Bass Ranges and Connemara

Tanglerat,
How good am I! A challenge is it! Seriously though from Donegal town round to Gweedore(don't know much of the coastline after that until Fanad) they appear to be almost non-existant. The truth be told I haven't gone out of my way to specifically target them but in fishing the area for over 10 years I've never seen one. Thats with bait, with lures, during the day, at night, of beaches, piers, estuaries and rocks. The same goes for the small group of us that fish the marks there regularly.

It doesn't make sense really as they seem to be distributed around the rest of the bloody coastline. I talked to Bob Cox about it last year and he concluded that alot of bass are migrating/colonising from their traditional southern english grounds around the Scotish coast and down the Irish Sea and that the fish on the north coast of Ireland are wanderers from that stock. Still you would think with gradual sea temperature rise that we will eventually begin to encounter them. I was in Kerry last week and got a brace of them spinning and I only wish we had them around here.

Still I've a couple of marks in Sligo that I think might hold a better than decent chance. Hard to get the time to do all these things!

Pete

Gawd no, no challenge at all!

I'm a carp shore angler, I much prefer to be afloat on the briney! :D

Going back to the original question - Yes there are bass in the area. Last week end I was over on Finis Island, just off Carna. Without fishing tackle , I must confess. However, whilst walking the perimeter of the Island I found a part eaten bass on the tide line. The head end was missing but the tail end, mid portion including dorsal were there. It was fresh-ish and would have weighed, complete, about 4 or 5 lbs.

Peter