Ask anglers who’ve fished the same stretches of Welsh and South West coastline for the last fifteen or twenty years, and there’s a fairly consistent view: bass fishing has genuinely improved, not just in perception but in actual numbers and average size of fish encountered.
The most obvious factor is the tightening of commercial and recreational bass regulations over the past decade – reduced commercial quotas, recreational bag limits, and minimum size increases have all played a part in allowing more fish to survive to breeding size and beyond. I remember when a 4lb bass felt like a genuinely good fish on my local marks; fish well beyond that size are far more routine now than they were when I started fishing bass seriously.
Warmer sea temperatures may also be playing a role, extending the season on some marks and potentially supporting better survival and growth. It’s harder to attribute this precisely, but the pattern of a longer productive bass season than I remember from twenty years ago is consistent with what a lot of anglers report.
None of this means bass fishing is problem-free – regulations remain a genuinely contentious topic among commercial and recreational interests, and stock assessments still show real vulnerability if management were relaxed. But from a purely angling perspective, the improvement over the period I’ve fished seriously is real, and it’s a rare example of fisheries management actually working as intended.
Gear that fits this
For anyone buying with this in mind, a few sensible picks.
On the rigs side, Shakespeare Gummi Makk Rig 5/0 Red, Jarvis Walker Tsunami Pro Sabiki Rigs Hage Red Gold Hook Size 6 and Shakespeare 1 Tope Rig 6/0 Wire Trace.
Hooks and terminal gear: Rooney's Fishing Supplies Rooneys Twists 6/0, Owner SSW Circle Hooks 7/0 5 per Pack and Owner Unweighted Beast Twistlock (5130) Hooks 8/0.
For reels, Stradic Spinning 4000S GTM RC Reel, Saragosa SW A Reel-5000 XG and Max5 Pro Low Profile Reel-Left Hand are all worth a look.
Rods worth adding: Beastmaster J Surf Rod-Tubular 425 BX-J 4,25m 225g 3pc, Sandstorm Multiplier Rod 2pc-12'6 2Pc and Adventure II Spinning Rod-6ft 4-15g.
Mike Talbot grew up in Cornwall and had a rod in his hand before he was tall enough to reach the rod rest properly. His early fishing was mackerel from the harbour wall and plaice on the beaches at low tide, but bass took over in his late teens and have never really let go.
He moved to Pembrokeshire in his thirties for the coastline as much as anything else, and now fishes a mix of rock marks, estuaries, and boat trips across West Wales and the Bristol Channel. He targets bass on surface lures through summer, drops down to soft plastics and HMDs through autumn, and fills the winter with wrasse fishing on the rock marks when conditions allow. Personal best bass: 8lb 4oz, caught on a floating stickbait at first light on a calm August morning.
At The River Bend, Mike writes the sea fish species guides, sea fishing technique articles, and the coastal access and regulation content.
Covers: Bass, wrasse, mackerel, sea bream, pollock, sea fishing techniques, shore fishing, boat fishing, tidal and coastal access rules