PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Bass are almost impossible to confuse with any other European species of sea fish. Once seen, their appearance will never beforgotten. Their colour sometimes changesaccording to habitat. Although the belly is always silvery-white, the backs of bass caught over sand are often very pale, while those from reefs and offshore wrecks are usually very dark – almost black. This comes about because the fish can adapt their colour to blend into the background. Infant bass often have little black spots, which occasionally persist into adulthood. Very rarely, one encountersspecimens with a yellowish hue over the back and flanks.
The shape of the head may sometimes vary, too. The head of most bass is usually pointed, but that of some is much more blunt. Thisforeshortened appearance makes them look as if they have received a punch on the nose at some time.
Anglers should beware that bass have a way of taking revenge on their captors, who should approach them with caution andhandle them with care. An aggressive bass will raise its spiny dorsal fin and flare its gill cover to make two razor-sharp bony plates – theopercula – stand out. These plates can make nasty cuts on wet hands, and if a spine jabs you and the tip breaks off, the wound will linger for a long time.
Plump winter bass like this prefer large baits anchored to the sea-bed.
DISTRIBUTION
Most bass fishing is practised to the south of a line imagined between Morecambe Bay and The Wash, though some are caught from the Solway Firth and the mouth of the River Luce on the west coast of Scotland. Some are caught in Yorkshire and a few have been taken as far north as Aberdeen. In Ireland, most bass are found south of a line between theestuaries of the River Moy and River Boyne. Their range extends southwards as far as Morocco, and eastwards throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Bass have been caught all round Scotland at one time or another, some large ones, but not in any abundance. This might be set to change with what some scientists are calling global warming. Fish from abundant year classes are caught all round the British Isles, as far as the north of Scotland. As adolescents, they range over a wide area and may restock some fished-out areas. Global warming may induce bass to over-winter farther east than normal, perhaps off Beachy Head and in the lower North Sea.
Bass happily forage for food in any depth of water from the fifty-metre line (asprovided by marine charts) up to the inshore shallows. They will often hunt in water that is barely deep enough to cover their backs. They are also one of the few marine species adapted to living in brackish water and can even cope with river water that is bordering on fresh.
