This month the sea temperatures are at their highest all year reaching 19°C+ but this year they might even go higher. What does that mean to bass fishing you might ask? Sprat and whitebait arrive in huge numbers and chasing these are mackerel, scad and garfish. We always experience bass chasing lures in August and it’s very frustrating as you can see them. We think sometimes they are so inquisitive that they would rather follow a lure than take it especially the younger ones. This month produces some of the best bass fishing we’ve experienced for number of fish caught but the size of bass might be on the smaller size. If you get settled conditions around a spring tide this will encourage bass to feed frantically. If you can target any areas with huge flowing tides including small bays these areas will fish well and the time to do this is dawn or dusk and certainly at night. This weekend and especially the 19th & 20th are very good tides to test out that theory. The 19th of August produces a 5.9m tide here in SE Cornwall which is huge so earmark that for your diaries.
Most of the bass we have caught in August are caught on the surface, anything that replicates sprat and whitebait would be good choices or if you work a minnow fast this will also work well. Fast retrieve actions are key as soon as the lure lands, zipping lures along the surface as a bait fish in distress. The nights will start to draw in which is a welcome relief as the Dawn and Dusk times are more sociable.
100mm Flash Plate Surface Lure
