TACKLE THE TURBULENCE
How you can enjoy the thrill of fishing in very rough conditions, while making certain to stay safe...
Witnessing a fish hit your lure or bait is about as exciting as it gets, but I would suggest that fishing really lively, bouncy conditions is pretty close in the excitement stakes. There is something very special about fishing when the roar of the wind and waves is your soundtrack to punching lures into a heaving maelstrom.
I used to love bait fishing a couple of cod venues in north Cornwall when winter storms were raging and the fish were feeding like piranhas, and that love of turbulent seas has transferred to my lure fishing for bass.
Let me firstly emphasise, though, that not for one second do I want you to put yourself in any kind of danger. Stay safe with your fishing, and remember that no fish is worth your life.
TURBULENT CONDITIONS
When, you might ask, is it too rough for lure fishing? How far should we be pushing it, and what does rough actually mean in the context of bass fishing?
Well, there’s rough, and then there’s rough! For example, I used to fish during some seriously rough conditions for cod, but would always tuck myself away and be out of the worst of the elements. Only an idiot would have fished right in amongst it, so I have to trust that your common sense will tell you when it’s too rough to be out there.
Fishing into the teeth of a raging gale is virtually impossible with conventional shore fishing tackle as it is, so forget all about it with the lure gear.
We all know that bass thrive in bouncy conditions, but this colours the water and makes it too hard for lure fishing. The water will look soupy or brown or full up with weed.
In this scenario, I move in search of improved water clarity, although there can be a very fine line between fishable and unfishable. Indeed, many are the times when I have gone out expecting to find perfect conditions yet been thwarted because it’s tipped over the edge into what I would term useless for lure fishing.
Remember, though, that a different state of tide might start to clean out any suspended weed and make it fishable again, but, from experience, you will discover what is fishable with lure gear.
Soft plastics rigged on weedless hooks may be perfectly suited to gliding through heavy cover, but the word ‘weedless’ does not suggest a miraculous means of not picking up suspended weed. I can’t recall catching a bass when there has been weed on my lures or hooks, but recall nearly crying as a double-figure bass rushed at my soft plastic, in plain sight, only to suddenly turn away and never come back. The reason? I firmly believe it was due to the little piece of bright-green weed on the hook.
In lively conditions, it is a case of learning how to cope with the wind and sea. Easier said than done, but the worst thing you can do is to cast harder and faster and start lashing your lure out there. If you’ve played golf, you will know all about how you need to swing smoother and a little slower when the wind is blowing. You’ll never beat the conditions, as such, and you might as well live with them and understand how to fish effectively instead.
TACKLE CHOICE
As much as I love using one lure rod that is usually rated somewhere in the 7g to 30g range, I find that one with a more powerful tip can help me manage things better, especially in a crosswind. I often find myself using a lure rod rated somewhere up to about 40g in this situation, around 9ft 6in long, knowing of course that, for the most part, the subtle approach isn’t really going to cut it when you’re facing off against rougher conditions.
Think about the most suitable lure for casting out into bouncy conditions, for
example. Sure, I love fishing soft plastics rigged weedless/weightless with what, I hope, is a bit of a delicate touch, but now put, say, a Force 5 wind in my face and I might as well be using a surfboard to try and catch bass.
This is the time for hard lures that ‘bite’ well into a bit of turbulence, or weighted soft plastics, such as the Fiiish Black Minnow or Crazy Sandeel, plus various casting jigs and even heavier surface lures. I have done really well with slightly bigger surface lures in rougher conditions, so don’t fall for the common misconception that calm conditions are the best time to work lures across the top.
A couple of hard lures that I would not be without in bouncy conditions are the IMA Hound 125F Glide and the Mega-Bass X140 – both cast really well and grip into lively seas.