LETTER OF THE WEEK
The bass debate — I’ll eat my gaiters
In response to Richard Negus’s article (The thrills and spills of recon, 7 September), a bass is a bass. The professional fishermen of Southwold may well refer to them as ‘sea bass’ but I bet their fathers didn’t. ‘Sea bass’ is an Americanism and stems from their need to differentiate between the wide variety of freshwater and seawater bass on that continent. ‘Sea bass’ is an affectation used by foodies and people who simply do not know any better.
I’ll eat my Alan Paine Chorley gaiters (My prize, 17 August) if you can show me published references in any traditional UK sea-fishing classics.
