UK Saltwater Fly Fishing for Bass: 8 Tips and Lessons from Tides to Tackle!
With the saltwater fly fishing season heating up, now is a great time to head to the coast! This month, we has a host of handy tips on how to catch UK bass on the fly, including tackle, tactics and the best flies to try.
Beautiful and aggressive yet canny, bass are an awe-inspiring challenge
“Ever since moving to Devon as an eager young angler many years ago, bass have been a favourite summer and autumn target. But while I’ve caught them on everything from surface popping plugs to float fished prawns, the fly rod is the method that provides the most intimate, thrilling sport of all.
It can be a leap of faith, however, to go from trout and coarse fish to sea fishing with a fly rod. It can be a deadly method on its day, but with rolling waves, endless varied conditions and a huge amount of potential water to cover, it can also be challenging.
With persistence and a little local knowhow, however, there is every chance you can succeed. And once you find bass and their feeding preferences, patterns tend to repeat. Furthermore, the actual tackle and best bass flies have never been easier or more affordable to get hold of. So where do we start?
1. Start with smaller bass and estuaries
While bigger bass are a mouth-watering target on the fly, a much more dependable starting point is to find numbers of smaller fish. Estuaries and sandy marks near river mouths are the ideal place to find school bass. Most might be under a pound, but they bite and battle fantastically well on light gear!
Here in Devon and Cornwall, many such areas are now protected- meaning netting and boat fishing are banned. This has been the best development in my lifetime for bass conservation! You can still shore fish these areas- but do handle and release all bass with care, and de-barb your flies.
School bass still bite and battle hard- but always keep them wet and release with care.
Even where small bass are numerous, however, they won’t turn up or feed on demand, however, so it’s vital to find them and experiment with different locations and tide states. From the off, one great tip is to focus on just one or two marks, try short sessions and keep a close eye on tides and timings. Win or lose, you will soon establish some patterns and find any fish present.
2. Ride the tide!
A nice fish tamed from a rocky gully on a rising tide.
As for tides, be adventurous but always play close attention and stay safe! One of the key saltwater fly fishing lessons often missed by beginners or occasional anglers is to use tidal movement, rather than trying to avoid it or seek calm water.
Bass love tide rips and commotion, after all. Key times to find them hunting are around low and high tide, when things suddenly accelerate or change direction. In these conditions, creatures like sandeels and prawns get swept around and bass can bully them with their superior power and manoeuvrability.
3. Wet wading gear and saltwater fly fishing essentials
Always take a minimum of gear- and pack a line tray/stripping basket.
Talking more of locations and finding fish, wading is a must for most bass marks, which we should discuss before any tackle talk. The sea can be punishing on posh waders. Cheap neoprene pairs are great for cooler conditions, but I tend to wet wade in the summer. Just be sure to invest in a set of “kayak shoes” or flats sneakers to protect your feet. Or failing that, Crocs will do for gentle conditions.
Also vital is your other kit and the matter of how much you take. Always have a waterproof bag for your phone and keys to start with- and wear them high up! It’s also wise to travel very light- my kit is often very, very minimalist! At times, it is simply few flies, a pair of forceps that feature scissor blades, and one spool of leader!
Another absolute must is a line tray, which spares you endless tangles with rocks, seaweed and your own feet! Turrall produce an excellent, sturdy one for around £30 – and I much prefer this style to the mesh kind. One big reason is that you can put your rod down on it to free both hands when trying on a fly or unhooking a fish (the Turrall version even has grooves for your rod). This saves your reel going in the drink, which is never good for its longevity!
4. Recommended tackle for UK bass fishing in saltwater
For catching UK bass on the fly, your outfit should offer good sport with smaller fish but enough power to subdue that bigger bass you might also encounter. In calm conditions, you could go as light as a six weight. However, perhaps the best all-rounder is a seven or eight.
