TADPOLE TALES
Remember in a previous column we chatted about going for different species? Well, in addition to a yearly score table I also try to build up my overall species count. I'm into the high 50's now from UK saltwater, but still missing quite a few. One of which is a tadpole fish.

I was recently fishing a west Wales rock ledge with long time fishing buddy Clive Griffiths. Usual format. Two rods each, one out for the huss and conger, the other with two or three hook rigs and small baits for the smaller species.

Never chase fish!

It was quiet. I'd had a couple of small pollack, he'd had a poor cod, a dog and a bootlace strap conger. I was preoccupied watching the rod tip and hadn't really taken notice as he wound his bits rig in. Next thing he bellowed out, "Here, what's this then?" Not seeing anything obvious by his rod rest I casually walked over. Placed gently on his rucksack looking really brassed with itself was a rare tadpole fish about 6 inches long.

After a photo session and quick release of the tadpole fish, and knowing I'm keen on picking up the species, he suggested we swap sides so I could fish exactly where he'd had the tadpole, just in case there was another one lurking there. He took great pains in pointing out exactly where he'd caught it, and also filled me in that it took a small piece of rag tipped with sandeel, then left me to it. So get this. He's now fishing 10 metres away where I'd previously been fishing, and I'm fishing where he was.

Next cast, on my original mark, he catches another tadpole fish a little bigger than the last!

Now come on! I can usually take most adversity on the chin and come back for more, but that was a tad (sorry) demoralising to say the least.

There's a sort of moral in this story. The moral is "Never chase fish!" If you read about anglers getting good catches somewhere, by the time you get to go fishing, pound to a penny conditions will have changed and the fish moved on. The grass wasn't greener in my tadpole saga either, so my advice is to pick your mark out and fish it hard to get the best from it. If I'd done that I might just have a tadpole fish now amongst my list of overall species.

TIPS AND TRICKS
Here's a cheap way to make standoff booms in rig body line for fishing areas where tackle losses may be high.

Tie a plain blood loop in to the rig line and make the loop about 6 inches long. Hold the rig by the blood loop knot, pass a pencil through the loop and start to twist the loop around until the twists reach the pencil. Now coat the twists in superglue and wait until it dries. Instant boom!

You can slide a small section of rig tubing over the twisted loop as well, but there is no need. The glued and twisted line is very stiff and keeps the snoods well away from the rig body. I tie small loops in to the end of the hooks snoods for easy attachment to the loop boom. The superglue comes apart eventually, but you're likely to have lost the rig by then anyway.

I'd normally use brown line for the rig body and loop, but it's tied in yellow to stand out better in the photo for you.

ROUGH GROUND BASS TACTICS

Rough ground bass tactics!

Bass love rough ground. It holds masses of food, especially crab, which is the bass's main diet right through to mid June.

It pays to walk the beach you'll fish over a very low spring tide. Look for natural gullies that are slightly deeper than the surrounding ground and that run roughly parallel with the shore. The bass use these as routes through the rocks, but will come off course to investigate around the bigger rocks where food often gets washed and deposited. Areas such as rock pools will see food fall in to them as the tide washes over and bass visit these areas each and every tide. Also note areas where the ground is rougher than normal, the positions of weed beds, individual big rocks and banks of stone that run seaward. All these types of feature will attract bass.

The spring tides generally fish better than the smaller neaps. The surf tables are longer and more powerful and the turbulence helps to wash food, like crabs, from the hidey-holes underneath the rocks. Fishing during windy conditions aids this as the increased surf conditions adds to the turbulence and exposes more food. The fishing, just as a gale is dying away, can be excellent for this reason.

For the most part, fish at night. Coloured seas by day will produce fish, but bass in clear water feed more freely at night.

Bass have predictable feeding times over this ground. Expect peak periods to be the first two hours of the new flood, also the hour and half before high water, and maybe the first half hour of the ebb tide. Periods outside these times are likely to be totally devoid of bass bites, bar small school fish. It depends on the mark to some extent, but this guide is pretty reliable.

Big fish rarely swim with the schoolies. When bites are few and far between is the time to expect bigger fish. Big crab baits on 4/0 pennel rigs help you target the big loners.

Fish heavy tackle to minimise your fish and tackle losses. An 11ft to 12ft stiff butt rod casting 3-4ozs is ideal. Barnacle covered rocks act like razors, so the reel line needs to be between 18lbs and 30lbs depending on how sharp the rock snags are.

Bass bites can be savage or delicate and you need to hold the rod at all times. A single "knock" and savage pull is typical and needs an instant strike to connect. Be aware of slack line bites as some bass pick up the bait and swim towards you. Big bass are the most delicate and will "tap' 'tap" on the rod tip. Feed these fish some free line and wait until it pulls tight before striking. When hooked, play bass hard to keep them away from the snags.