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Wolf of the Tide
Flyfishing
the Brittish Coastline by Malcolm Greenhaulgh
Visit
your local fish market
and you may see some scaly, silvery fish on sale that vie
with Dover sole as the most expensive fish available. That
fish is the gourmet's delight. The 'piece de resistance'
in a Brittany fish restaurant, cooked over a faggot of fennel,
and called 'le loup de mer', the wolf of the sea. We simply
call that fish the bass.
The commonest species of bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, has
a stout but streamlined and often moderately slender build,
with a relatively large head and wide mouth. The gill cover
has strong, sharp forward pointing spines below the eye,
and there are two sharp flat spines at the rear edge. The
two dorsal fins are separate; the first is supported by
8-9 sharp spines, the second by 12-13 soft rays. The anal
fin has 3 spines in front of 10-11 rays. Beware of these
spines when handling these fish alive, for they can inflict
serious damage to tender fingers. When it comes to landing
one of these I slip a thick rubber or neoprene glove onto
my left hand (I can't stand fishing in the things as they
affect the sensitivity of the hands that is so essential
in fly-fishing).
Bass are the most silvery of fish, with a steel-grey back
that often has a green or olive tinge, bright silver sides
and a silvery-white belly.
If you fish along the mainland European coastline from France,
south around Spain and Portugal, and along the western Mediterranean
to Italy, you might catch the Spotted Bass Dicentrarchus
punctatus. I caught it one evening in October 1998 in the
harbour at Gibraltar, and also found it feeding off the
Spanish coast near Tarifa. This species is readily identified
from the bass by its black-spotted sides and by the comb-like
margins of the scales found on the head between the eyes.
The bass breeds March-May, in inshore seas. The eggs and
early fry stages form part of the zooplankton, floating
with the currents close to the sea surface, the fry feeding
initially on microscopic phytoplankton, then tiny planktonic
larvae of crustaceans, molluscs and marine worms. Then,
in summer they are large enough to hunt larger food items
close to the bottom and to swim against the tidal currents.
After breeding the adults and immature fish remain inshore,
often entering estuaries with the tide, and although they
can often be caught in brackish water, they rarely enter
freshwater (I have never caught them in salt-less water).
In autumn bass tend to retreat south-westwards to winter
in warmer waters, or they move offshore to deeper waters.
In recent years, however, some bass have wintered in the
north of their range, usually close to industrial warm water
outfalls.
The bass is a slow-growing but potentially long-lived fish;
after 20 years quite large weights ten or more pounds, exceptionally
to 20+lb, may be reached. However in many areas bass are
caught before they can reach large sizes, so that most bass
today weigh in the 1-3lb range. Which brings us to the point
of conservation of bass stocks. Commercial fisheries are
restricted by law. Rod and line fisheries are not, and at
present anyone can go to fish for bass without let or hindrance
in tidal waters around the coastline of England, Wales and
Ireland. Also much of the rest of Europe. No permit or rod
licence is required. In Scotland you need permission of
the owner of the foreshore. And whilst anglers have little
real impact on bass stocks compared with commercial operations,
my own feeling is that we ought to act in a reasonable and
sensible way. I kill the occasional brace of fish weighing
less than about the 2-3lb. mark and return all others so
that they can grow larger and spawn. To kill bass in the
5lb or more weight, that have slowly grown over ten or more
years, is destroying too much potential for the future.
But that is my opinion...nothing more.
The bass is a hunter of any lesser creature that it is capable
of catching and swallowing whole. In some areas its main
food is the sandeel, a creature that often remains buried
in wet sand through the extreme low tide period and emerges
as the flood tide covers its sand-bank. In two Irish and
three British estuaries that I know, the bass move in with
the tide, going from one sandbank to the next, just after
the tide has covered it (and often in no more than a couple
of feet of water) and the sandeels have emerged. There is
a period around high water when feeding activity throughout
the estuary seems to decline, but then, as the tide ebbs,
the bass move back down the estuary, feeding in the channels
separating the sandbanks as sandeels and other creatures
move out with the tide.