While you might get away with your regular stillwater trout kit, the sea is punishing and no place for expensive freshwater gear! Therefore, you may well want to invest in a separate setup. Nor does this have to be horribly expensive. If you’re after a dedicated setup that won’t cost an arm and a leg, look no further than the new Cortland Guide Series 9ft 8# Saltwater combo.
At well under £200 this provides kit made for the job, including an excellent lightweight but powerful rod, reel and quality fly line. This summer, mine has already seen a stack of trips, handling my clumsy antics and plenty of school bass with no problem. Just as importantly, it has spared my favourite reservoir trout and pike tackle from getting corroded or damaged! You will still need to wash your kit in freshwater after every trip, however.
Moving onto leaders, our choice for bass depends partly on terrain but in terms of materials it has to be tough, reliable fluorocarbon all the way. 10lb is a good all round strength for inshore fishing and sandy marks like beaches and estuaries. Do be prepared to step up to 15lb if fishing snaggy or rocky ground, however.
Finally, fly lines can be kept simple, at least to start with. For most beach and estuary fishing, a floating line is all you need- but you could pack a sinking polyleader that can quickly be attached if you want to fish a bit deeper. Faster sinking lines are usually reserved for boat fishing or deeper rock marks, so don’t worry too much about these when starting out.
Dedicated saltwater lines are a good investment but can be quite expensive it must be said. That’s because they have to put up with extra hammer, requiring a stronger core and more durable construction- therefore cheap, regular lines should be avoided! The best value dedicated saltwater fly fishing line of the lot has to be Cortland’s Fair Play series- less than half the price of the high end stuff but excellently tough and consistent for UK use!
5. Best fly patterns for UK sea bass
While the subject of suitable flies is pretty wide, you could happily use just 4-5 patterns for most of your bass fishing quite happily! My advice would be to leave quite specialised and more quirky patterns like crabs and larger prey alone to start with and focus on the most common prey of all: sandeels and smaller baitfish.
(Above: Turrall Epoxy Surf Runner and Tiger Sandeel, two favourites. If in doubt where to start, sandeels are a near universal bass food).
Sandeels are the single most important prey in many areas – they are to bass fly fishing what mayflies and olives are to trout fishing! And we can represent these beautifully with small to medium fly patterns. Don’t feel you need them overly huge, especially early in the summer, when the real thing are often quite tiny. Could this be one reason the fly often beats lure fishing?
Later in the summer and in open sea and rock marks, you can of course go larger- and offer something resembling the greater sandeel or “launce”.
A weighted Turrall Olive Launce- great for late summer and larger bass!
One tip for all sandeels and many other baitfish patterns is to reinforce/ stiffen them a little with a glue gun (below). This is something I do with both bought and home tied flies. A spot from a glue gun just behind the bend of the hook prevents the dressing wrapping round, a godsend in windy conditions that helps avoid wasted casts!
Moving on to further fly options for UK bass, we also have small to medium baitfish flies- with the Clouser Minnow being a versatile classic that sinks and moves well. This is also one of the best flies for pollack!
You cannot go far wrong with a Clouser Minnow, in natural or Chartruese as above
On the broader topic of colours, my go to choice is to “match the hatch” with combinations of olive and silver or pearl. This is simply because so much bass fodder has the classic green back and silvery belly combination. Sandeels, immature pollack sand sand smelt are just three items bass find in spades all over the coast with this blueprint.
That said, it’s worth carrying a few other colours for when things don’t go your way. This can be in a more coloured water, or simply when there are so small prey fish you want to stand out more. My absolute favourite change colour is Chartruese- but black is also underrated and a good colour for low light and night fishing (something too few bass fly fishers try!).
6. How fast should I retrieve my fly or lure for sea bass?
Before we move away from flies, another golden question is how quickly flies should be brought back. Our saltwater bass are undoubtedly fast moving, powerful fish- but this doesn’t always mean you need to rip lures back. It’s often true that larger fish prefer a somewhat slower retrieve. After all, they are not competing with fifty shoalmates like their baby cousins! Tellingly, I’ve had some of my better bass when I got distracted and stopped the retrieve for a few seconds.
