Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

SEA FISHING

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over several years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. As you see I also add the odd piece from my friends and correspondents if I've not been doing much. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff).

Erratic early season fishing.

Every year at about this time I get lots of emails from keen anglers saying that they've been trying bass plugging but haven't had a sniff. Of course, it's not surprising that it's a bit slow and I usually suggest that anyone new to this branch of the sport waits until June before giving it a go. It's easy to become disillusioned with things when the fish are few and far between.

In a way I suppose that I'm partly responsible for the above emails because I publish quite a lot about bass catches on my website from early March. This doesn't mean that fishing as early as March is either easy or indeed a good idea. Bass at this season, at least in my neck of the woods, are thin on the ground and widespread and I don't expect to catch on every session. The best bet is usually to stick to tried and trusted lures - Jointed Rapalas, Maria Chase, Maria Angel Kiss and the like. It's also wise to fish over spots that are known to produce reasonably consistently and to fish at the best states of tide and conditions. We often get up at about three o'clock to try and maximise chances - which makes it all the more galling when we don't catch. Of course you have the pleasure of seeing lots of wildlife and hearing the best of the dawn chorus but it's not the same as catching fish..

At the weekend I had an email from my pal Richard saying that he'd had a fish and lost a bigger one on the Saturday morning. Conditions on Sunday looked even better but when Ben and I tried it, walking miles in the process, it was, to say the least, a bit slow. We managed a few half hearted knocks and I landed one small bass, hooked at maximum range. That's early bassing I'm afraid - if you go be prepared for disappointment but the success, when it comes, is all the more satisfying.

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you!' get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

Nice morning.

A sort of bass.