Black Bass

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Smokedodger

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There's Black Bass in my lake at work but I've never fished for them before so where do I start?
 
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The Monk

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Black Bass I though Midenhall the USAF Air Base was the only place that was supposed to have a stocking and that was debatable, the old Brook Bond picture cards used to depict one allegely from there in the 60s, I would try worms, maggots or lures for starters, but hey what do I know about Black bass?,
 
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The Monk

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Black Bass I thought Midenhall the USAF Air Base was the only place that was supposed to have a stocking and that was debatable, the old Brook Bond picture cards used to depict one allegely from there in the 60s, I would try worms, maggots or lures for starters, but hey what do I know about Black bass?,
 
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Smokedodger

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Monk, I'm in France remember!!
Been fishing sweetcorn and they 'ain't interested, or anything else, and I've put a lure right across their noses and still no interest.
 
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Smokedodger

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Just going down to try some real worms, will keep you informed.
 
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Mike McHugh

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Well bass there is something I know how to catch! Well for lures I would reccomend crankbaits. And if you wasnt to use rubber worms, I would use a Carolina or a Texas rig.

Although you could probably just catch them on worms or crawfish, but big ones will go for frogs, mice and even birds :O! I dont use those though (but I did use salamanders once, that was a crazy day).
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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Catching black bass - wow that is a whole study in itself.

I spent many years in the persuit of this most fascinating predatory fish. My guess is that they are smallmouth bass. Largemouth I don't think would do well in England, they like tropical climates.

My first choice for smallies would be small spinnerbaits, the ones with the plastic grub on the hook. Small plastic worms fished Texas style with a bullet slip sinker and a "Tru-Turn" hook about a size 1/0. Locate that slip sinker with a bit of matchstick to stop it sliding up the line.

Smallies like rocky drop-offs, rip-rap around dam walls and sunken trees. They are incredible fighters for their size, in fact one of the hardest fighting freshwater fish in the world.

Smallmouth bass can also be taken on various types of artificial fly - especially streamers and muddlers which imitate small fish.

I certainly would not entertain the use of maggots or real worms. These fish are far too noble for that. If you were seen using such baits in the States you would be classified as a poacher or worse!
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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By the way BC the worms are NOT made from rubber. They are made from an extremely soft silicone that in most cases is flavoured.
 
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Mike McHugh

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Ron, I did not know that the worms were not actually made out of rubber, I guess I never bothered to check.

But more importantly, here in the States the Texas style rig is old news, The Carolina rig is all the rage now(even though its pretty much the same thing). Heres a link: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/carolina_rig.html
Oh and you might also want to try rubber (or silicone or whatever) lizards. They also work well. Spinner/buzz baits also work well.

PS. I use worms all of the time, big juicy nightcrawlers. I catch bass all of the time.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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Hi Mike,

Nice to have you.

I have done very little bass fishing in the States. Southern Africa is where I did it where both large and small mouth bass are found in many waters. Like all forms of angling you get fashions taking place. I never did much good with a Carolina rigged worm personally. Mind you I did spend a lot of time flipping worms and jigs into old brush piles and and other underwater jungles for the large mouths.

For small mouth bass I fished a number of high altitude small ponds where they grew to a good size - 6 1/4lbs was my biggest, caught on a large fly - a woolly bugger. The populations of bass in these waters were not large - so we put them all back.

There are waters along the KwaZulu Natal coastal strip which could seriously challenge Perry's 21 pounder for the world record these days.

My comment on not using big fat nightcrawlers (lobworms) was purely tongue in cheek. Why not try a big fat worm injected with air from a syringe and fished Carolina style. Or on the surface to resemble a snake!!

Ah buzz baits!!

A very exciting method of catching bass on the surface.

I had better shut up. I could write for hours about my bass experiences. I really miss those fish!
 
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Cakey

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I was catching them in the south of France on a little perch spinner ...............same as you tried everything first and nothing
 
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Cakey

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first time I see them they were on top fins out of the water 1000's of them .......
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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Bass, both large and small mouth will generally only take lures or baits that are moving and have life. I have fished static real worms for them and have not done much good. You have to keep twitching the worm.

There is one thing that worries me. If smallmouth bass get into our river systems they are going to wreak havoc amongst our small fish such as roach and dace etc. Whilst I loved catching them (and eating the odd one too), this fish was responsible for the demise of a large number of small indigenous fish in the Cape Province.

Small Mouth Bass are extremely aggressive predators. They generally feed by attacking their prey from ambush. Although they will feed at most times of the day, they often go on the rampage in early morning or late evening.

Small mouth bass, unlike their large mouth cousins will thrive in fairly cool temperatures. In fact they do well in Canada and the Northern USA where long cold winters are often the norm. They also like running water and have infested a number of rivers in the Western Cape province.

There are fair populations of smallmouth bass in parts of Sweden and Norway.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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Those would be large mouths Cakey.

How big were they?

If there is an adequate food source, large mouth bass can reach over 10 lbs in weight, especially those of what are termed the "Florida Strain". However in most waters a 3 pounder is a good one and a 5 pounder is a "lunker".

Both LM and SM bass will eat anything that moves. Big LMs will eat frogs, toads and snakes. I've seen LMs take fully grown boomslangs 2 feet long. On one water I fished there was a large partially sunken willow tree that was full of finches nests in the spring. The LM bass under this tree used to eat fledgling birds that dropped from these nests.

These fish do not have teeth like pike, trout or zander. They have a sandpaper like grippers in their jaws with a few rudimentary throat teeth.

On many occasions, bass do not grab or bite at their prey, they "inhale" it by flaring their gills, which causes an inrush of water into their throats.

The take of a LM and even a SM can be a very delicate affair. Often you feel only a couple of delicate taps on your line, then you must nail the fish by setting the hook as hard as you can.

They are species which can keep an angler enthralled for the rest of his life.
 
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