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: