Bass and water temperatures?

I was talkin to an angler on a beach in Wicklow at the end of October. There were plenty of schoolie bass being caught. He said they get much "thinner on the ground" in late Nov when the water temperature drops.

Are bass taken on the north coast beaches throughout the winter, eg Downhill, Benone, Castlerock etc? What does the cold water do to their abundance there in winter? Does it affect the fishing or do bass still appear on the beaches regardless of water temperature?

I'm just curious about the relationship (if there is one) between the presence of bass and water coldness?

Cathal.

Always the odd few exceptions when conditions are right, But in general Bass head south as the water Temp Drops

IMO Irish Bass go to Cork & Kerry for there holidays ,Dec, Jan , Feb & March being the holiday season

hello cathal!
check this link out:
http://www.ukbass.com/seabassandfishery/breeding.html
it backs-up what labyrinthfish has just rightly stated..
indeed, always every chance of some bass still being here of course. bass caught in winter i believe

Thanks Labyrinthfish, just trying to figure out if its gonna be worthwhile goin out to get froze in the next couple of months in pursuit of bass- in this part of the country. It doesnt seem to make sense chasing them in the coldest part of the year, especially up here.

But Ive been told about bass getting caught in the depths of winter on beaches in the north which doesnt seem to add up with the accepted winter status of the fish in these parts? Exceptions to the rule are probably the only explanation- as you say. Cheers.

Thanks Charlie, had a look, yeah that seems to be the story. Just back in from the beach, 11 juvenile fish(not bass). Whitin and coley.
Might do it again tomorrow night but by God that was cold. Has to be sub zero out there, not a night for brass monkeys.

Cathal.

my fished benone beach last sat night and a man beside him landed a 6lb bass and the other beside him one over 2lb. so they seem to be about there at the moment

[weedave]

nearly every beach on the north coast is producing bass at this moment in time!!!

i'll grant you that they will reduce in numbers when water temps drop but its my experience that untill that point they feed hard when its cooling down - maybe to fuel up for migrating!

my worst month for catching is definatly january but i have had bass all year and i know other bass men do too so i wouldnt tell you its a waste of time when i've experienced different.

no hard and fast rules in fishing though so its just my opinion.

your not one of these fair weather fluff chuckers are you???

dave

Last edited by weedave on Fri Nov 26, 2010 2:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

my fished benone beach last sat night and a man beside him landed a 6lb Bass and the other beside him one over 2lb. so they seem to be about there at the moment

good to hear! this most recent spring tides have been very productive.

i'm on the hunt for a 10lber - i know they are out there!!!!!!

Cathal - have you any info on water temps and the like - i'd be interested in matching them up to my catch no's for the last few years to see if we cant find a pattern relating to water temp.

Fair weather fluff chuckin is probably my favourite type of fishin, BUT I would gladly stand and get foundered for ten hours at Benone some of these nights if I thought there was half a chance of nailing a bass of 3lb upwards.

Ive been out a good bit lately, on beaches here in NE antrim, last night was very cold but I still enjoyed it. The best fish of the night by far fell off after reeling it half way in. It took a sandeel on a pennell rig - 1st throw with that bait. Was using squid strips up til that and caught a succession of tiny whiting. The fishing died after losing that fish. No idea what it was but it gave aggressive bites and felt substantial. Not a doggie, not by the vigorous bites. Sea trout, bass or decent codling?

I'm afraid I have no info on water temps Dave to help you. Ive only fished Downhill once before, near the Temple and railway tunnel. Would that be a good enough place to try for a bass or should I be thinkin further west , ie Benone?

Thanks for your responses, I'm up for sloggin it out and its good to know its not a total waste of time.

What about baits and tides? All i have at the mo is frozen sandeel, frozen squid. I could dig some lug tomorrow morn, the tackle shop didnt get any rag this weekend. PM me?

Cathal.

my fished benone beach last sat night and a man beside him landed a 6lb Bass and the other beside him one over 2lb. so they seem to be about there at the moment

This is very good to know Polmac. Thanks for sharing that. You for out this weekend?

i didnt get out this weekend as the snow was shocking and i thought it would be mad to head out in it. im raging i didnt go now as i was stone bored on sat! lol

i fished downhill there where you were talking about, just to the right of the entrance onto the beach. decent spot, we caught one bass tho it was very small and was returned.

Just read that cian at absolute fishing in Tramore goes lure fishing (for bass) when water temps are above 10 degs ,,,which it still is around ireland (just) ,,check out the link http://www.marine.ie/home/publicationsdata/data/buoys
I've seen bass in some of my local marks nuzzling around at low tide in the last four or five days...haven't managed to catch the feckers in the last 4 outings though

as the lads have said i find it slows a bit come january . but your always in with chance of getting one all year round i think.so dont let water temp,wind,or tide put you off if we did we never go out.sometimes we can look to much into it. i have failed to get bass many many times when conditions have been right . but a bit of luck helps big time aswell

Just read that cian at absolute fishing in Tramore goes lure fishing (for Bass) when water temps are above 10 degs ,,,which it still is around ireland (just) ,,check out the link http://www.marine.ie/home/publicationsdata/data/buoys
I've seen Bass in some of my local marks nuzzling around at low tide in the last four or five days...haven't managed to catch the feckers in the last 4 outings though

Water temps at your marks will be way lower than 10 degs; remember those buoys are about 30 miles offshore. With the constant frosts the water in the intertidal zone could be lower by a few degrees. If you're lure fishing give softies a go and slow it down...almost dead stop slow!

pat...sounds interesting
this seems to be the general consensis.(from what i've heard at this time of year)...haven't caught on the softies yet.....but any fish on plugs at the end of nov were on deep diving plugs fished real slow...except one freek on a surface popper (my first this way)
must persevere thanks

Cheers for the responses folks, me and a mate fished a north antrim beach for 8 hours last night, a beach which produced a few bass this autumn/ winter (allegedley), with freshly dug lugworm, sandeel, squid and mackerel. Not shocked not to have caught a bass but surprised all we could manage was 3 coley, (1 of which was a lovely 1.5lb fish for Charlie). Thought we'd get a flounder or 2 but maybe its not a flounder mark.

Half hoping we'd score with a wee turbot but no joy.

Yeah it seems its possible to catch a bass up here in all months (if you have patience!) but January is the month of fewest fish.

Thanks again for the info.