query on currents and rips on big beaches

[kieran]

Happy New Year all...

I've been spending some time on the Atlantic coast storm beaches here in Mayo (not fishing sadly) and now think that the presence of a rip current in very specific locations on otherwise massive beaches is a key factor for bass. I know there is a severe one in Strandhill in Sligo and it throws up bass unlike most of the beaches around it. Can anyone comment on their experience with rips elsewhere?

Thanks

[chuckaroo]

Hi Kieran
I haven't direct personal experience myself but have, in the past, been advised on numerous occasions to seek rip currents when targeting bass on beaches. the theory books always define them as bass hot spots too..
The idea, as you may well know, is to fish the outer (seaward) end of the current, as that is where the fish are meant to congregate. It makes sense that food stuff, drained from the beach with the water, ends up here...
The issue I had though on my local beaches (north coast), and any other long open beaches when i come to think of it, was identifying obvious/visible rip currents; there just didn't seem to be any. they must be there to some extent but i, nor anyone i fished with, could readily identify definite (staying in the one definite position) rip currents
if i saw a rip current then thats where i'd be throwing my line!
hope this helps
Happy New Year

[Tanglerat]

I've had more than one or two renowned Bass guides (three of them, indeed) tell me on separate occasions that Bass absolutely love tides/rips/currents/fast moving water.

[Robk]

Great bit of info
U got me thinking
We've a good few areas out west with decent rips especially on spring tides
Must give it a blast and I'll let ye all know if I get any !!!!!!!!!

[chuckaroo]

there's plenty of theory here on rip currents: http://www.stripersonline.com/t/417339/ ... -the-water
it continues here: http://www.stripersonline.com/t/537410/ ... ater-again
as i say, the theory is there but identifying such places on a lot of beaches can be easier said than done

i have also received some other good advice in the past when attempting to identify 'fish holding' areas. I was told to namely look out for, for example,:
out-spilling areas (where waves/currents drain into slacker water),
gullies (e.g. behind breaking waves that may be crashing onto or over an exposed or submerged rock, or along sandbars),
congregated white foam (fish under it)

[kieran]

Ok, in terms of what I have learned from observation over the Christmas period here in Mayo...

On the big storm beaches, the ones miles long, there are very small areas where there are distinct rips, often with the water pushing in at its strongest in the centre and then breaking in both directions. Chatting to surfers, they use these rips to minimise the amount of paddling they have to do, riding the wave in and then using the rips to get them part of the way back out. Presumably you should be lobbing baits into the backwash on either side. Here in Mayo, that means identifying the rips in daylight and then waiting for dusk. Strandhill is different, as it breaks dominantly in one direction depending on whether it is ebbing or flooding into Ballysadare Bay. The obvious word of caution is that to cast into these rips, you have to be standing in them! Some are pretty ferocious, not sure I would do it. Thinking back, the few bass I have encountered in Mayo would all have come from these rip sections of the beach, albeit up to now it has been entirely by accident rather than design!

BTW the amount of kelp torn up and now beginning to rot (already!) on the beach heads is just phenomenal this year. Chuckaroo, a few maggot flies at high water in a month or less could be productive for bass and mullet... might even get some flounder for ya!

[chuckaroo]

Presumably you should be lobbing baits into the backwash on either side.

yes, where the backwash rip ends. did you have a read at those 2 links that i provided above..

The obvious word of caution is that to cast into these rips, you have to be standing in them! Some are pretty ferocious, not sure I would do it.

Please DO NOT stand in these rips. you would be taking your life in your hands!

BTW the amount of kelp torn up and now beginning to rot (already!) on the beach heads is just phenomenal this year. Chuckaroo, a few maggot flies at high water in a month or less could be productive for Bass and mullet... might even get some flounder for ya!

i like the idea Kieran ..but its a bit far away!

[Pjc]

Hi kieran I fish strandhill quite a bit with lures. I usually park at cullenamore strand (the beach behind strandhill) and work my way around to the point where strandhill beach starts (the ballisadare side). Low water seems to work best for me here. While I always wear waders here the section with the strongest tide rip (first bend on the left as the channel follows around towards the knocknarae mountain) it is not possible to wade as the water gets very deep very quickly. Strangely enough I have fished into this rip with black minnows, various soft plastics, spinners, feed shallow and zonk gaterades with limited success, I could be doing something wrong. I catch plenty of sea trout, the odd flattie on lures and pick up a few bass. The only spot I wade is a rocky/weedy stretch about 100 yards long at the point opposite ballisadare. The ground here is shallow but can fish well with soft plastics fished weedless.

[JimH]

K
There’s no doubt that bass will utilise moving water to their benefit. The extent that any water is moving in relation to time, volume, depth and ‘type’ of movement will attract fish at different times into different positions. The type of presentation made at these times can be very important.
Be aware too that where there is moving water, at certain times of tide, as you know, there is also no moving water – this can, in fact, be the ‘key time’ especially for bigger fish.

Fishing a rip exiting from Ballisadare is different than fishing the rip around a scour hole caused by long shore drift and breakers which is different than a rip caused by wave refraction at the end of a rocky point. Windows of opportunity around moving water can be very short and very very specific timing is often required – often leading to a drop in confidence as these take time to find.

Spring tides will increase both vertical and horizontal water volume and within each tide over the rise there is not a uniform rise and fall of water – hrs 2.5 to 4.5 on both the rise and fall may often be attributed to those with maximum water movement. This is not taking any geography into consideration of course which may influence the ‘squeezing’ or ‘uplifting’ of water.

A rip may exist on a falling tide but not on the rising tide at the same location, or vice versa, extent of time here too may change over the days of the tides and combined with atmospheric influences and wind direction there’s a lot to think about.

Then also think of ‘time of day’ when bass move within the time frames above.

In other words at the mouth of an estuary at six o clock in the evening at the first drop of the tide might cause you some degree of frustration, the same tide at six o clock in the morning might mean a completely different result. This may be because of the volume of water on different tides or because fish move into the estuary on the ‘night tide’ in confidence and in preference to the ‘day tide’ – they may be there to move out in the morning with the drop but simply not move in during the day.

Then add time of year and neither strategy might work in July, both might work in October, it might work on a particular wind direction and not another….and onto the open shore for bass in the rip/surf now there's a challenge.....double hander overhead big fly November......