I would not have caught this bass six months ago - never stop learning!

It’s not the biggest bass in the world, but I do know that say six months ago I would not have caught this particular blank-saving bass bass the other day. How do I know that you might ask? Because even if I had stopped to fish close to where I caught this bass, I would not have covered the specific bit of water so close to where this bass was on the hunt. I also reckon I’d have been standing up and I’d have most likely spooked any bass which were that close in. Even if you have no interest in this creature bait/crab imitation stuff, or you think it’s some sort of passing fad that’ll be gone in a while, there is no denying how this particular approach I am obsessing about is teaching me SO much about bass behaviour and other areas or ground you might find them on the feed……….

Check this blog post here for how I am rigging my creature baits at the moment

The other day I alluded to how I began to notice how much more “grabby” that MegaBass Sleeper Craw is when you drag it across the top of some exposed bladderwrack. Killer lure, I would never say otherwise, but I do find that a cheb weight setup to a weedless hook doesn’t “grab” the bladderwrack nearly as much so your chances of then being able to drop a weed-free lure off the end of the bladderwrack are greater. Marginal it might be, but I remember saying to a mate that I was convinced it was going to make a difference one day.

Yes, there is a mullet cruising along to the right of the red arrow………..

And it did the other day. The photo above shows the sort of ground over which this particular bass came from. The weed in the immediate foreground is where the edge of the water was. I cast my cheb-rigged Nikko Craw 3.2inch creature bait to roughly the start of the arrow at the rear of the photo. I then fished it along the bottom to where the arrow starts to cross the bladderwrack. My lure now comes across the top of that ridge of bladderwrack without “grabbing” any of the weed and/or catching any little bits and pieces. Of course it’s not a guarantee that you will never “grab” a bit of weed when you drag your lure across the top of floating bladderwrack, but I have found that my chances are better when I don’t have the Sleeper Craw on - which might not make a difference for you of course.

Because everything is going on so close to me - kneeling down, trying not to break a natural horizon - I can see my creature bait coming gently across the top of the bladderwrack as I turn the reel handle. When my lure reaches basically where the tip of the red arrow is, I stop winding and allow the lure to drop back into the water. Off the edge of the bladderwrack my lure tumbles, and as it heads towards the bottom in some very shallow water, I suddenly get a very sharp “tap” which I can feel so well through the rod and into my hands. I don’t strike, and instead I drop the rod a bit to give the bass a touch of slack, then I do strike hard as my braid suddenly starts to knife through the water to the left. Fish on! I don’t know exactly how far out I did actually hook this bass, but it can’t have been much more than a rod and half length from where I was kneeling down. The more I do this type of more finesse based estuary fishing for bass, the more I am finding out about where these incredible fish might well be on the hunt. I find the whole thing eternally fascinating. You all have a good weekend…………

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