First ever bass, on the other side of the Atlantic!

[stylgeo]

Hello everyone,
Name's George and I am writing from Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean Sea. If you bare with me after this long thread (and forgive any language mistakes since I am Greek) I'll get to my point after some thoughts on the subject.

I've been fishing at sea since the age of 6, so it's been more than 16 years now. I started fishing at lakes 10 years ago. I started fishing for trout and carp at a certain lake that's close to were I live. About 6-7 years ago I started catching some small fish, with huge mouths that I hadn't seen before. They were too small, no more than 10-12cm (that's about 5 inches I think) so I had to return them in the water. After about a year or two the small carp of the lake disappeared, so did the small trout. You could only see some huge uncatchable fish roaming in the water (when I say huge I mean 25-30lb carp or 10lb trout). I asked about it at the fisheries department and they said that they were experimenting with a species of fresh water bass that was imported from the US (yeah, you guessed it!). They said that this fish was a verocious predator and it was probably eating the smaller fish of the lake. I was so frustrated that they stocked the lake with imported fish, jeopartizing the native fish of the lake, that I stopped fishing there for a long time, and focused on my sea-fishing. Until a week ago when I visited my local tackle store and noticed a lure that had a photo of that kind of fish on the package. Then I knew that it was a Largemouth Bass, but I only knew it from the internet or some fishing programs on the telly. The bait was about 3 inches long and it had the golden-yellow colour of the carp with 3 tremble hooks underneath. I bought it and went to the lake after a looong time since my last visit there.

It was a hot summer afternoon and thought that the fish might be in shade, so my first cast was at the shade of a big rock. As soon as the bait hit the water this huge spash-explosion brought my heart pumping. I realised that on the end of my line was the biggest fish I ever caught. And indeed, after about 6-7 jumps, a lot of running and a huge adrenaline rush, I landed a fish that weighted 2.5kg (I think that's about 5.5lb) and half a meter long. I was in shock. I was only using a 5lb test line, I would never have guessed that I would catch a fish that big! I've visited that lake 5 times now, and caught about 30 fish, averaging from 1lb to 3lb. I haven't caught any fish as big as the first one, but I am getting there!

The point is I know absolutelly NOTHING about bass-fishing. Actually I've read a lot about it in the last week, but here in Europe we mainly fish at lakes for trout or big carp. I've only fished with that kind of lure, which I don't know how you call it in the US. As I said before, it replicates a fish, with big plastic lip, 3 tremble hooks unterneath and it swims about a foot from the surface, depending on how you retrieve.

What other bait should i need to buy? Should I consider buying a spinning rod? I can only cast that 15-20 meters away. And that's with a 5lb test line on the reel. What if i need a stronger line?

And another questions which will probably raise some discussion. Why release all of the fish? I tend to take one or two home. They are delicious!! Maybe it's a culture thing. I live on an island, where fish is a large part of our diet. So, I choose a couple of good eating size to take home for some barbeque. If I need to release the fish, please help me recognise the fish that I have to release. I don't even know their spawning season!

If you are still reading thanks! Sorry for this long thread, but I'd really like some advice!

[bassfisher02]

First of all, welcome aboard! Bass fishing is more of a passion for most of us. The bait you were using sounds like a crankbait or jerkbait. Now, thats a great catch in anyones book, 5.5lbs is deffinitely a good bass. sound sliek bass fishing isnt so popular over there, which is understandable. I believe bass are the number 1 freshwater gamefish here in America. They are great fighting, as you must know by now.

The issue with catch and release isnt much debated here, most of us, if not all simply release bass. For me, bass are strictly a game fish, I dont see any need to eat them, and with the huge amount fishing for them, if most of us did not release, the bass population would be in great jeopardy. I'll keep many species of saltwater fish, but I'm not big on the freshwater taste. Bass are just a gamefish for me. Bass spawn in the spring, and some of the best fishing and biggest bass can be taken during this time. But I'm sure you're aware that during the spawn its vital that you release all fish you catch.

Now I'm sure you are familiar with the term 'tackle' as in rods/reels/all sorts of baits... pretty much anything you use to catch fish. I personally hacve spent more money than I can recall on lures/soft plastics/ all sorts of things. And others here have spent even more. There are many varieties of lures liek you picked out, crankbaits or jerkbaits, there are soft plastic type baits... worms, flukes[baitfish looking type things] um tubes, grubs, all sorts of stuff. It might be best to go into the tackle shop and talk to the guys in there asking whats producing, let them know you are just starting with bass fishing, and ask them if they can help you to pick out some good baits for the lakes you are fishing. There are many different variables in lure choice, so those guys would be able to help you out a lot better than we can, since they know the lake.

