I never go fishing without a few metals in my lure box, doing so got me a long-range bass yesterday

I don’t know how far I can chuck a 28g Savage Gear Seeker on a really good 8’8’’ lure rod (coming later in the year), but I connected with a chunky January bass around the 3 lb mark yesterday morning as far as I could put the lure. There was a reason for clipping on a metal lure and banging it right out, and because the fish was caught at long range and in so much current, initially I thought it was way bigger………….

I made completely the wrong call on Friday and ended up trying to dodge getting washed in by a lot of big waves which in turn prevented me accessing the ground I needed to. There has been a good size swell rolling in on the south coast for a few days now, so I needed a plan for Sunday that could benefit from a lot of moving water but which would still give me access to the right water. I did a bit of computing in my head and came up with a plan. Early Sunday morning it was.

It was one of those marks where you can cover a good bit of ground if you are prepared to do the work. Surfline had forecast the swell to be a bit less, but I don’t think it was, so I kept on moving and casting on my way towards a particular section I like when the waves are rolling in. All that water crashing into the shoreline hits loads of rocks and beach to create plenty of rip currents and inviting looking water. A lot of the bass I might catch around here are hooked fairly close in, so naturally I covered the water how I have before. Nothing doing though.

Eventually I made it to a point of rock where things were looking awesome. I know it’s nearly the middle of January, but the sun was now out and things looked so good I felt it would almost be a travesty to not catch at least something on a morning like this. I started to cover the turbulent water with the white colour J-hook Savage Gear Sandeel V2 in the 14cm/33g size, then after a while I switched over to a Gravity Stick Paddletail on a heavier belly-weight 6/0 weedless hook. Nothing doing though, albeit bass fishing in the middle of winter doesn’t exactly tend to give one a wide frame of reference when it comes to numbers of bass and what they might be looking for.

But it looked too good for there not to be at least a bass mooching around, and as the tide continued to ebb I could see what looked like a literal river of current pouring out from the beach and rocks a good bit out from me. Whatever type of bass fishing I am doing, and wherever I am doing it, I never, ever go out without at least a couple of metal lures which can really get me out there. On so many occasions the ability to put a lure a long way out has saved me, and I include estuaries in the mix. I can remember a specific estuary session where a bunch of bass started hitting bait at range while we were blanking close in. I clipped on a Seeker and started hammering fish, but the mate I was fishing with wasn’t carrying any metal (distance) lures and would never have caught the fish. Because I always have at least a couple of metals in my box I was able to give him one to use and he too hammered a bunch of bass.

So one of my things is never go bass fishing without at least a couple of metals. I might not use them but at least they are there if I need to. It has to be no less than two metals in my mind, because it would be so frustrating to find feeding fish at range but something goes wrong and you lose your first metal. A second metal at least reduces the risk and increases your chances on those occasions when distance is key. For me those metal lures are most likely going to be Savage Gear Seekers and Surf Seekers, plus possibly a casting jig to give me a different (metal) option (as per this blog post here). They might well be something completely different for you of course.

With nothing doing in some stunning looking water closer in then, my remaining option on the point I was fishing was to try and reach that river of current - big. big rip - and see if I could find a bass in all that glorious turbulence. I delved into one of the two washable lure boxes I carry with me and came up with the white 28g Savage Gear Seeker, rigged with a 3/0 Mustad Kaiju single hook - crushed barb of course - attached to the lure as per this blog post here. This 8’8’’ lure rod I was fishing with is a weapon, and I know how well it puts lures out there.

How far’s the 28g Seeker going on this rod with not much wind in my face? I have no idea, but squinting into the sun I could just see the lure land right in the middle of the “river”. I went to tighten up the braid from the cast, then about five turns into my slowish retrieve (to allow for the lure swinging around in the current) it all went solid. I have fished here before and I can’t remember any snags around where my lure landed, and then as I tightened into the “snag”, I got that utterly delightful thump, thump on the end of the rod. Yep, I went and yelped, as indeed you do. My heart rate also began to race a bit - calm down Henry! - because everything felt very solid indeed with a bass hooked in a fierce current a good distance out.

That’s a lot of yap for a single bass which turned out to be around a chunky 3lbs, but if you are still trying to catch these fine fish on lures from the shore at this time of year then you will understand how much the one fish means. I didn’t catch anymore and I guess I’d have blanked if I hadn’t taken the decision to cover the water a hell of a lot further out, but I’d never even have got the chance to reach that river of current if I hadn’t been carrying some long-range lures with me. For all the different lures and techniques I continue to love exploring, you won’t ever find me going bass fishing from the shore without at least a couple of metals in one of my two lure boxes.

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