BASS
The Manacles reef is only a 35 minute drive from the River and for those who don’t know its’ reputation, it’s a Bass Mecca. The reef comes up from 180 feet deep to dry land very abruptly in places causing fast moving tidal water, big boils, eddies and even small whirlpools. Couple this this with almost vertical pinnacles of rocks, kelpy shallows, granite sea-mounts and shoals of confused baitfish and you have the perfect habitat for Bass.
It’s probably fair to say that the Bassing in the Manacles isn’t what it was twenty years ago, but it’s still the best place to go around here for really good sized fish.
We fish live-baits on floats (mackerel and lance normally) over the best spots on the reef to lure something big and silver. If a Bass wont take a live-bait then it wont take anything, it’s the best, most exciting way to fish for them for sure.
Dan used to fish the reef commercially for Bass and knows the area like the back of his hand, making him the only biggish boat able to get right into the reef to stand a proper chance of catching the fickle fish. A couple of others may take you to the edge of the rocks but Dan can have you step off the bow onto dry land at times, without sinking the boat.
We aren’t really after large numbers of fish like you may see on the banks further up the channel, but we have the advantage of fishing light spinning gear for hopefully a few really good fish. Even though the average size of fish has decreased in the last twenty years, we have never caught an undersize fish in the Manacles and fish of 5lb, 6lb, 7lb and 8lb are what we fish for, rather than a surprise to see. Every year a few fish in the teens are caught in the rocks by someone.
Because of the way we fish for Bass, we can only fish three, maybe four floats at one time so Bassing is ONLY DONE AS A SMALL GROUP, PRIVATE CHARTER. Even if people are happy taking it in turns, Dan is only happy to take SIX PEOPLE MAXIMUM ON THE BOAT or it gets too chaotic. Dan knows the rocks very well but also knows how easy it is to get distracted and end up on them!