Bass Fishing - What am I doing wrong?

Last summer I vowed to lose my Bass virginity and after reading a fair deal / asking questions I set out beach fishing with bait for my first time (I've been a mackerel / pollock fishing for years). I failed to catch anything on 3 outings at a well known Cork bass spot (White Bay beach).

This summer once again I am determined to catch my first bass and after a further two blanks (went out this morning) at the same mark I am starting to wonder what I'm doing wrong. I have tried night & day fishing the mark, tried either side of high tide, and either side of low tide.

Each time I have used home made 2 hook paternoster rig (2/0 Kamasan B940s) with a 4 oz grip weight. I'm using an entry level 10 foot beach caster. I have been using black lug (bought frozen) tipped off with mackerel strips.

Couple of questions:
* how important would it be to strike if a bass was nibbling at the bait or will a bass usually hook himself? I have found it hard to determine if I have a bite as the rod tip always seems to be moving with the wind / or due to waves crashing against small bits of weed hanging on the line. If a bass strikes is it very obvious with a big bang on the rod tip?

* should I get a bigger beachcaster (12-14 foot?) to get more distance on my cast?

* often when I reel in the bait is half gone / all gone - could there be fish eating it off the hooks that I am letting get away due to not striking, or is this most likely crabs?

Any tips or advice would be appreciated, I am beginning to become a bit disillusioned with the art of bait fishing.

Hows things, i know the feeling about being sick of not catching it took me ages to catch my first bait fish ( ask the scotsman ) havent really done much the last few months with college and everything but maybe youd be better off with lure fishing or something.
i have sent you a pm also.

Hi Scombroid
Contrary to popular belief bass are difficult to catch, you will see some of the more seasoned members on this site catching them regulary and the majority of them have put an awful lot of work over the years refining tactics, targetting them.
The main thing is to refine your own methods and tactics so your giving yourself the best possible chance of catching.
ie good quality rod and reel, needn't be too expensive, good terminal tackle, sharp hooks, strong rigs and very importantly fresh well presented bait.
Just to answer some of your questions in relation to striking and bite detection, in majority of cases a bass is not going to nibble and your bait, it will either wallop it sending the rod tip mad, or pick it up and head for shore leaving a slack bow of line in this case. You wont mistake a good bite..Striking is optional depends on the situation I find most bass hook themselves with the ferocity they take the bait, especially if using a grip lead, striking sets the hook in the fish. If unsure let the bite develop a while, pick up the rod if you feel the fish still on then strike firmly. As i said a bass bite is usually hard and fast and you wont mistake it when you get it.

In relation to the rod tip it would seem that your rod might be too soft, this can be very annoying and it might be time to step up and invest in something a bit more stiffer, your local tackle dealer will help, maybe shakespeare salt range or penn/ diawa perhaps.

In relation to your bait being stripped its probably crabs or small fish its just a part of fishing and cant be avoided completely,
Take a bit more care maybe in the bait presention, dont be afraid to put plenty of bait on, push a good few worms on the hook and up the snood line if need be. Use thread to wrap sandeel/ razor/ mack etc. Try using fresh peeler crab, learn how to prepare it and present it on the hook.

In my own experience the majority of bass are caught after dark, best bait I find is lugworm/ragworm peeler crab or else razor/ fresh mackerel.

Hope this helps some bit, feel free to ask more questions, main thing is to not get to consumed with cathing one, just enjoy the fishing and one will eventually come along.
Hope this helps

I have way to much time on my hands jeez

Fair play for the answers lads, it is encouraging to get some new tips. I'm well aware at this stage that catching bass is not as easy as some say, but I'm going to try to keep at it until I have some success.

@cormology thanks for the bite detection explanation - I had a hunch that bass attack the bait fairly fiercely so I it seems that when one gets a bite it would be pretty obvious.

regarding the amount of bait to use, I have been using half a lug on each hook which went just an inch or two up the snood. I thought this was plenty but guess I can use a whole lug and have it going much further up the snood.

@wilky83 cheers for encouragement and PM I may invest in some lures to try a different tactic

One other question I have is on casting - this is not my strong point and with the 10foot rod and 4oz weight i am probably only getting around 40-50 yards. Should I be achieving better distances than this? I have read that one does not necessarily need to cast very far to catch bass..

i dont know much about whitebay as i havent fished it before. i do know of a few different spiecies caught from there are at a good distance, maybe 90 yards but bass might be a lot closer in. the beach i usually go to, i only need a gentle lob out. if the tide is comming in i give it about 30 yards and if its going out i give it about 40 yards but not all beaches are the same.
i usually use 2 hook flappers with size 2 hooks and they do me fine.
try fishing at different stages of the tide for a few hours over 3 or 4 sessions. it might make a difference.
as said above, the rod you have might be too soft at the tip but if theres no surf or weed it might be ok, but if theres no surf, there might be less fish about looking for food.
the Bass bite is usually like someone kicked your rod, the tip will start shaking like mad, but keep a good eye on it, if the fish takes it quickly and comes towards the beach you might not notice it but the line will go slack. if this happens reel in quickly till you feel a little pressure and strike but not too hard.

