MY GO-TO BASS FISHING LURES
When I go out bass fishing, I take two washable lures boxes with me. That is it. Below are the lures which spend the most time in these two lure boxes and which I use the most for my own fishing. Please bear in mind that I fish a lot of different ground for bass, from quiet estuaries to raging surf, with loads in between. In no particular order then:
Savage gear gravity stick
Soft plastics designed to be rigged on weedless hooks (AKA offset, Texas hooks), two lure sizes (120mm and 140mm), various colours
I have been involved with these three different soft plastics right from the start, and these days I don’t go bass fishing without them. Three different lures and now in two different sizes - Pintail, Pulsetail, Paddletail, 140mm and 120mm - with different actions and various rigging options. My biggest shore-caught bass so far came on the larger 140mm Gravity Stick Paddletail, I think that proves how much I trust these lures. Designed to be fishing with these two sizes of weedless hooks here (the 6/0 hooks are for the larger size of Gravity Stick, but they also work just fine with the smaller 120 size).
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Gravity Stick 14cm kit (loads of lures, hooks, rattles, weight spikes, comes in a box, incredible value for money): Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com or Amazon.co.uk
Everything Gravity Stick related (lures, hooks, weights etc.): Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
Starting to really like the Gravity Stick 120 rigged on the 3/0 Decoy Violence VJ-36 (weedless) jig head.
savage gear seeker and surf seeker
Long-range metal lure, different weights and colours
This simple metal lure that actually does a whole lot more than you might think has crept up on me to become a lure I don’t go bass fishing without - and not only in the surf. The Savage Gear Seeker ISP in the 16g, 23g and 28g sizes cast a country mile and can be swum nice and shallow if needs be, and then I turn to the 30g, 35g and 40g Surf Seekers for more hectic conditions. On the regular (non-Surf) Seeker, change the hooks if you are going after bass in the surf especially. The Surf Seekers are rigged with proper saltwater hooks.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Regular Seeker ISP: Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
Surf Seeker 30g, 35g & 40g: Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
creature bait/Craw (crab imitation) setup
The more I fish for bass like this, the more I am refining my approach
The two creature baits I am fishing with the most now are the Nikko Craw 3.2’’, the Z-Man Turbo CrawZ 4'', and increasingly the Savage Gear NED Dragontail Slug (a straight stick which sits bolt upright in the water, also works well bumped along the bottom in current). These lures are made from a buoyant TPU soft plastic so they sit upright when you are working them along the bottom (do not mix these lures with other soft plastics in your lure box, you also can’t screw a corkscrew into them).
Through a lot of trial and error I have come around to a cheb weight/weedless hook setup because it works so well with creature baits, but the right weedless jig head is also very good. The best weedless hook I have come across for these three lures is the size 3/0 Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp L12 Weedless hook with moulded keeper (check this blog post here about this specific hook), but the 2/0 Seadra T120 Weedless worm hook also works great for the Nikko Craw 3.2’’ and the bigger 3/0 Seadra T120 Weedless worm hook fits perfectly with the slightly larger Z-Man Turbo CrawZ 4''. I then attach one of the Berkley Fusion cheb weights to these hooks, generally a 5g, 7g or 10g depending on the ground and depth and conditions etc.
If you prefer the simplicity of an all-in-one weedless jig head then the 2/0 7g Seadra weedless jig head fits the Nikko Craw 3.2’’ very well. This jig head also fits the Z-Man Turbo CrawZ 4'' but ideally I’d like a slightly larger hook.
When I am out fishing, I have this gear in one of those cheap and chips and rather handy HTO Double Latch 20.5cm lure boxes. I can store these soft plastics I am using just fine in this box.
Have a read of this blog post here for more information on the gear I am using for this type of bass fishing.
The above affiliate links are to Veals Mail Order (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these).
Xorus patchinko 140 & 125
The best surface lures ever for bass fishing?
There can’t be many UK or Irish bass anglers who don’t own a Patchinko. Long-casting, lethal surface lures for bass fishing, the different sizes of Patchinko have been responsible for a lot of big bass over the years. Incredibly stable in bouncier conditions, something about these surface lures seriously does it for bass. Killers, plain and simple.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
All Xorus Patchinko lures: Veals Mail Order or Fishingmegastore.com
IMA hound 125F Glide (125mm, 20g)
The ultimate sub-surface hard lure, good range of colours, incredibly “grippy” and very long-casting
When the wind starts to blow and the sea starts to bounce, nine times out of ten the IMA Hound 125F Glide is the first hard lure out of my box. I absolutely love this lure and it’s available in the UK again. My life is complete. The biggest bass one of our clients has landed so far (82cms) on our guided fishing trips came on a Hound Glide in a strong run of current. They work!
