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If you are contemplating booking a Bass fishing trip, Read
THIS first.
Bass Fishing
The area immediately south of
Portland Bill is known as the "Race" or to give it its full name the
"Portland Race",
The Race is an area of fast
moving turbulent water produced by the combination of water being
forced upwards from deeper water to spill over the much shallower
muscle encrusted reef and the effects of the tide flow being
diverted by the isle of Portland which juts out into the English
Channel by about 8 miles,
On a flood tide the west to
east
setting tide meets a southerly tidal flow that has been displaced by
Portland, this creates a confused sea state,
Even on a calm windless day
the conditions in the race can be 'Lumpy' add to this a wind against
tide situation and you could be forgiven for thinking you were on an
Alton Towers ride rather than a charter boat fishing trip,
On an ebb tide the change in
depth is more gradual so less lumpy although the shape of Portland
Isle now serves to accelerate the east to west setting tide giving
very high drift speeds, sometimes these speeds become too excessive
and Bassing is abandoned until the tide begins to ease,
It is this turbulent water
that attracts the Bass and the most turbulent water in the front of
the race often produces the bigger fish,
Anglers wanting to target the
Bass must be prepared to put up with the uncomfortable conditions
and be able to cope with fishing from a boat that is drifting over
snaggy ground at speeds sometimes in excess of 5 or 6 knots,
The race does not provide non stop action for the Bass fisherman,
instead there will often be times when the area will appear to be
devoid of all sealife, in general, when the drift of the boat has
dropped below 2 knots the bites from the Bass will usually stop, and
when I say stop, I mean just that, they will stop biting almost as
if someone had thrown a switch!,
When this happens we will usually move to another area and try for
something else whilst we wait for the tide to start running again,
these periods of slacker tidal flow are ideal for targeting Turbot,
Brill and Plaice on the Shambles bank, or, on the smaller tides
Blonde Rays on the Kidney bank,
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Tackle
With out any doubt at all the most productive rig for Bass fishing
in the Race is the 'Portland Rig' this rig is used by the commercial
rod & line Bass fishermen and has proven to be the most efficient
rig to use in these conditions, The
materials needed to make up the Portland Rig are:
3 good quality barrel type line swivels (small size)
2 small beads 18lb clear (not
white!) mono line 25lb clear
mono line Good quality 3/0 or 4/0 Aberdeen pattern hooks
(for live sandeels) or, Plastic lure (Storm Shad, Sidewinder Lure
or similar)
The picture shows the simplicity of this rig and why it is so
efficient, especially when you compare this rig to say a standard
running ledger rig or even a flying collar rig,
There is the absolute minimum of resistance to the tide and the rig
is less visible to the wary Bass,
Coupled with the fact that the cost of the materials needed to tie
it up is only a fraction of other less efficient rigs,
Three things to remember when
tying your own, 1. Don't make
the hook length too short (6' minimum and up to
20' at times). 2.
Don't make the lead link or the sliding length too long
(lead link 4") (sliding length about 12"-15" long).
3. Use a ball or pear shaped lead, avoid leads with flat sections.
(Flat sided leads "Kite" in the tide causing
tangles)
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Bait & Tactics
The number one bait for this style of fishing is without question,
Live Sand Eel closely followed by Live Joey Mackerel, at certain
times of the year when Sand Eels are not available, Shads, Jelly
Worms, Eddystone Eels and even Hockais can be very productive
however the latter will often account for the smaller fish which
must be returned to grow and hopefully breed,
Okay, so now you have tied up your Portland Rig, how do you fish it?
Simple, lower it to the seabed in a controlled manner (to avoid
tangles, but fast enough so that you feel the 'tap') when you feel
the lead tap the bottom, lock off the reel, every few seconds drop
your rod tip and if you don't feel it 'tap' then let out a little
more line,
Caution. if
you feel your lead tapping continuously, Wind back in a little
otherwise you will snag the bottom and snap off,
Some anglers like to tap the bottom and then do a slow retrieve of
about 10 turns of the reel handle before dropping back to the bottom
again and repeating the procedure, this is a good way of ensuring
your gear is always in close proximity to the seabed and you are
less likely to snag up whilst fishing this method,
also, the Bass may not be feeding hard on the bottom so deploying
this method will often find the level at which the fish are
feeding.
When you get a hit from a Bass, lift the rod tip sharply to set the
hook, its worth mentioning at this point that most of the time the
hook is only lodged in the mouth of the Bass and when we eventually
slip the landing net under him the hook will fall out when the line
goes slack!
Armed with that snippet of
information it becomes obvious that you cannot allow the fish to
have slack line, nor can you bully him,
The golden rule is set your reel drag correctly so that it will slip
when necessary and use a soft tipped rod so that you can keep a nice
slow bend in it at all times, keep watching that rod tip and if it
starts to straighten wind faster,
Anglers often get fooled into thinking they have been smashed up
when there line goes slack only to find that the Bass has swam
towards them carrying the weight of there tackle with him, when I
tell them to quickly wind in, to there amazement they discover he is
still on and connected!
Bass fishing is becoming more and more popular with the growing
breed of modern anglers who are prepared to invest in some good
tackle and put up with the uncomfortable conditions that we
sometimes encounter, if you fancy a days 'Bassing' then give me a
ring.
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Rod Hire
We can provide Rod & Reel hire for your Bass fishing trip
(Call for Details)
Our rods are general purpose 7' 0" - 30lb class Fox Warrior rods,
our Mitchell reels are loaded with 30lb micro-braid line and
is terminated with a short length of 30lb mono line to which is
fitted a snap link swivel for attaching your terminal tackle,
Please Note,
Due to the high tackle losses associated with Bass fishing,
We do not provide any terminal tackle.
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Bookings
To Book your next Bass fishing trip please
send a cheque made payable to:
Seadrive Charters
10 Portwey Close
Weymouth
Dorset
DT4 8RF
Alternatively, You can use our secure credit card system below:
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Please make your choice from
the selection below, Ensure that your chosen date is available before
completing your purchase, You can check the availability of your
preferred dates here. |
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Paypal
Accept all major credit cards, All payments are taken via a Paypal secure connection, you will be redirected back to this site when you have completed your purchase.
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Please enter your
preferred date
in the appropriate box below.
(Example - Sept 1st 2009) |
Whole Boat Deposit:
£100.00 per day
Balance to be paid on the day of the trip. |
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Whole Boat Charter Bass Fishing:
£450.00 per day |
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