Bass at Downhill

Hello.

Has anyone had any joy targetting Bass at Downhill? Me and me Da went for a drive one evening last week and there were a few fella's fishing but no one had caught anything.

I'd love a crack at them as I've never caught a bass before (hardley suprising seeing as how I've never went after them before.) Has anyone any advice or know of any other marks in the North-West of Ireland that hold bass?

(PM's will be treated with the strictest confidence :) )

Also, are there any periods in the North when fishing for bass is prohibited?

Thanks,

Gary.

Dont know where Downhill is. The only advice I can give you as I dont know the area is if you have an estuary near by its well worth fishing it before sunrise and with a low or high tide. You may have to try a few tides until you are successful. Try spinning or with bait around the mouth of the estuary and target sandbanks if there are any.

Downhill/Benone is at the mouth of Lough Foyle in Derry, it's a pretty well known bass mark up around these parts.

YOU WILL HAVE TO PUT IN THE HOURS IF YOU WANT TO SEE ANY FISH BEACHED. THE BASS ARE NOT THERE IN LARGE NUMBERS SO FINDING THEM ALONG THE BEACH IS A PROBLEM. STICK TO FISHING FOR THEM JUST BEFORE DARK THEN INTO THE DARKNESS FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN STAY AWAKE...ITS AN ENDURANCE THING WITH BASS...AT DOWNHILL/BENONE ANYWAY
HOPE WHAT LITTLE I CAN TELL YOU HELPS WITH YOUR QUEST

I was talking to a fella at the Findlater comp and he was saying that there were a lot more big bass being caught at Benone than was being reported :? .

Staying awake ain't a problem, I'm well used to night shifts... Keeping me Da interested if the fishing is slow could be a different matter though.

Had to laugh that evening we went up a run, some Chinese fella was going along talking to anyone fishing and offering to buy any bass they had off them for his restaurant! :D

No "close-season" so to speak?

I think the closed season is from the 15th May to 15th June.
You will need to check on that. Seen it posted somewhere else on the forum.

I think the closed season is from the 15th May to 15th June.

In the Republic, only?

Thought that was for both north and south

nope republic only

Feel free to join us. :lol:

well on the ban, surely it would be okay to catch bass at this time so long as all of them are caught and released again??

Phil, catch and release in the closed season is fine as far as I know. It's not like we have any way of not accidentally catching bass - or indeed any species. Since most of us are catch and release for most of the stuff we catch, the closed season isn't really a hardship.....

Hate to appear a spoilsport, but the byelaw specifically prohibits fishing for bass during the close season, not just killing them.

BASS FISHING CONSERVATION BYE-LAW No. 800 of 2005

It is hereby prohibited to fish or attempt to fish for bass with any rod, line or weir during the period commencing on 15 May 2006 to 15 June 2006.

All very well to fish catch-and-release but what happens if you have a gut-hooked fish that won't survive? Its only one month in the year... surely we can fish without deliberately targeting bass for that month and leave them alone to spawn... if you catch one by accident fair enough and put it back straight away, but I'm sure we can target other species for that month...

Indeed, the trick is not to actively target bass in the closed season (or indeed sea trout in their closed season). However, since the two seasons are at different times, and the same method of fishing ie spinning may take either bass or sea trout in some places, should we stop spinning at both times? Or stop fishing for anything just in case? I don't think this is whatthe law suggests.

I take the spirit of the law to mean that the closed season means not deliberately targetting the species in question and any caught should be released, whether they are alive, dead, dying or whatever.

I think that real anglers are not the problem. However, I doubt the poachers are agonising over the finer interpretation of the law, whatever the time of year.

I think that real anglers are not the problem. However, I doubt the poachers are agonising over the finer interpretation of the law, whatever the time of year.

Nail on the head