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Saltwater Fly Fishing for Bass

Great fishing but didn't catch!

Neither of us had any offers sea fishing last week! We fished for 2 days pretty much but not a sniff! Mind you we had company most of the time - a seal kept popping it's head up here and there!

Probably our last fishing trip this year?

My mate Rod and I are off down to Wales tomorrow to have a last go at the bass. We may even have a few hours on the Towy but I fear the water has dropped back way too far for a salmon and the nights are now too chilly for the sea trout I suspect? One thing for certain though we will enjoy ourselves! I've heard that the mackerel have finally arrived in Devon so whether  that's the same in Wales I don't know! We'll soon find out!

Freshwater West - here we come!

Rodney Byles and myself enjoyed a days fishing here back in the summer. What a stunning place it is? And the food from Cafe Mor is to die for especially their bacon baps with seaweed butter! The only downside to this location is as the name suggests it faces west so the wind can make life impossible at times but get a quiet day and it's brilliant!

Freshwater West - after the Bass!

Recommended Facebook Group

Saltwater Fly Fishing UK is a good source of information and inspiration on Facebook!

Lessons learnt in 2018!

Well, I've spent this whole season predominantly in search of the bass!

A few things that I've learnt! On an incoming tide I've seen marauding sea bass (2 or 3) with fins out of the water cruising quietly through the kelp just a few metres from the waters edge right in front of me! Too close to cast a line to almost. There may have been others below them - the water would only have been about 1 metre deep probably. They were definitely ahead of the game, searching areas just flooded by the tide. I've seen a Gannet dive, cast a line in that area and caught a fish!

So - how does this fishing compare to night fishing for sea trout? Well in terms of catch rate - not much different really!

There are a number of plus sides to this type of fishing:

Nights are for sleeping now

Beautiful surroundings

Loads of sea birds and even seals to admire including a Gannet diving right in front of me the other day

Holiday atmoshere

Low and High Tide opportunities

Disadvantages?

A bit more dangerous than sea trout fishing on the river (had a soaking twice this season by slipping on a rock)
Risk of dangerous sun burn

Risk of slipping over and breaking my rod or worse
Line burn from endless stripping

Further to travel for me (160 miles instead of 95)

Slightly more expensive

I have to say I have enjoyed the fishing, probably more than sea trout fishing and as I've always loved being by the sea and the coast then I guess I'm in my element! And for anyone who really knows me then they will know I love a challenge! Watch this space!

My Best Sea Bass of the 2018 season so far on YouTube!

My biggest bass so far this season is this one - estimated to weigh between 4lb and 5lb. By god these fish fight so be prepared if you start fishing for them. I caught it on a sandeel fly while fishing over a great deal of structure. My catch to date this my first full season is 15, mostly in the 3/4lb to 2lb range so you can imagine how pleased I was with this catch!

Please click the link below to watch the video which lasts almost 4 minutes but has been edited down quite a bit from the original footage:. Hope you like it?

My Best Sea Bass so far!