HITTING IT HARD
How to use a diving minnow, arguably the quintessential bass lure
THINKING BACK to 15 years ago, the first lure type extracted from my rather sparse collection at the start of any session would have been a shallow, medium or deep-diving/swimming, yet buoyant, hard-diving minnow.
I recall my initial bass lure fishing forays, probably because of all the blanks, while regularly fishing a mark where large boulders were present. They were large enough to hide behind over high water and cast and retrieve my lures without the bass seeing me.
I thought I was being clever in attempting to conceal myself in this manner. What amazed and equally frustrated me was the number of times that a bass would simply follow the lure all the way to the rod tip, before subsequently refusing it.
Essentially, in the calm, clear summer and early autumn seas, they had spotted the lure, interrogated it and decided it didn’t look like a meal, before ignoring it. Imagine how many times this occurs under the water when you can’t see the fish following the lure – a lot, I would suggest.
The more I have tried to understand bass and their behaviour, the more I realise that their eyesight must be exceptional. No other inshore fish comes close in the hunting stakes to these mercurial, yet highly adept assassins. Furthermore, and perhaps crucially so, in a high percentage of cases, the less time you give a bass to make its mind up about whether your lure is a potential meal, the more positive they will be.
What, if anything, has changed? What do I look for when
purchasing these proven bass catchers? Even more importantly, under what circumstances do I still attach what is arguably the quintessential bass lure, and how have I utilised them in more recent times?
HARD-DIVING MINNOWS
Here is a list of characteristics and attributes associated with hard-diving minnows that I use for my personal and guided bass lure fishing sessions. They are colour, swim depth, movement, size and shape, and casting capabilities.
■ COLOUR: This is a very subjective aspect, but, for sure, darker coloured patterns (blues, greens, greys and browns) provide a greater overall silhouette, especially in deeper water due to the amount of light penetration. Therefore, this is something that predators like bass will be tuned into. The lure angler should be tuned into this too.
Lures that emit a flash or shimmer from a silvery configuration on their flanks will form the backbone of my lure collection. I’ll have variants of the same lure, but with those featuring a red or orange belly also prevalent.
The way I see it, if a bass is actively searching or expecting to see a creature or prey item looking (shape, colour, size) or moving in a certain way, then why not attempt to replicate this?
■ SWIM DEPTH: The swimming or running depth of a hard-diving minnow is determined by the size, shape or angle of the vane/lip, or if there is no vane/lip attached, then the angle of the slant on the lure’s snout.
Lures with a small, yet vertically positioned dish-shaped lip will often only dive to a maximum depth of around 30-40cm, whereas a lure with a more pronounced lip/vane will dive and swim much deeper in the water column.
The good news is that if your intention is to utilise a deeper-diving lure, then you’re most probably fishing in relatively deep water. This means the bass are more likely to be very close, and long casting isn’t necessarily required. A long-casting shallow diver, on the other hand, with its
comparatively small vane or slanted face, enables you to effectively search out vast zones of territory covered by shallow water.
■ MOVEMENT: Unless you’ve previously witnessed the lure you intend to purchase being used, then it is very difficult to ascertain how they will react when being retrieved.
All hard minnows possess a wobble or wriggle, but some will most definitely have a tighter action (the slimmer-bodied lures, generally) whereas the thicker-set lures will have a wider, snaking action under the water. On their day, both could be more attractive to a bass.
■ SIZE AND SHAPE: I’m a firm believer that by placing something in front of bass that looks (size, shape, movement and colour) as close to the real thing as possible, you are significantly increasing your chances of success.
Even if the colour doesn’t make a difference (and I think it does), then the size and overall shape or profile of a lure most probably will. Again, it is details like this that could be the difference between a bass interrogating the lure and positively nailing it.
■ CASTING CAPABILITY: I’ve already mentioned virtues such as a slanting-faced lure or a small vane being conducive to it often having greater casting capabilities, but that isn’t all.
The most competent lures in this arena are those that have the most efficient weighttransfer systems, such as ball-bearings that reliably and consistently reposition themselves from an internal furrow to the rear (tail-end) of the lure under the momentum created when being cast.
Something else to consider is that there will be an optimum weight-to-size ratio when it comes to a lure’s design.
A great example is the Tackle House Feed Shallow range. Its 128 is what I would describe as a fussy caster, whereas the 105 is a consistently great casting lure. Here, the 23mm less length and increased aerodynamic qualities are hugely significant, while the lure’s deadly action/ movement is retained.
WHEN AND HOW
By now, you’ll be wondering when I feel more confident in the bass-catching capabilities of a hard-diving minnow and how I use them.
Generally speaking, the further south or west you fish in the UK, the higher the percentage of the time that the sea will be clear. This is important because I believe it has a massive impact on how the bass frequenting those regions will behave and, above all, look to feed.
For example, in areas where the water is clear for, say, only 20-30 per cent of the time (Sussex, Kent, North Devon/Somerset border), when it does clear, the bass will be sight feeding with vigour on the baitfish that will be forming in shoals for protection.
However, in those regions where the sea is clear 70 per cent or more of the time (Devon and Cornwall, for instance), and where the bass are far more used to hunting using their sight predominantly, the complete opposite is true. They become less wary and feed more avidly when the sea has a definite tinge to it.
Conditions do matter. It is often said that dawn and dusk are the best times to head out bass lure fishing. This was drummed into me during my initial years chasing silver. When it comes to placing that all-important doubt into the mind of a bass, low light levels will most certainly assist you.
My more recent fascination and success rate when utilising lures, including hard-diving minnows, in complete darkness, adds weight to the theory that the fish are categorically more decisive about nailing this lure type under the cover of the night, especially in tranquil and shallow water environments. The caveat here is that a more subtle lure type could be the way to go in the first instance.
With regards to sea state, you’ll discover that turbulent and confused areas of water, whether it is caused by waves breaking over and around the rocks, turning on a beach or being swirled (eddies) or funnelled is where bass love to hang out. Thinking like a bass may not seem that daft after all. Undoubtedly, whether they are actively swimming, stalking or lingering in wait, bass will be hunting in some form close to and very often on the edge of these zones.
When the water is somewhat cloudy or chaotic, an almost universal style of retrieve associated with this lure type is anything steady. This means administering a decrease in speed and letting the lure remain and vibrate almost in situ when being sucked into a vortex or the undertow and, conversely, increasing the speed when the lure is being thrust forward by the waves and swell.
Furthermore, if the water was on the clearer, calmer and shallow side of the scale, then I would add pauses, the occasional twitch to the recovery. I’d also mix the retrieve speed around somewhat because this could induce a bass following the lure to grab it as the prey attempts to flee or dither. ■
■ Check out South Devon bass guide Marc Cowling’s website/blog, which includes details of how to purchase his book ‘The Lure of The Bass’. Find it at southdevonbassguide.com