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Sea bass hunting : advice (UK)

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
I know its crazy that selling fish caught in the the most sustainable way is illegal. personally tho I think the fish is so good its too good to sell!!
 
Guys just for the story if the UK public ever understands how tasty red mullet are they will never eat another bass.
 
Don't let the secret out!
nevermind the red mullet, Grey mullet and Bass are almost indistinguishable when cooked properly.
I smoked a load of Mullet and Pollock last year and they were unbelievably tasty.
I only managed 3 red mullet last year unfortunately.
 
Some bass around from what I saw last Saturday.
And now that the water is up to 10C there is no excuse for not going in - hopefully my mates new 5mm Elios (olive green with kneepads no less !) will arrive so he wont have to wear two suits like last weekend.
Must have looked quite funny when we went in - him in two suits and one black sporasub dess. fin and one blue and me with neon green mares quattros !
(We both broke a blade so combined them to make one decent pair)

Anyway - going to have a try for another large bass this weekend.

Who knows what we will find....

Ed
 
I have never found the texture of mullet to be as good as bass, but then I will go out of my way to spear triggerfish, which I think are the tastiest thing that swims in the waters of the Southwest.
Must agree about the smoked mullet and pollack, but try cold-smoking bass, it beats salmon every time!
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk
 
Dave
I was cold smoking all the fish that I couldn't eat fresh, but I just couldn't bring myself to smoke the Bass!
I would rather eat it as Ceviche than smoke it, But I bet it is tasty.
on the subject of triggers , how do you cook/prepare them?
I was skinning them and pulling the head off and was left with 2 fillets on the frame.
I fried some of them as is , and filleted the rest but I found the meat kind of tough.

Shane to cold smoke you will need to keep the temp inside the smoker below 30ºc
This is most easily done by making a remote smoke box.
PM me if you want some plans for smokers.
 
I cook my triggers in the pan with the skin on. It protects the flesh from burning and the cooking makes taking the skin off a whole lot easier ;)

Send me the plans for the smoker please

Shane
 
I am doing ok thanks Shane, just itching to get back in the water, the sea looks like a good strong cup of tea at the moment, and I have lots of new toys I need to play with!
I skin and fillet triggers, then dip the fillets in egg and breadcrumbs and shallow fry them.
I always brine my fish before smoking, then as Huan suggested use a remote smokebox to cold smoke. For hot smoking I use a Luhr Jensen smoker which I got on loan from a friend who never uses it
"Home Smoking and Curing" by Keith Erlandson is a great source of recipes and info on building smokers
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk
 
trigger is my favorite eating fish although i think i am their's favorite too rofl They try to bite me everytime i got one, actually very small one bite me (was my first trigger) it pierced the skin quite deeply despite the glove protection.

I found that best way to eat trigger is smoking. That you don't need to skin them you just put in on BBQ and skin get up automaticly. Just use 100 percent pure olive oil, lemon and some spice mixture of your choice and pour the mixture on both side, especially after the skin removed.
 
Back to the bass -->

If anyone feels like supporting a move to start being more sensible about bass then you could sign this petition:


http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/bassdebate


More the merrier...or else we in Guernsey (and on the south coast of the UK) could be looking at a time when you won't see bass any more.

Cheers
Ed
 
Interesting... Seems that the finger is being pointed not only at licensed commercial operators but also a number of quasi-legal semi-commercial "private" boats, that fish the Boue Blondel.
I must admit I have no knowledge of the sea fisheries legislation in The CI's but I would imagine that the sale by private individuals of Bass is against the law?
If not maybe they should be given a good birching!
 
Alot of local boats out there....

All meant to be 'recreational'... but how can you be considered recreational if you are hauling in 100 tonnes of bass per boat per day !

Not exactly catch and release....

I wrote to the Sea Fisheries Dept. and was told by them that this level of fishing was 'insignificant'.


A mate of mine said that the boats are taking any one and giving them a free trip - they get to keep one or two fish and the skipper gets the rest.

Really shoddy business.....

Are the restaurants to blame ?
Should they be educating the eating public ?

What about the fishmongers ?

Seems like the public are buying bass (slab or plate) so need to be told that bass at this time of year is a no-no...

Cheers
Ed
 
Alison Where do you think the Bass go at low water? I think it's time to go hunting((with a short gun) in the rocks looking in All! the tight holes nooks and crannies.this is how i get great catches of big Bass at low water.I beleive this to be the fishes rest period to digest food.until the flood tide ,then Bass go hunting again. :wave

Good Hunting Old Dave
 
hi Ntrik. Agree with your comments about Red Mullet. As much as I like Bass I woulkd like to get some Red Mullet over here. I caught some small red mullet in Brittany but never seen any when i've been hunting in England - what kind of habitat have you seen yours in and was it in south coast area
 
old dave said:
Alison Where do you think the Bass go at low water? I think it's time to go hunting((with a short gun) in the rocks looking in All! the tight holes nooks and crannies.this is how i get great catches of big Bass at low water.I beleive this to be the fishes rest period to digest food.until the flood tide ,then Bass go hunting again. :wave

Good Hunting Old Dave
Hey Dave sorry I didnt see this untill just now, The reef where I fish for Bass doesnt have many nooks and crannies mostly just smooth rounded rocks, I think the bass here swim out to deeper water, well they must do because the place I shoot is high and dry at low tide ;)
 
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