5lb line is deffinitely a bit too light. I dont know if they ahve braided line over that way, but its some of the best line you can get ahold of. 20lb braid has a diameter of I think 6lb monofilament. Its super strong and you wont have to worry about losing fish. Just make sure to tie with a polamor knot... if you arent familiar with the knot we can help you out. Also, some people think that line visibilty is a serious issue, and wont use braided line in clear water... there is a thread on here entitled: "Braided Line: Is it really an issue?" that should help you to decide whether or not you think line visibility is of importance, if you are standing at a nuetral point right now. If the water you are fishing is extremely clear... braid may not be the way to go, but if the water is muddy or murky or stained... you shouldnt have problems. Now if you cant get ahold of any braid, monofilament and Flourocarbon are alternatives. I personally despise mono, as it coils and tangles easily, and has a lot of stretch. Yet some brands are very nice. I'd say atleast 14lb mono or flouro is sufficient, and if you can find braid, 20lb is nice. As for reels... braid helps to cast further, and with mono you may see a decrease in cast length with heavier pound tests. You may find spinning reels easier to cast further, I prefur spinning.

Spend a lot of time on here reading up on threads, you'll learn loads! Your english was perfect, and hopefully you understood everything I said, if not let em know and I'll be sure to help you out, or someone else on here. Any further questions just feel free to post, we are here for help. Good Bassin'

[Rebbasser]

Welcome to the forum and the addictive sport of bass fishing!

That's awesome! That is a good fish in anybody's book! The bait you are using is a crankbait. Most are designed to be fished by just throwing it out and reeling it in. How deep it runs depends on the size of the lip-the bigger/longer the lip the deeper it runs.

As to your questions-a spinning reel is a good choice-you can fish pretty much any bass bait on those. I would suggest some heavier line. On the spinning gear I have I use 8 pound test.

The reason we release all the fish is pretty simple-we like to catch them. By releasing them they can get bigger so we can catch them again. Nothing wriong with keeping them, though. Looks like you have the right idea-keep a couple and let the others go. I like to catch them a whole lot more than cleaning/eating them, so when I catch one I release it. If it is big enough I'll take a picture, then release it.

The spawning season here runs from December to May/June depending where you are-it is dictated by water temperature so in places like Florida the spawn is often in December and gets progressively later in the year as you head north.

Here is a great site for somebody getting started:
http://bassresource.com/beginner/beginner.html

It has a lot of good info.

Lures to get-that is one of those questions where you can ask 100 fishermen and get 100 different answers. Probably the most versitile and widely used are soft plastics-worms, lizards, stickbaits-there are hundreds if not thousands of different styles and colors out there. I have no idea what is available where you are, but there are a couple of baits that I like to use that will catch bass. The first one is a topwater lure-it stays on the surface of the water. It really is a thrill to see a bass blast one. One of the most productive is a popper. The gold standard is a Pop-R:


the cupped face spits, pops,and bloops when jerked. The second one is a soft stickbait:



It doesn't look like much, but they flat catch fish. Tale a look in the new to fishing section and at the top there is a thread that will show you how to rig them.

Hopefully this will help, but don't hesitate to ask if you have a question!

[JB]

Welcome

The concept of catch and release here in todays bass fishing scene is a result of the early days of pro bass tournaments, in the 70s...after a few years guys started to realize that putting bass on a stringer or a board to show off an weight, never to be return to the waters, was a mistake, that hit them in the pocketbook.
For years BASS would go to lakes and end up just taking the fish and not many survived. Back in those days the bigger fish like 5-8 lbs were abundant, and if they had been released properly, the anglers would be able to catch them another day, in hopes of winning money.
Many times when the big mamas are caught the genetics behind that female being huge is ended because once the bass is caught and dead, no more spawning of bigger genetic profile bass.
BASS and others started the catch and release to help keep the fish population and its food chain in balance.
Everyone on here has probably taken bass and other fish home to eat, and theres nothing wrong with that...
But once the bass fishing bug gets in you and dont want to deplete the stock of fish in your favorite lake or pond, you get in the mode
of figuring out the pattern, catch a bass, admire it, then throw it back for another day.

