Trolling in the deep

Of all the fish in our British seas, nothing fights like a big bass. There are bigger fish, of course, but pound for pound bass are the feistiest. They are the Tyson Fury of the sea, hard-headed, muscle-bound, armour-plated, broad-tailed, tough, belligerent bastards.

A big pollack or cod of a similar weight might put up a good scrap but it’s nothing compared with the bull-terrier tactics of the bass, whose dogged and persistent head-butting style will make a rod bend double and a reel scream time and time again as it lunges for the deep.

Bass have been plentiful in the south coast this year, plentiful but small. Bass are a slow-growing fish, taking on average about five years to reach sexual maturity. On many occasions this year,