It is interesting to consider the stomach contents of such
bass. The stomachs of eleven bass caught on the flood tide
contained only sandeels, whilst the stomachs of seven caught
on the ebb contained sandeels and also shore crabs, small
'creeper' ragworm, and flounder fry. All these fish were
caught on sandeel imitations, although it is likely that
fish caught on the ebb would have taken other sorts of fly.
In some bigger estuaries and bays, sandeels are not abundant,
their niche being occupied by vast shoals of the edible
shrimp. Bass appear to love these, and will follow the shrimp
shoals up the shore on the flooding tide. Shrimps and bass
are not in deep water. You are in the right depth if waist
deep in chest-waders (or, on a warm sunny day, shorts and
pumps).
Harbours often attract a wide range of bass foods, especially
fishing harbours where fish waste, shrimp husks and other
edible bits and pieces may find their way into the water.
The fry of many species, sea gobies (lovely bottom-dwelling
fish), shore crabs, prawns and shrimps, and, if you are
fishing the western and southern coasts of Europe, small
octopus and squid. All these are eaten by bass.
To marine creatures, harbours are simply inlets of the sea
protected from the brunt of oceanic storms and waves, and
if, on an exposed rocky shore you can find an area of deep
sheltered water, there you will also find bass foods and
bass. The ideal sort of place is where there is a deep crack
between you on dry land and an offshore reef.
From my experience, it seems that bass feeding in harbours
and sheltered rocky inlets are not selective, but instead
will opportunistically take anything edible. All of the
eight bass stomachs that I examined in 1998 contained at
least two different food items, and one held six (a fry,
a crab claw, two species of marine worm, a prawn, and a
species similar to the freshwater Gammarus).
Overall, the two factors that influence feeding intensity
by the bass are the tide and the light.
Bass feed most keenly on a rising tide; they appear not
to feed (or they are out of reach) at high water slack and
through the low tide period; then feed, but seemingly less
keenly on the ebb tide.
Tidal range is also important. Remember that in new and
full moon spring tides the water moves further up and further
down the shore than in half moon neap tides. In north-west
England we have a range of over 10 metres on the biggest
springs and less than 7 metres on neaps. Incidentally, the
term 'spring' tide is nothing to do with the season of spring;
it comes from the old English springere, meaning to rise
or spring up. Because the water must cover far more shore
on a spring tide than a neap in the same amount of time,
an approximate 12 1/2 hours tidal cycle, then it must move
much faster on springs than neaps. And it does. A spring
tide floods Morecambe Bay and the mouth of the Ribble estuary
funnel at a brisk walking pace, whereas a neap tide is far
more leisurely. This means that everything must be done
'at the double' in big bays or wide estuaries on spring
tides. The bass are here and gone in a flash, and we must
keep moving if only to avoid being drowned. So where the
tide range is huge on spring tides, concentrate your efforts
on the neaps. However, where tidal range is small even on
the spring tides, the spring tides are the ones to fish.
How do you know when the neaps and springs fall? Or what
the range will be? Or the precise timing of high and low
water? Buy a set of tide tables from your local tackle shop
and study them. Only a fool goes fishing on a wild shore
without precise knowledge of the tides.
Whilst bass can be caught throughout the daylight hours
(the state of tide being right), they seem to feed more
keenly when the flood occurs at dusk and into the night.
Also, the larger bass seem to feed (or take the fly) better
at night than by day.
So we can plan well ahead. For example, at 2.31am on Sunday
18th July a 9.1m tide peaks at Liverpool. At the mouth of
the Wyre estuary, a few miles to the north, high water is
eight minutes earlier. So this might be a good tide to fish
the flood up from dusk (sunset 8.30pm so start fishing about
9.30pm) on the 17th. If I was to fish in the wider parts
of Ribble or Morecambe Bay I would look to later in that
week, when the neap tides peak at sunset, and fish the tide
up in the light, and down in the dark.
Use stainless steel or Partridge Niflor-coated
Grey Shadow hooks. Wash any flies (and your fishing tackle)
thoroughly in fresh, running water when you get home.