[stylgeo]

OMG, Thank you sooo much! I didn't know I would get a reply so fast. I was actually fearing that no one would bother reading my text and then I see these elaborate replies! Thank you both very much, I really appreciate it!

It looks like there is a lot of reading and searching the internet for me!

Thanks bassfisher02 and rebbasser for all your advice! I've actually printed out this page and highlighted certain information to keep in mind. The point is there isn't really a huge variety of bait sold here. But we'll always have Ebay, right?

I am really looking forward to reading some more on the subject, and actually putting it to practice!

Bassfisher02, I'll look into start using braided line (I had to google it to be honest to figure out what it was ). We do have that kind of fishing line. It's a lot more expensive than mono but i guess it's worth it! But it sure gave a fight on that 5lb mono! I know, though, that if I lost it I would've just killed myself right there, so, better safe than sorry, right?

Rebbasser, that's some BIG hooks you are suggesting there! But then, I could easily put my fist in that bass's mouth and still have room left, so, the bigger the better I guess!

As for the releasing-the-fish issue, I totally understand your reasoning for releasing the fish, and they are the same reasons I release most of the fish I catch. The thing is, I've fished 5 times there, and I haven't seen a single fisherman. People fish for trout there, and they haven't started fishing because it hasn't rained yet and the fish are in the deep. So I was the only one bass-fishing the last week. And the other problem is, I can tell when a trout or a carp have eggs. But I couldn't tell with the bass. They are just too fat! But thanks for the advice, I'll definitelly release all the fish from December to June.

Again, thank you both for your detailed advice and for taking the time! I really appreciate it! I'll need to start "studying", practising, and most of all, start spending some serious money on tackle!

I'm off to bed now. It's 4 o'clock in the morning on this side of the globe!
Thanks again!

[stylgeo]

Originally Posted by JB

Welcome

The concept of catch and release here in todays bass fishing scene is a result of the early days of pro bass tournaments, in the 70s...after a few years guys started to realize that putting bass on a stringer or a board to show off an weight, never to be return to the waters, was a mistake, that hit them in the pocketbook.
For years BASS would go to lakes and end up just taking the fish and not many survived. Back in those days the bigger fish like 5-8 lbs were abundant, and if they had been released properly, the anglers would be able to catch them another day, in hopes of winning money.
Many times when the big mamas are caught the genetics behind that female being huge is ended because once the bass is caught and dead, no more spawning of bigger genetic profile bass.
BASS and others started the catch and release to help keep the fish population and its food chain in balance.
Everyone on here has probably taken bass and other fish home to eat, and theres nothing wrong with that...
But once the bass fishing bug gets in you and dont want to deplete the stock of fish in your favorite lake or pond, you get in the mode
of figuring out the pattern, catch a bass, admire it, then throw it back for another day.

Thanks JB for that information! It certainly explains a lot and i would've never thought about it! It makes me want to comfront some fishermen here who don't know what 'sense of appropriate' means! There are some fishermen here who, when they catch a carp instead of a trout, they just kill it because they don't eat it! And they kill the fish to eliminate the carp population so that they could only catch trout. That's a shame really!

Again thanks for the detailed explanation on the matter!

[Rebbasser]

Stylgeo, those hooks do look big, but when you are Texas rigging-making the bait weedless by burying the hook in the plastic (see the rigging thread) they balance well. The reason for the bigger hooks is when you set the hook you want one big enough to hook the fish and not have the plastic of the bait get in the way of the hookset.

Those particular ones are extra wide gap (EWG) hooks designed for fishing soft plastics.

[bassfisher02]

The hooks Reb posted are standard here for many bass fishermen, the distinct shape and bends act as ways to keep the soft plasic on the hook, and make texas-rigging possible. [There are a few links at the top of the 'Message Boards' thread that will show you different rigs].

You are correct, braid is a bit more expensive than mono, but with braid you can use it for years and have no problems. I've had some spooled up now for about 2 maybe 3 years and have had no problems with it. So in reality it really equals out, for how much you'd need to pay to buy more mono. Here 150yds of braid costs about 13$. and a good way to make that line go for more than one spool is to first spool up with mono, any pound test it doesnt matter. Spool maybe half or alittle less than half you'd usually spool up, and finish off with braid, attaching the braid to the mono using any of a few knots... do a google for J-Knot, that seems the most used knot to attach the two.

