Saltwater Fly Fishing UK | Bass on the Fly | UK South Coast Bass Fishing
So I'm kicking off Season 2 of The Reel with my first couple of bass fly fishing sessions. With hopes of success at a new mark, the tides I could fish made my time there more reconaissance based and now I'm armed with some knowledge for when I can fish it on an appropriate tide.
I came down with a pretty nasty cough the week after my first trip so had a couple of weeks hiatus before getting out again. Weirdly I mirrored the first trip, trying the new mark again but the tide still not being quite right, before ending up at a mark I know better and have had success at.
I was keen to start the 2024 season off with a bit more success than last year, hitting the ground running. And I've managed to pull it off, finding some flow in a nice feature, my gut was telling me this could be the place. After fishing through the channel, I hooked into my new PB bass!
I caught it on a Clouser fly that I'd tied and on my fibreglass 8wt that Id built in the Winter, an awesome eat and scrap before getting it in the net!
Really pleased to have a bass on the fly this early in the year, just hoping I can keep it up now!
You can find me on Instagram - @thereel.dan
Amazing bud smile said it all still not managed my first fish still targeting spring trout but you’ve definitely got me fired up to try my fly bass fishing again
Thanks man, it's worth all the hard work when it comes good!
@@thereel7071 hi yes sure does I’ve been lucky enough to go out with Graham from G’s tight lines really good guy very helpful got me onto my first proper river brown trout and a bonus grayling first ever for me so absolutely stoked check him out good fly fishing videos along with sea angling LRF etc www.youtube.com/@GsTiteLines
Awesome
Thanks man 😊
Wish we got areas like that in Jersey. Looks stunning the setting that bud. ❤ will watch more. Dropped you a sub from jersey
Thanks man, hopefully more bass videos on the way soon 👍 subbed you back 🫡
Congrats, lovely spot there
Thanks man 😊
Awesome vid mate, great to see you back out👍 beautiful bar of silver, really interesting just before the take, it seems your hand slipped on the line probably creating a pause in the fly which may have helped induce the take? I find, as I’m sure you have yourself, it’s a tactic that works well nymphing for trout sticking a pause in here & there, often that’s when they slam you. Thanks for showing the fly😊I’m itching to have a crack myself now on the fly. Take care buddy 👊🏻👍👍
Thanks mate 😊 yeh it happens all the time, sometimes I miss the line totally or it slips where my hands are wet 😄 it could well have been what made the difference.
I've subbed your channel, lovely looking mark and fish, well done! High tide and low tide offer similar things to a fish, food will often be concentrated at high or low. Personally I like 2 hours down from High as this is when food and bait has to move out from where it is hiding. Also 2 hours up from low as this is good time for fish to use the current to move, but also research tells us crabs and other things also start moving once the tide starts pushing. The middle of the tide is fastest so this is a great time to drift flies over obstacles or depressions. The different size tides are also useful to get aquainted to as sometimes the sizes jump and seem to catch bait fish or food out and often bass will use this as an opportunity as they often do. Appreciate you can't fish the tides you want I'm in the same boat it seems, so quite often I see what the tides doing and that can help determine the type of mark I want to fish.
Thanks Matt, appreciate it 👍🏻 Yeh at the moment I’ll look at the tide and go where I’ll be able to fish as a lot of my local marks are quite muddy, which means low tide can be tricky as it rules out a lot of places. I went back to the estuary mark in the video last weekend and found an inlet that’s quite gravelly so I can fish it around low now. It’s going to take a while but I’m slowly building a picture of hot spots and bassy looking areas at different states of the tide so hopefully my success rate will slowly improve too 😄 Tight lines!
Nice fish bud keep it up
Cheers Gary 👍 Will do 😄
Nice video and that spot looks amazing, great work 💪👍🎣
Cheers Andy, it’s my favourite spot now 😄
Great video mate, I’m new to fly fishing altogether and want to try for some bass on the Dorset coast. I’ve got a 6wt rod with matching floating line, do you think that will be sufficient? Any recommendations for leader/tippet strength too? Cheers
Thanks mate! A 6wt will be fine but stick to smaller flies to make casting a bit easier, small baitfish patterns up to an inch and a half should cast ok and bass take shrimp style mullet flies as well which might be worth a go. I haven’t fished Dorset but I imagine you will be able to find some spots where the 6wt will work and it will be more fun catching them on lighter tackle. I fish an 8wt most of the time for bass but mostly so I can throw bigger flies. Leader wise to start with I’d use 5 ft or so of 35lb fluorocarbon as a butt section with 2-3ft of 15lb fluoro tippet just to keep it simple and easy to cast 👍 Tight lines!
Thank you for the help dude. Tight lines
Those channels are great choke points to target the waiting predators
Great vid. What weight line and rod are you using? New to the fly and trying to learn how to double haul to get the line out to a reasonable distance. Cheers
Thanks man, for bass I generally use an 8wt which I find is enough to punch out the flies but still enjoy playing the smaller fish. Definitely do some research on fly lines as you want one designed for casting bigger flies, the Airflo 40+ would be a good place to start 👍
Thanks for replying. I picked up a dirt cheap 7wt just to start my journey. Matching floating line. No idea there was so much to it. Will see how my technique improves before changing any equipment. Might have a lesson.
Noted on the line...👍
@@jonsmith1226 a lesson will definitely make more difference than a specific rod or line 👍 it’s something I’m going to invest in this year to improve my casting. The bass in this video wasn’t caught on a particularly long cast though, sometimes they can be right under your feet so cover the margins before you start casting at distance and you might pick up a fish you would have spooked otherwise. Good luck and tight lines!
I want to give mullet a go as well. Casting up and down the bank to not spook them. Agree with you on the fish being close in. Was told that 30 odd years ago... did I listen.....? Nope 😂. Keep up the posting. Sub from me.😊