With fish imitations, length of fly is more important
than hook size.
Hook: Sea Prince sizes 2-10.
Thread: Transparent or white.
Tail (feelers and whiskers): Sparse bunch bucktail
+ 2-3 strands Lureflash Mobile, Crystal hair or Flashabou.
Head: Lureflash Fritz.
Eyes: Lead for weighted version,
burnt 35lb mono for unweighted; painted.
Body: Flashabou wound round shank.
Colours:
olive, brown, pink....any shrimpy colour. The aim was
translucency. Live shrimps and prawns are not made from
hard plastic. Fish this along the bottom and you will
also catch flounders on it in estuaries. Great fun!
Fly length: 2-5 inches.
Thread: White.
Eyes: Lead eyes, tied on top of hook shank.
Now turn the hook point-up in your vice before tying in
the
Upper wing (back): Bunch cream or olive or grey
bucktail or similar hair. Now turn the hook back so that
it is point down in the vice and tie in
Lateral line (middle wing): Bunch pearl Crystal
hair.
Belly: White bucktail or similar hair.
One of the world's great flies and perhaps the best baitfish
fly. It fishes point up.
Hook: Size 2-4 Sea Streamer.
Thread: Black.
Body: Flat silver tinsel, ribbed with the widest
oval tinsel; varnish heavily with clear varnish.
Back and tail: Bronze mallard.
Head: Peacock herl.
An old pattern by
Rogan's of Ballyshannon... a great sea trout and bass
pattern and one you must use in Irish estuaries.
Fly length: 2-3 inches.
Thread: Black.
Tail (tied in at end of shank): Bunch white marabou,
pearl Mobile and a pair of grizzle cock hackles.
Back: Bunch of off white or cream fur (I use polar
bear).
False hackle: Bunch red Crystal Hair.
Sides: Teal feather with black and white painted
eyes.
Note: the eyes of
fry are an important trigger.
Fly length: 3-5 inches.
Thread: Transparent.
Body: None.
Wing: Under: white hair (I use bucktail);
Middle: pale yellow hair + 3 strands of pearl Flashabou;
Upper: olive or brown-olive hair
Head: Stick-on eyes plus clear epoxy.
Terry Jenner tied me a
stack of these last year and they are so good that I ran
out of them!
In
estuaries: fish as in rivers for salmon and sea trout, casting
down-and-across the flow, keeping in touch with the fly
with a slow figure-of-eight and speeding the fly up as it
comes round downstream of you. Experiment with speed and
(by using different fly weights and line densities) depth.
In estuaries, I prefer a sinking line, for the bass foods
are usually well below the water surface.
In bays or the open shore: cast the fly out and retrieve
as you move slowly sideways along the beach. You will catch
more if the fly comes back on a curved route. Depth: a floating
or intermediate line if bait-fish are erupting from the
surface or you see bass moving at the surface. Otherwise,
use a sinking line to take the flies down. Speed of fly:
fish shrimps with short jerky pulls or figure-of-eights;
fish fry and sandeels more quickly, but experiment...sometimes
the bass will react well if the fly is retrieved as fast
as you can pull it in, but sometimes on a slow figure-of-eight.
Harbours and deep sheltered corners on rocky coastline:
fish either a very heavy fly on a floating or intermediate
line, or an unweighted fly on a short (3 foot) leader on
a fast sinking fly line. Experiment, for every harbour and
sheltered corner is different. The method on one jetty that
I fish at night is to cast out into the tidal flow, let
the fly sink and swing round to the slack water, and then
strip it back quickly about three yards from the jetty wall.
By contrast, in one Spanish harbour where the bottom is
fine sand and shelves up to dry land at one corner and where
the tidal flow is very very slow, to catch the fish cast
out and let everything sink to the bottom. Then work a Sandeel
or fly back quickly through the surface of the sand. That
is the great thing about the sea. It and its finny inhabitants
are so varied.
Article taken from May 1999 issue of
Fly Fishing & Fly Tying
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