bass in the north

can anyone tell me where in the north is best for bass. i have heard castlerock, downhill and benone mentioned, and what time of year is it best to fish for them?

many many thanks in advance

there has been a good few bass caught off those marks you mentioned man, but i doubt you'll get any one to give you anything more specific on an exact location as any one who has been lucky enough to get bass in the north usually keep it to themselves as they are about, but they are scarce enough. we do a hell of a lot of fishing and have only been lucky enough to have had one session in the north in the last 4 years where we encountered them and got 6 in one night. they have been caught from magilligan around to as far as brown's bay last year and all the beaches in between. you just have to be fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time man. but do'nt let that put you off and happy hunting man

why is everybody so secretive?
this is the same as when i was carp fishing. . .nobody would tell ya what baits they used or what rigs. . .not that it matters now cos i hold the lake record of 26lb 4oz for ballywillan

maybe i need to fall in with the right crowd on the beach lol

thanks anyway, its good to know there is someone who will help out

being secret on marks in sea angling is important mate as we dont want commercial fishermen or poachers to ruin our marks and our favourite hobbie etc.when u become more familiar on here and get to meet lads and stuff then u will gain ur own marks.go to these marks u mentioned and try them.u never know and u mite meet some1 fishin there too who will help u.just get out there and give it ago as al said u have to be at the right place at the right time,if ur so determined for some bass why not head down to the south east as if u r reading the reports on here they catching plenty of them.good luck with ur bass fishin mate.hope u get one.

why is everybody so secretive?
this is the same as when i was carp fishing. . .nobody would tell ya what baits they used or what rigs. . .not that it matters now cos i hold the lake record of 26lb 4oz for ballywillan

maybe i need to fall in with the right crowd on the beach lol

thanks anyway, its good to know there is someone who will help out

ta very much

me and captaink had a planned trip to wexford, but something came up, tho we're hoping to get down there soon. . . i like the sound of big fish being caught from the shore

hi,

i'm fairly regular when conditions are right to benone/downhill and am having a fish 3/5 visits recently.

all those beaches you named produce bass most of the year but obviously the warmer water temps bring more fish.

there are few pieces of advice i am willing to give you openly over the boards

1) always have a reason to fish a certain area on the beach. especially downhill/benone as its miles long and fish can not be everywhere at once. this is the single most important thing (imo). if you cant explain why you have casted a bait into the sea then imo you shouldnt have cast it in the first place. i call that the hit'n'hope method. at some point you will get a fish but you chances are alot slimer and less regular.

If you do what 75% of anglers do and turn up at benone and fish off the concrete in front of the entrance you may get lucky,sometimes really lucky but if you actually think about why the fish come to shore and where they are likely to be then you will have much better success, i've proved this to myself over the last few years and having spoke to anglers who only every fish in one spot (because they have had one fish two years ago or other generic reasons) i have come to realise that you must go to the fish. They certainly wont come to you. you must remember that the sea bed doesnt stay the same on a surf beach - gulleys moves, freshwater streams move, food moves so anglers must move too.

2) getting weather and sea conditions right puts more things in your favour. this is a good thing!

3) i can almost promise you....you are casting too far.

i hope this helps you

tigh lines

dave

why is everybody so secretive?
this is the same as when i was carp fishing. . .nobody would tell ya what baits they used or what rigs. . .not that it matters now cos i hold the lake record of 26lb 4oz for ballywillan

maybe i need to fall in with the right crowd on the beach lol




i bet the other angler who fed the spot in ballywillan for 5 months and put u on the right bait and sorted ur rigs and according to some lads i know fishing that lake even dropped it in the spot for u wished he had been a bit more secretive now

lol thats a good one. . . .yes paul put me onto the right bait, and yes he advised me on the rigs to use, and he even took my bait out in his bait boat, but i caught the fish lol. . . .all credit to paul for it

Your best bet for Bass in the north would probably be ST Georges market in Belfast( and it wont be irish either).

In the 20 odd years ive been sea angling ive seen about 10 being lifted of those beaches you name, they are few and far between. Any of the guys who fish our stretch of antrim/londonderry coastline will tell you that. Theres a wee group of us who travel twice a year, a roundtrip of 600 miles in pursuit of these awesome fish. The only advice I could give you is to not go out to those venues to target bass but to go there just for the joy of being in a beautiful part of the world.

havent fished there in a few years but used to get plenty bass august and september in portstewart ,pm me if you want exact locations,and by plenty im talking 15 plus fish a night mostly 3 to 4lb fish ,mostly spinning at dusk and a few on the beach at night using sand eels

best advice is to go were the fish are.. in other words if u want bass go to wexford or Kerry!!

You could easily spend 10 times fishing benone and not catch a bass..

10 x N.Ireland (Petrol + food + bait + rigs ) = £500

1 x Wexford (Petrol + food + bait + rigs ) = £200

Why not try the Louth Coast its only 90 minutes away and very productive this time of year

I am over estimating a trip to wexford.. that includes a night accomodation as well

We gotta go man .

all your advice will be taken on board. so many thanks to ya all and fingers crossed

captaink, weekend of sept 10th, ya had better be ready!!! lol wexford he we come. . . .tho before that, the north coast