Now about how to identify female bass holding eggs... one sure sign is a huge belly. It will look abnormally large. Another thing, and I'm not too clear whether its the male or female bass, but I think its female, they will have a red/bloody tail. This is caused by the bass fanning the ground making a bed to lay eggs in. If I am correct and the females do this, the red tails will help you to identify females.

[BigBassin144]

Well, it looks like everyone's off writing boatloads again. I'll make it simple. Welcome to the forum and I hope you too, will soon become a bass fishing addict. [sp?]

[zooker]

trout as a main forage bait for bass means REALLY big bass..i have heard from differant italian bass fishermen before..most i have delt with would be amazed at just how much tackle the average american bass angler owns..

myself or rebbasser or lizardsrule -just tho name a few- have alot of money tied up in tackle.this is not counting the boat cost..

i am guessing the short lipped bait with three trebles to be a jerk bait type lure. try short jerks next time you use it..

zooker

[stylgeo]

Thanks everyone again! I've "studied" a lot and I am off to a big tackle shop now.

Shopping list: Plastic worms (lots of different colours, there's actually a kit-set that contains lots of worms, hooks, o-rings and weights), crankbaits and jerkbaits and maybe a popper, colour depending on the salesman's advice, braided line 20lb test and a spinning rod for easier casting, because what I was using was a 2.5m surf-casting rod.

Tomorrow I'll be going fishing to try new techniques! Thank you all for your advice and for taking the time!
Thanks rebbasser and bassfisher for your advice, thank you bigbassin144 for your thoughts and wishes.
Zooker, I hope you are right about the bass size! As for the fishing tackle, I can say that I too spent a small fortune on fishing tackle, only not on bass-fishing! But I will!

The reason is, in the last week, I've caught more large fish than I would if I was fishing at sea. I only fish from the shore, since I don't own a boat (yet), so a good fish on the end of my line is very rare. This whole summer I only caught about 4-5 fish that were worth mentioning, the same amount of good fish I catch every day at the lake. And the bass can surely give you a thrill! Good fighters, explosive surface strikes and most of all, there's a certain feeling of accomplishment when you manage to trick the fish into taking your bait. It deffinitelly beets sitting on a beach, waiting for a fish to come by and take your bait.

Again thank you all, and I am sure I'll be posting more questions soon!

[zooker]

stylgeo

i hate waiting i got to move and move alot..

i average around $3000 a year in tackle alone. but i also fish around 150 days a year...

zooker

[stylgeo]

OMG that's deffinitelly A LOT more than I spend on tackle! I went to the tackle shop today, bought a spinning rod, a 20lb braided line, a couple of jerkbaits, some soft plastics and a popper. I thought of buying a few items every time so that I won't be intimitaded by the final price:P. Anyway, I was driving home when i decided to go try them out instead. The best success was the popper. The water was calm, and the bass were exploding on the surface. I only fished for about an hour but I caught 4 good fish! The good thing with this bait is that it's big and I didn't catch any small fish that need extra care unhooking. That was the problem with the crankbait I was using before.

George

[Rebbasser]

Way to go, stylglo! Congrats on the fish! You had a better day than I did-Flyrod, another member here, and I fished from about 5:30 AM until about 9:30 AM and each of us caught a grand total of one fish each. Here it is still summer and fish when it gets hot go deep and suspend-just go to a certain depth and sit there. Looking forward to the first cold front to turn them on.

Put a pair of needlenose pliers in your tacklebox. They can come in real handy when unhooking fish.

My friend, you have now met the Bait Monkey. It is an invisible monkey sits on your shoulder and tells you that you have to buy all kinds of tackle-we all have one, and mine sometimes turns into a 500 lb gorilla.

[islandbass]

Welcome!! From the looks of things, good advice has already been given and you are well on your way to becoming a bass fanatic like all of us here. There is nothing like a topwater strike with a popper.

[bassfisher02]

Also, not sure if you know this or not, but since you are a trout and saltwater fisherman you may not be accustomed to this: you can 'lip' a bass. Bassically grab them by the lip. They have very very very small teeth that can at best give you a case of 'bass thumb.' Lipping them makes removing hooks and controlling the fish very easy. Just a little FYI.

[stylgeo]

Hahaha, reb, I am still laughing with your Bait Monkey comment!! How true!!

Thanks islandbass for your comments and support! You are right, the sight of a bass striking on surface is amazing!