Food for thought- just to prove you don’t need big flies or rapid retrieves, Turrall’s Rodney Wevill caught this cracker on a tiny shrimp pattern!
Tide rips are a great example of where rapid stripping is not needed, and you will often catch bass with a fly just allowed to flutter across in the current with just the odd twitch. This must look like a helpless, easily snaffled target for any self-respecting bass.
Other flies- especially things like shrimps and Clousers often work well with a stuttering, stop start retrieve that needn’t be rapid either. However, the one time I would try fishing a fly a fair bit faster and more lively is when baitfish are scattering and bass are obviously “on the chase”.
I know, I know, you would like me to tell you that there is one ideal speed to bring in your flies, but it’s never as simple as that. It’s up to you to mix it up and see what they want. Another good reason to experiment and keep a diary.
7. Be bold, keep a diary and compare results!
We’ve already mentioned the value of looking at times and tides across venues. It can be useful to talk to other anglers but don’t expect others to drop the best spots and info into your lap! The more variations of weather and location and tide you explore the better.
Another good tip is to be brave and try various conditions- which goes against the oft-touted logic that the fly only works in calm conditions or the clearest visibility. What nonsense! There are limits, such as chocolate coloured water or gales, but many is the time I’ve cast a fly or lure in some doubt due to choppy or coloured water, only to get a vicious take moments later!
Doing your own legwork and keeping a diary is a must. Take local advice with a pinch of salt, too! On one occasion on the Exe Estuary, I turned up with a fly rod only to be told by a chap with a beachcaster that all the bass were by a large buoy, a hundred yards away. Over the next 90 minutes I had a dozen bass, all within 20 yards of the shore!
Every mark and every season is different and there are few short cuts. Hence, blanks can also be important- because for every spot full of bass, another will be barren or require a different approach or state of tide. Don’t lose heart- treat it as a game of trial and error.
8. Be smart about social media- and release all bigger bass!
Talking of bass spots and the lessons you learn, another great tip is to trust your own instincts and when you do find some fish, be wary of social media. Be discrete with catch pictures and locations, especially, because some sea anglers unscrupulous. You don’t know who will view your posts, let alone whether they follow the rules on size limits, let alone releasing precious larger bass. Why give away your hard work for a few digital pats on the back?
Bass are highly localised and slow growing. A good one could easily be over ten years old- and produce many thousands of eggs next spring. Do these amazing fish a favour and put them back.
Catch and release itself is a key issue. Should you keep UK sea bass or release them? Obviously, by law all fish under the limit (currently 42cm) should be let go and you are not allowed more than two a day. But there is good reason to let all bass go, given that they are slow growing and often highly localised. Many of our coastal waters are less than clean in any case- and it’s not as if we are tribal hunter gatherers, there is this crazy place called the supermarket where food is available.
Just to reach “keeper” size of 2-3 lbs, a bass will usually be 6 years old and may barely have started breeding. Larger fish of 5lbs+ are likely to be over 12 years old and capable of producing tens of thousands of baby bass each spring. Is it really worth killing such fish just for a meal? I cannot make that decision for you, but all my bass go back. Should you fancy an occasional fish supper, only take where stocks are abundant- and leave those big “breeders” well alone!
The issue of bass conservation is a much wider one, too. Huge strides have been made with “nursery” areas to help small bass. Nets and commercial anglers still do a lot of damage – but that is up to them. Much of it is sheer greed, given that studies show recreational, predominantly catch and release bass fishing is worth TWENTY times the commercial sector. That’s all I will say- other than respect your bass and do consider joining the Angling Trust (https://anglingtrust.net), Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society (www.ukbass.com), or both!
Further tips and guided bass fly fishing in Devon
To book fly fishing lessons or guided trips for bass and other species in Devon, check out dgfishing.co.uk
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