Graham and others,
I wouldn't call myself a bass expert by any stretch of the imagination, the only thing I base my knowledge on is observations and the odd relevant articles in angling mags and the occasional book (generally though I "don't do books")!
I always check contents of a bass just to see what its feeding on and as any trout fisherman will tell you, its all about matching the hatch.
So Bass are around just about all year, in one form or another. Larger fish are territorial and can stay throughout the winter if water temps don't drop too far.
In March-April The smaller fish 0.5lb-1.5lb start turning up, usually in poor condition. May sees a massive increase in Bass numbers as the 2-3Ib fish move inshore with warmer waters. This activity builds and is directly proportional to water temperature and the first shore crab peel in mid to late May. Almost all bass will have exclusively crab inside them! June and early July are stable months with more larger fish 4&5Ibers joining in the feeding usually hard on the sea bed.
Mid July-Mid august sees the number of sand eels, mackerel and other small baitfish increase in number and this signals a change in bass activity. During this time Bass move offshore, to reefs and sandbanks where they fill up on baitfish. Some fish remain inshore to take advantage of the lack of food competition. Its typical during this time to find half digested sand eels and other small fish inside them. In addition during this time spider crabs mass in deeper water to mate. The females have to peel to reproduce and subsequently bass take advantage and can often be found with large soft spider crab legs inside them. (I had one two weeks ago stuffed full).
Mid August sees another peak shore crab peel and the bass move back inshore. Generally they are bigger fish but stomach contents show a mixture of contents. Always small 50p piece size shore crabs, some sand eel, small flatfish and frequently blennies or other small fish......(I had one recently with pipefish and a baby bass or mullet.... it was well digested!). During this time I find fish are more alert, frequently swimming aggressively and with a more purposeful manner. I put this down to the time they have spent catching fish rather than the slow deliberate hunting for crabs.
September and oct are the better months for big fish which return from deeper water and offshore reefs to stock up for the winter. The really Small bass generally disappear and are replaced by pouting and occasional whiting.
Again stomach contents are variable....
Nov can still see plenty of very good sized bass from the storm beaches, but almost nothing to a cast lure......I guess the baitfish have fled with the onset of colder weather and the first of the winter storms. Rough water may also produce worms, razor fish/clam etc.
Now....this may only be what happens on my bit of bass fishing coast (west Wales and in particular South Pembs) so its not gospel. Spearfishing this year has helped me understand localised movements of bass within a reef or a beach so much its unbelievable, but has only really thrown up more questions than it has answered.
Its a mystery......Maybe we need a UK Bass subsection on the forum where we could begin to pool knowledge, begin to understand and maybe think like a Bass!
Lecture over....
Ben
