How many..........
 

Bass could you land if you encountered the following:

3 hours into the drop, 2 am on an outer cape beach. The surf is moderate. A 3 foot swell with no wind but it's a new moon.

Big bass, 30 pounds and up are suddenly at your feet. Your fishing plugs. Needlefish to be exact. They aren't blitzing but they are eating well, not committing suicide but taking regurlarly.

You have a nine foot spinning rod with a braid friendly reel and 20 pound braid.

The bite is on for two hours then stops.

Being a reasonably knowledgable and skilled surf fisherman how many do you think you could expect to land given the weight of the fish, the line class your fishing and the time window?

This should be interesting!

my answer
 

From the conditions given with that many fish and and gear certainly big enough to handle the fish, as many as your body could handle.

Knowing how long a fish like those might take to land from experience but also knowing individual fish fighting techniques vary greatly, pick a number. 3? 6? 12? 18?:huh:

Six taking into consideration thier is three hours of tide left.

9-12 bass would be a good number steve

you figure they're not blitzing, but on the feed

a bass in that class range with that gear would be landed pretty quickly, not an epic battle going on here, as 20 lb braid is stronger than you think

figure every 5 casts pick up a fish

just my thoughts here

I'd be happy with one......

4-6... fish that size are coming into their fighting prime, big enough to turn broad side and keep you honest, still "small" enough to allow you to put the tongs to 'em,(IMHO, 38-44s are the hardest fighters),some will run a long way and sulk, then slowly give in, others will do battle right at your feet,running at you cartwheeling and then run out to sea, only to reverse direction and comit harry carry on the beach hard tellin' not knowing!.. then you have to take into account that you wont get one every cast....yup, 4-6, 4 being more realistic....

Landing 8-10 may be reasonable, but if we have to take some time to revive them then, who knows. 2 hours goes by pretty quick when the bite is on. You say 20 lb braid, well it it is 20 lb fireline, then no problem for me, but if it's 20 lb whiplash or powerpro or some other junk, then it could take a bit longer to play the fish. I feel more comfortable with fireline since it breaks at a higher lb than they rate it.

a dozen or so.... give or take if your real horny.....

If you're letting them go - taking care to not rip their mouth apart and taking time to revive the ones that are beat up pretty bad maybe 15.
If you are a commercial, in your fish-catching prime and motivated by money, and knowing how much you can horse them, and not caring if you rip their face off when you disgorge the hook, and throwing them in a pile behind you rather than reviving them: 25...maybe more.
I've known commercials who can beach a 20 in under three minutes...

20's in under 3 minutes..the old crank and yank technique

I do that in the canal

No money involved here Joe! Interesting responses! One of you so far is in my own estimate ( I added in some time for "sportsman release ie: sh!t!!!! I dropped the baztard).

Let's call them June fish, real slammers!

Keep the responses coming! THANKS!!!!:btu:

8-10

i'd say 10, at best...at least for me
I have a habit of lighting up when I get a nice one.....

I think I'd be so happy to get one that I would celebrate for a while, not realizing the feed is "on", but then after the initial celebration I could probably land 5 more, now if we were talking about a jagged rocky coast, I'd say only 2 more, but a beach is a little more forgiving and 3 foot seas doesn't sound too bad, but I guess the new moon would get some good rips going...

Your on the right track with your thinking. Got to analyze all the factors that might affect your outcome, including personal experience levels! I like it!:claps:

u didnt even have the ### 8 up there flap:spin:

2 hour steady bite, (not blitz), on the drop, 20 pound fireline, 9 foot rod, 30# (20-30) class.. all c&r.. I'm with Rock... 4-6.. if you want a specific # and not a range.. I'll split the difference... 5.. tops.. I would think.

My estimate isn't 8 Matt!

(BTW, did you see sound stage last night on Channel 2? The New York Dolls were on live for an hour, it was great!)

10

nope missed it....like I could have gotten near the tube with the "red carpet" anyhoo...

And no ones even mentioned Murphys law...... takes time to check leaders, retie if needed..... revive fish..... deal with the bloody hand that just got spined!!! two hours goes by mighty fast when your busy.....

I still say 9-12

i say 6

ide say six. 40-50lb braid though and 10lbs of drag. after that maybe a few more, but arms will be dead.

can I use a net:fishslap: ?

Had a night similar to that with BM, Slipknot and Slingah!!! I bet about 20 fish till the sun comes up and scatters them!:huh: This particular night fish were between 20-30 pounds! Most were about 25 to be sure!

But ooooppppssss.....I am fishing 15 pound mono!:huh:

BFL (and others)... 2 hour bite...gotta factor that..

Oh......ummmmm......a dozen then!:drool:

alot for me not sure how many, but its a feel thing with me. depending on how the bass are hooked also
but i learn early on when they chow lay as many as u can on the sand (selling) wow memorys

non blitz.. slow, but steady bite.. Flap gave all the details :hihi:

12!:kewl:

Since you stated that the fish were in the wash. I would guess a fish I caught in the 20# class to take 3-5 minutes to beach. A 30# class maybe more like 5-10. Assuming I'm on the beach and not rocks, the surf is small to moderate, there is a consistant bite, and I'm not to drunk, I would guess 10 to 15. If you account for a tad of fisherman exaggeration, I would say 15 to 20. If you account for tough releases, gear failure, wind knots, grabbing a beer, I would say 5 to 10. So after reviewing all of these factors, I would estimate 8-12 fish!

You'd be really deep into the drop by the end of the 2 hours. Are you on a an outer bar or fishing a trough in front? I basically fish the backside with the outfit you have described...... I'd say 10-12 is a pretty good estimate.:gf:

8 to 10 with a sheeet eating grin...

(less in Rhody cause of retying and breaking off 7 minutes into the fight on a couple)

if I won I want a Flap plug....

A few thoughts:
1. June = cool water, Moderate surf = plenty of Oxygen and frisky fish. Fish in the 30 lb class and bigger in the spring after the spawn are big+long for their weight and fight well. You won't yank any of them across the surface on 20 lb line if your drag is set where it should be. So it's going to take a while to get them in.
2. Three hours into the drop with a swell tells me there's a good chance you have a good current where your at and the fish are sitting nose into the current looking to feed. You'll probably have to present your plug properly like a small fish gets overtaken by current or they won't grab your offer, as a steady pick but no blitzing indicates that, at least to me anyway. The guys who've got buck-fever and are casting and reeling like crazy won't catch much (maybe one or two fish, but they won't get more than three).
3. Flap, you don't say how many other guys you have to share the action with, but since you don't mention it, I'll guess it won't be a factor and they won't be in the way. With current and thirty pound plus fish they'll take some line and you'll have to move down the beach some after you hook up.
4. I'll estimate five minutes of casting before the hit on a steady bite, + ten minutes/fish = 8 fish but if you account for time to retie once plus one likely tackle screwup, bent hook, plug change or tangle or pilot error, your down to 7 fish.
5. My final answer is 7 fish for those conditions listed for a 2 hour period. If you spend time on the release, which can be a pain in the swell, you may likely end up with less than this.

Ed

Eddy baby!!!! :wave: TC was speaking kindly of you the other day. I love the way you broke this down.

I can smell the smoke from all the thinking going on.

I will give my answer this evening and discuss it in more detail Wednesday night at Mass Striped Bass.

awee shucks, I feel like a student that just got an A!