Yeah, bassfisher, I've read about that, seen some photos and tried it myself, but I also read that you might be hurting the fish by doing that! It is very helpful though! And I've noticed that by doing that you automatically calm the fish so there's no danger of hooking your self!

[lizardsrule]

Welcome, and now to the rules of the site. You must always invite fellow bassfishin.com members to your bass fishing hole immediately upon making your first post. Sounds like a great spot, and glad you are having fun fishing for bass. I guess I don't quite understand however that you have never caught a bigger fish than a 5.5lber and you have fished the sea for 16 years? What are all the girls heavy and the fish light? JK of course, have fun here I do. And yes I'm like zooker, you couldn't carry all the tackle I own in three trips.

Lizards

[bassfisher02]

I really doubt that lipping the fish hurts it... I think more people have gotten hurt by doing it than fish [treble hooks and finger plus a fish is never a good combo]. What will cause some harm to fish is holding them horizontally by the mouth with no second hand support upon the belly. That may be what the people were reffering to.

[stylgeo]

Hey lizards and thanks for your post! I am happy to oblige to all forum rules! If you want you can take the 18 hour flight from sunny Florida to the a lot sunnier Cyprus in the Mediterranean. I would be very happy to show you all the fishing places in my island and I will learn a lot from you I am sure!

You are right, I have been fishing for 16 years. I am 22 now going 23. The problem is that when I started fishing when I was 6-7 years old, I had no one to learn from. My dad had the slightest idea to catch a fish, so it was up to me to learn how to fish on my own. My first fishing gear was a pole made from reeds taken from a river, some mono fishing line bought with my pocket money and a hook taken from a guy that was fishing on a pier. And that was it! You could actually say that I started from the absolute zero! That said and some other factors. One, I've never fished from a boat before, since i don't own one yet, two, our seas are over-fished and big fish are very rare and I guess the third reason is pure luck, or I should say un-luck. My biggest fish ever was a sea mullet that weighted about 4lb and was 23-24 inches long. Other than that the fish I catch from the shore average 1-3lb. You can imagine my excitement when i caught that 5.5lb "monster". Bass fishing has opened new horizons for my fishing and I'm absolutelly excited about it!!

Thanks lizards for your post! Stay tuned, more silly questions coming up!!

George

[Rebbasser]

Stylgoe, keep one thing in mind regarding your questions: When it comes to bass fishing the only silly or dumb question is the one that isn't asked. So ask away!

[stylgeo]

Hey bassfisher!

Yeap, that might be the case! When I fish at sea, since I don't return any fish in the water (since I rarely catch any) I hold them from the gills so that they wont move!
And trust me, I know how it is to get a hook in a finger! You can only get it out with strong wire cutters! Try to pull it out and you'll tear your skin! Just cut the end and slowly pull it on the other direction! It's even better if you have someone do it for you! Or even better if you don't have to do it at all!!
Cheers!

[bassfisher02]

I'd also advise bringing a camera along with you while bass fishing. I just have a feeling you are going to catch a real MONSTER bass... and it would be a shame to be camera-less. Thats surprising you havent caught any bigger fish, even from shore. Usually just throwing out a piece of dead cut up fish into the surf and letting it sit there will catch you a shark... or other large fish.

[stylgeo]

Well, you know what they say, the biggest fish you ever caught was the one that got away, and that's the case with me unfortunatelly! Last year I was fishing with live fish as bait when something grabbed it, it sprinted, taking all the 100m of my line in 4-5 seconds and when it reached the knot on my spool it tried to take me with it before it cut everything and get away! And that was on a 30lb line! I didn't feel that sorry about losing that fish because I knew that there was nothing I could do to bring it to the shore!

Well photography is my other hobby which is where most of my money goes and comes from (or used to go to until 10 days ago). Lots of cameras, next time I'll take a small compact with me! The reason I haven't brought any with me until now is that for me, taking the camera with me means currying 18 pounds of equipment!

Anyway, the reason why I love this kind of fishing so much is because you can fish without currying everything with you. What I do is take a rod and reel, a waist-bag with some different lures on one end, my cigarettes and my cell phone (and the car keys). That way I can walk for miles!

And sorry, no sharks swimming the surf where I come from. Only in the deep a few miles from shore!

[leroy]

Hey George!

It's funny you happened onto our forums I just finished reading the Odyssey and the Aenied and studied a lot of the areas around the Mediterranean. If you would Like email me your Address and I will send you some baits and other goodies! lealancarter@gmail.com