!

 

Rich

[Maverick Martin]

Rich

 

I could split a section off this thread but it would look bitty. Much easier and cleaner to start a new thread mate

 

Martin

[Gruffy]

Rich,

Some great comments and thoughts back there....I suspect much of what you say is correct. This sort of behavior by bass is not uncommon or indeed a recent revelation - some bass anglers, recreational divers and spearfishermen have known about and reported for years the habitual movements of bass in and out of "territories". Each has also exploited this knowledge as well of course. For us anglers it's very important information, for even if only a proportion of bass display this "homing" tendency it could and should mean that we have the opportunity to influence the abundance of fish in our own area, and the joy we get from catching them, simply by releasing some and making the effort to support others to do the same.

As far as a tagging program goes, whilst I applaud your desire to take part in a new program, I'd ask you to reflect on what it is you would be trying to achieve from the exercise? It is really fun to tag a fish, release it, and then discover that it has been recaptured...why does this appeal? CEFAS have been the sponsors of previous tagging campaigns, and they were sponsored to do the tagging by the Government. The tags themselves are quite sophisticated, and CEFAS provided training on how to insert them into bass. BASS were very active in supporting the last campaign and many hundreds of fish all around the UK were tagged by BASS members.

Tagged fish that were recaptured (including by the commercial offshore fllet, including French and other boats) were recorded by CEFAS who offered a financial reward to the person returning the tag from the carcass of the dead bass, but most importantly the location of the recapture and in many cases the carcass itself provided important information that has helped unraval the mysterious life of this great fish.

Interestingly, quite a few tagged bass were recaptured over a number of years either by the person who tagged it or another member of BASS, usually in or near the same location as it was tagged. These fish were not killed or the tags removed, instead the number on the tag was recorded, the fish weighed and measured, and the fish subsequently released again...sentimental or what? The bass I mentioned being captured by the same guy three times actually had a name, it became quite famous in the local area.

Billy, in case you were wondering.

 

Anyone interested in learning more about what the tagging program involved, and what the results were, go here and take a look:

Bass tagging

 

This link takes you to a page on the BASS website. At the bottom of the article there is another link to a page on the CEFAS site, this is the most up to date imformation you will find. Be warned though, it's likely to get you hooked!

 

If the motive is to do something that supports a wider effort to understand more about growth rates, the impact of commercial fishing, the effect on fish behaviour of climate change and rising sea water temperatures, and to provide statistical data that can be used to support ongoing efforts to increase the MLS of bass and protect inshore fish from over exploitation by gill netters and black market bass sellers, then there is something you can do to help. In fact it's something you are already doing, the bass scale sampling. The key thing needed right now is lots and lots of scale reading data, belive it or not on the smaller fish as much (if not more) than on the large fish.

Regards,

Al