Q&A LURE FISHING

I really want to get into surf fishing for bass with lures but I am struggling to know what sort of surf I need to be fishing. Can you advise on where I should start please?

HG says: It is my firm belief that any bass hooked in proper surf conditions is worth double, and by that I mean how much harder any bass scraps in all that fizzed up water. It’s an awesome way to fish for bass. However, what we tend to think of as surf, because of those amazing surfing videos on YouTube, means a lot of the information about how to fish surf beaches can seem confusing. Let’s dive into surf for surfing and surf for bass fishing and try to sort you out.

Do me a favour and type something like “surfing waves” into YouTube. There is plenty of massively impressive footage of surfing big waves, but I want you to look at the actual shape of the waves. Surfers are after what are known as clean waves: waves are produced when ocean swells hit shallower water (beaches). There is a certain uniformity to how the waves are rolling in and breaking. Generally, an offshore wind, from land to sea, is going to help literally “hold” the face of the wave up, and the swell period – the time in seconds between the breaking waves – is going to be a higher number of seconds. More than around 10 seconds and we are looking at good waves for surfing, with none of that messy, onshore-style “chop” Which is exactly what we really want for surf fishing.

Obviously you need to find generally west and south facing beaches in parts of the UK or Ireland that are prone to swell and therefore potential surfing conditions. Whilst I am by no means saying that you won’t catch bass when the surfing is good, I much prefer messier surf which is produced by a combination of swell and onshore – from sea to land – winds. Note how the

sea is usually very clear and blue between the waves when you have those longer swell periods which the surfers love. I know a number of bass anglers who are also surfers and they tend to surf when the surf is good and then fish when the surf is blown out and messy. Now note how fizzed up and messed up the water is when you have much shorter – five, six and seven second – swell periods. Not only can you more easily wade out a bit because you haven’t got bigger, clean walls of water rolling in at you, but all that turbulence and fizz almost to your rod tip is when I find surf fishing the best. I like the fizzed-up water but I don’t tend to like those white tables that roll in when it’s much better surfing conditions. I tend to find that the bass can be behind those tables, and sometimes it is almost impossible to get a lure out far enough when it’s like this.

Download the free Surfline app onto your phone and start learning more about swell forecasts and swell periods. I use XCWeather for wind forecasts, and I am as interested in the potential strength of the wind as I am in the direction. For the most part I am looking for onshore winds for as much of my open coast bass fishing as possible. However, that doesn’t stop me going out at other times. Of course, you can find bass when the surf is better for the surfers, but I tend to find them feeding that bit further out when the swell periods are longer, plus it’s not so productive. I have literally had bass eat the lure off my rod tip when the surf is all messy and choppy. Indeed, it’s quite a shock when you are about to lift the lure out of the water to recast and a bass smashes it! I often find that the first of the flood is a good time for surf fishing, and if I can combine that with first light then I feel even more confident. Every single bass you hook in hectic surf conditions puts a great big smile on your face. I love it!