I will tell you about the fishing tackle that Henry and I were using out in Portugal next time, but I believe it’s right to start with some details on the fishing tackle that Grant Woodgate of Samson Lures uses out there. We failed in our quest to catch a big bass but I hope there might be some value in understanding more about our approach later on. Grant knows the area like the back of his hand and you can see how much the bass fishing out there has influenced his Samson Lures and rods etc. The simple fact is that you can’t ignore what has been proven to work, and I find it fascinating. I would also suggest that continuing to learn about how different anglers approach different types of fishing always has the potential to drip some kind of influence and ideas into our own fishing. If this is not the case then opening up one’s mind might help a bit…………

Grant has been really kind and answered many of my questions about the gear he uses and why he does so - thank you! He fishes with one of his Samson Longcast 12ft Spinning Rods 30g -100g (Samson Lures or Veals Mail Order). The Standard version weighs a rather impressive 320g, and the XH which has “some extra backbone for lifting or fighting larger fish” weighs 370g. I haven’t seen one so I have no idea what they are like, but Grant tells me he wanted to design pretty fast and light lure rods which had powerful tips for working lures in rough conditions, were light enough to fish long periods, and also had sufficient strength to lift fish straight out of the water (the XH especially). Whilst I am not remotely used to such a long lure rod myself, I have to recognise what he accomplishes with these rods when dealing with the most intimidating shore based bass fishing I have ever seen. If you watch any of his videos you will see him dead-lifting some pretty big bass straight out of the water which makes a lot of sense if you’ve got big seas rolling in especially. A longer lure rod does strike a chord for a lot of the fishing out there, and whilst I was happy fishing with my own 9’10’’ Max 60g prototype rod last week, with my great big one week of experience out there I am not exactly Mr. Bass Fishing Portugal!

Bear in mind that we all have no choice but to base our fishing experience on the type of ground and conditions we fish the most. It’s why I refuse to speculate on how other anglers might improve their fishing when I have most likely never even seen what they are doing. Grant does his bass fishing around where he does, I do mine in the places I do, you do what you do, and so on. Bass fishing is so varied and interesting that I will never understand when some of the experts try to say that it should be done a certain way. Balls. Plus we can adapt and change and modify and so on. Who is to say that some of the gear here or the ways in which the lures are designed to work might not suit your own fishing?

These are Grant’s general suggestions for his Samson Lures lure weights for the bass fishing out there:

15g to 20g for small swells under 1 metre
30g and 50g for swells to 2 metres
70g - 90g for swells over 2 metres or heavy winds

And these are Grant’s suggestions for his lures:

Shad (sub-surface) - all weights depending on conditions (here on the Samson Lures website, and on this link there are also plenty of videos on how to get the best out of them, often with some rather large bass)
Tweak Baits (sub-surface) - three different sink speeds. Heavy version for windy rough conditions, 80g fast sink version has a very small profile for its weight (here on the Samson Lures website, and on this link there are also plenty of videos on how to get the best out of them, often with some rather large bass)
Enticer Minnow (surface and just sub-surface) - very long casting, worked splashing between surface and just below, 30g, 50g and 70g especially for bass fishing out there (here on the Samson Lures website, and on this link there are also plenty of videos on how to get the best out of them, often with some rather large bass)
Bomb (sinking surface lure) - purely topwater, very long casting and effective, 21g and 30g (here on the Samson Lures website, and on this link there are also plenty of videos on how to get the best out of them, often with some rather large bass)
Stealth Glide (night fishing) - slow retrieve 28g (here on the Samson Lures website, and on this link there are also plenty of videos on how to get the best out of them, often with some rather large bass)

I know that Grant religiously tests and adapts all his lures until he is happy with them. He suggested that if I was to buy just two types of lures from the Samson Lures collection for fishing in SW Portugal then I should be looking at the Enticer in 50g and 70g (if I have a rod that will cope with it), and his new Shad. Henry, who I was fishing with, had a couple of Shads with him and they did look bloody good in the water. I can see so clearly why Grant wants his lures to cast really well, grip into some serious seas, and also be fished either on the top or pretty shallow (lots of shallow ground and reefs and rocks sticking out of the water and so on). Lure control via the rod and retrieve is vital for bass fishing as you all know anyway. Make sure to check out Grant Woodgate’s YouTube channel here.

Grant is fishing with 20lb to 30lb braid depending on the location and type of ground or sea conditions and so on. He uses a 1.8m long fluorocarbon leader, generally 25lb in calmer conditions, 30lb for general fishing, and then 50lb for places where it's extremely likely the leader will make contact with rocks (casting over shallow ledges to deeper water). I hope that even if you have no need for gear like this for any of your fishing, it’s still some food for thought. You all have a good weekend and I will catch you next week.

Disclosure - If you buy anything using links found around my website, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you anymore to buy via these affiliate links - and please feel entirely free not to do so of course - but it will help me to continue producing content. Thank you. Please note that today’s blog post is a real mishmash of affiliate and non-affiliate links. Where I can find affiliate links to the gear I am talking about I have used them, and where not I have linked back to the Samson Lures website where you can get all the gear anyway.

Bass fishing in SW Portugal, Part 2 - the fishing tackle that the bloke who catches some huge bass out there uses

© Henry Gilbey 2023