one other thing, it took me a good while to get my 1st Bass but ive had a good few since. it was wreckin my head reading all the reports when i couldnt even find one. youll get it eventually so keep telling yourself that the longer it takes, the more the wait will have been worth it.

hi scromboid, i dont believe bass are hard to catch, the difficulty in bass fishing is learning how a mark fishes. learning to read the weather, watercraft and tide are the most important bits. there is no point in turning up when the weather is fine and basing your success on a marks past reputation.

although im a fan of frozen lug, i dont think is any good for bass. you should find more success in using fresh rag, fresh lug, crab and one of my favorite bass baits, razor clam.

your gear will be fine for the moment, bass a fish that often feed close to the shore, distance is rarely an issue, though it can be. as cormac said i catch most of my bass coming into darkness.

thanks red & eric

eric I will take your advice in trying to use different baits, and probably try more fishing into darkness (only 1 of my 5 sessions so far have been at night).

red cheers for the very useful info on casting distance.

as eric said the best things to learn is the water craft learn to see those gullies, fish the last hour of darkness into darkness,,,
and basically fish the same way you would for flounder, ie the same kinda rigs with slightly bigger hooks,, i couldn tell you the amount of bass that were bycathes when flounder fishing

Over here fresh lug fished on a rising tide as darkness falls is the way to go.

Don't wade, don't over cast and don't shine your headlamp on the water!

in the current issue of "total sea fishing" theres an article on how to read a beach. might be worth paying the fiver to have a look. its the one with the pic of the bream on the cover

thanks for the heads up red that's me down to Easons so

Just in relation to you baiting up dont be afraid to put plenty of lug on the hook, i generally put 3 or 4 lug on the hook threading some up the hook and onto snood use a bait stop if you like to stop them flyin way up the snood.
More bait means it will last longer on hook and give a better scent trail out.

Hi, try and get your hands on fresh bait...rag,crab has worked well for me, frozen razor is fine when there's a surf. It's best fished during daylight when there's a good surf/swell running(http://magicseaweed.com/Cork-Area-Surf-Report/54/), it fishes well at night but avoid the place when there's any hint of a northerly wind...I head down there every now and then if you want a pm...cheers,rory

find an old lad like me but down in cork who does bass fishing,go to the pub and get him steaming drunk.the next day you will have all the info you need to catch bass all year round ,suggested targets would be donal nomoney or maybe the semi drunk scotsman(the latter being much cheaper to get drunk)hope this helps
dodger

my name used in vain twice in one set of posts cheers for the sentiments Roger!!
Load of bass around Cork at the moment, think you've just been unlucky. Frozen razor always a good bet as is fresh lug, never caught one on frozen lug myself. Hook size more dependent on bait size , 2 to 2/0 is what I'd favour.

Myself and petekd are always suckers for a newbie so if you want to join us then do (going out tonight if you get this post, PM me before 7.30 with your contact details or for another time if you want).

thanks again for all the responses folks. @thescotsman I got a PM from petekd this morn who said the 2 of ye might be heading out on Wednesday evening so I hope to make that session if it goes ahead.

On another (and possibly premature) note would it be bad karma to keep the first bass ever caught for the pot (assuming it is big enough) ?

thanks again for all the responses folks. @thescotsman I got a PM from petekd this morn who said the 2 of ye might be heading out on Wednesday evening so I hope to make that session if it goes ahead.

Too slow off the mark. See you then probably. Tonight only decided upon at lunch time.

On another (and possibly premature) note would it be bad karma to keep the first Bass ever caught for the pot (assuming it is big enough) ?

Well, personally I wouldn't blame you - did the same myself and as far as I know karma hasn't wreaked revenge on me yet (unless I am supposed to be a millionaire angler...). If you do put it back, there will be plenty of other opportunities (as long as we all keep putting most of them back ). As a cautionary tale, last time I kept the first of the season, I sliced my thumb open and had an expensive trip to the doc.....

Myself and petekd are always suckers for a newbie so if you want to join us then do (going out tonight if you get this post, PM me before 7.30 with your contact details or for another time if you want).

i hope ye're not going to MY beach?? .
might be down there again wednesday night if ye're around. if ye're in form for tips to newbies ye can teach me how to get one on a lure, still trying.

i hope ye're not going to MY beach?? .
might be down there again wednesday night if ye're around.

Might see you there as well then and we can demarcate the beach into our official territories

if ye're in form for tips to newbies ye can teach me how to get one on a lure, still trying.

lol, not from me, I only get macks down there spinning and I lost most of my spinners last week in the boat trying to fish too close to the bottom in shallow water.

ill be the fella with all the traffic cones around me marking my territory

and as for not being able to give spinning tips, i seem to remember a post when you were trying to get some sea trout but all you could hook into was about 30 pesky Bass, sure God love ya.

might be down there tuesday night spinning but should be there again wednesday night with bait, thursday night too around 11ish after work(if im allowed).
might see ye there.

scombroid, if you cant make it with the lads send me a pm with your number, and ill try bring you to out some evening. im not promising anything as im still a novice, but ill do my best. my last few sessions have been lucky enough tho.
as for keeping the first one, thats upto you. your the one thats gonna catch it. if you want to keep it then do as long as its not undersized.