SURFACE LURES
Are they only suitable in calm conditions? Definitely not says bass guide Marc Cowling
Try them in rough conditions.
Puzzled disbelief is the standard reaction to me asking someone to use a surface or top-water lure when the sea is frothing, bubbling and swirling around their feet – the classic late autumn conditions. In the course of a guided bass lure fishing session, such a suggestion would prompt responses like “I thought they could only be used when it’s flat calm” or “Isn’t it too rough or murky to use them in these sea conditions?” Why then do I sometimes insist on it?
I don’t know whether some anglers are programmed in certain locations to believe that surface lures are only effective when the bass can easily home in on them, when the bait fish are in residence, or indeed, during high summer. Notwithstanding chocolatecoloured water, any location where the sea temperature remains relatively high (11-14oC) during the final third of the year is where I would encourage you to consider using a medium to large popper or slider.
PREY FISH
The warmer the sea temperature, the higher the metabolic rate of the bass will be, meaning not only are they more mobile but also they need to feed more avidly. That’s good news for the bass lure angler.
Although this is, of course, very much location dependent, in all likelihood there will also be ample prey items still prevalent around our shores in the run up to Christmas. These will include mackerel, garfish and, of course, the one that the bass really love to feed on prior to their supposed migration westwards – the herring.
Inshore boat anglers regularly enjoy some great annual sport in November, December and even January, with bass hammering large splashy lures worked on the top and close to the shoals of herring (below).
BEST CONDITIONS
It goes without saying that the later into the year we progress, the more unpredictable the weather becomes – all of which generally translates to increased waves and swells that generate those sublime aerated and quintessentially ‘bassy conditions’.
When the bass move inshore to devour worms and crustaceans torn from the seabed, they are very unlikely to ignore a big, struggling, tasty mouthful spluttering and struggling on the surface. This is precisely what your lure should be ‘made’ to imitate. Furthermore, alongside the notion that there will be amplified numbers of bass hugging the shoreline in turbulent conditions, the possibility of latching into a lone lunker are also significantly increased – something to which bait anglers can also testify.
It would be easy to say just head out when it’s rough. To be more specific, look for those days following a bit of an onshore blow when the water clarity is recovering and the residual swell is washing on to and off of the rocks.
These are the sort of conditions when I would expect larger bass to be very close inshore searching for anything that has been scoured out of sand, weed and rock pools. Essentially, they are hunting for an easy meal.
Think about those occasions when there are too many weed fragments in the water to fish with sub-surface hard minnow lures, and when fishing with weedless soft plastics (either weightless or with a weighted jig head) results in weed accumulating on the line.
That said, don’t discount those balmy October and November days when the sweat is pouring off you as you scramble to your chosen mark and you’re praying the Factor 30 is still in the bottom of your rucksack. I have enjoyed some memorable sessions when utilising those medium-sized surface lures (Patchinko 125) in deep, calm, clear water, particularly in the vicinity of headlands and fast-moving water as the sun shines down on me. The bass seem intent on a last hurrah with a final blitz of the baitfish before things cool down for good.
VENUE CHOICE
This leads me on to the types of venues in which I have enjoyed success, both during individual and guided sessions with my clients in more recent times.
Firstly, I would be looking to use a large surface lure in deeper (6ft-20ft+), murky (ish), lumpy and/or fast-moving seas influenced by both the current and the water moving, swirling and being forced around submerged or protruding rocks.
These are seriously tasty circumstances in which to fish, where a bass can literally wrench the rod out of your hands as it smashes the piece of hard plastic you’ve retrieved to under your rod tip, before angrily dragging the line off of a tight drag. Does it get much better than this?
However, one of my all-time favourite locations is a large and primarily flat expanse of reef, with small rock pools and clefts present for the bass to sit in or under, and which is being washed by a series of turning waves. Here, the water may be as shallow as a foot, whereby surf tables are created similar
to those formed on a sandy surf beach as the waves break further out from your stance – it’s exhilarating and exciting.
Shingle bays and coves with a featureless seabed may not seem like the obvious place to work a surface lure. However, when it is too rough to venture on to the adjacent rocks, this could be your only option. The gutter (where the slope of the beach levels out) and where the waves actually turn on the shoreline are the hotspots, rather than continually launching the lure to the horizon.
TOP TECHNIQUE
Remember that what you are attempting to imitate is a wounded, disoriented creature that is emitting the kind of distress signals that a predator, such as a bass looking to feed up for the winter, is actively seeking. You want them to hardly believe their luck.
This is why I will slow things right down and look to work the lure in a turning, rolling, thrashing fashion, but with (very importantly) long pauses of between two and 10 seconds between the short bouts of activity.
If you’ve ever witnessed a dying mackerel, pollack, scad or pouting drifting and spluttering sporadically on the surface, before being plucked out of the drink by a passing gull, you’ll know precisely what I mean. Moreover, if you have the choice between aiming the lure into a calm section of water or close to or within the commotion caused by the waves breaking around the rocks, I would choose the latter every time.
What’s more, in between causing the lure to come alive, try allowing the lure to naturally waft both around and within any eddies being formed close to any structure. It has proved to be deadly time and again.
Good luck and stay safe. ■
Marc Cowling is a respected, fully insured, shore-based guide who specialises in guiding his clients to catching bass on lures. His website/blog, including details about his book ‘The Lure of The Bass’, can be found at https://southdevonbassguide.com