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savage gear sandeel pencil 90 &125
Long-range, shallow-swimming sandeel imitations, they are consistently lethal over shallow ground especially
The 150 size has been discontinued, I am gutted!
These missiles have fast become an essential item in my lure box for all kinds of conditions. Check here for some further thoughts on fishing with the Savage Gear Sandeel Pencil 90 (13g) and 125 (19g) at night for example. I like lures which work when you can whack them out and wind them in, and these Sandeel Pencils are those lures for so many situations. Check here for some more thoughts on fishing with these lures. The Sandeel Pencil SW lures are five different colours and they are also rigged ready for saltwater use. I change to stronger hooks if I am using the regular (non-SW) Sandeel Pencil.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Sandeel Pencil 90mm &125mm: Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
Sandeel Pencil SW 90mm &125mm: Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
savage gear slender scoop shad 11cm, 13cm & 15cm
Paddletails with a unique action, bass love them, various sizes
A soft plastic paddletail with the most stunning, slow-rolling kind of action. I really like how different this lure is to the Gravity Stick Paddletail, and I caught my first ever bass in the UK in February on the 13cms version, see here. More details about this lure in a blog post here.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Various sizes and packets: Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
Really liking these Slender Scoop Shads on the Decoy Violence VJ-36 (weedless) jig head. The 2/0 works well with the 11cm lure, the 3/0 works with the 13cm lure, and the largest 4/0 works well with the 15cm lure.
OSP DoLive Stick 6’’
The most lethal “twitchbait” style soft plastic I have ever come across
I prefer to fish the 6’’ DoLive Stick weedless if conditions and/or location allows, then I do like a small bit of weight towards the front of a weedless hook with the smaller 4.5’’ size. I like the Savage Gear 6/0 Weedless Corkscrew hooks for the 6’’ size DoLive Stick and the 4/0 Savage Gear Weedless Corkscrew hooks for the 4.5’’ size. An amazing lure that I think has yet to be bettered.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
savage gear sandeel v2 and v2 weedless
Fantastic soft plastic lures which are rigged on jig heads, various sizes and colours, so versatile
Take the classic Savage Gear Sandeel and make it even better, then also add a truly proper weedless version with a different shape jig head which combines a strong swimming action with outstanding “bumpability” along the bottom. The Savage Gear Sandeel V2 and Sandeel V2 Weedless, slim-profile paddletail lures which are every single thing we could pour into improving a classic.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Everything Sandeel V2 related (complete lures, spare bodies, jig heads, hooks etc.: Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
Sandeel V2 J-hook bulk buy: Lurefishingforbass.co.uk
savage gear washable lure boxes
Simple, clever, can’t do without them
A complete no-brainer if you ask me. Your lures won’t end up in a tangled mess and you can simply dunk the box (with lures in it) in a sink of freshwater if you are so inclined - I am! - to rinse your lures down after fishing. I can fit two of these washable lure boxes in my HPA Chest Pack lure bag. I carry one “long” box (horizontal slots for soft plastics and hard lures longer than 140mm), and one “short” box (vertical slots, for lures under 140mm long). BOTH THE SHORT AND LONG BOXES SHARE THE SAME EXTERNAL DIMENSIONS.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com or Amazon.co.uk
Alternative “long” box if the above are out of stock.
I use this lure box here for my creature baits and smaller soft plastics.
HPA Chest Pack lure bag: Veals Mail Order
savage gear savage minnow and weedless
Soft plastic paddletails rigged on jig heads
Our take on the paddletail/J-Hook jig head and paddletail/jig head/weedless hook combination (who hasn’t been influenced by the Fiiish Black Minnow “concept”?). A lot of thought and testing and fishing has gone into the J-hook Savage Minnow and the Savage Minnow Weedless lures. The simplicity of the Pro Peg Mount system, the way the weedless hooks “click” so securely into place on the Weedless version, the design of the jig heads which combines a strong swimming action with outstanding “bumpability” along the bottom etc.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Everything Savage Minnow related (complete lures, spare bodies, jig heads, hooks etc.): Veals Mail Order or FishingMegastore.com
Bulk buy Savage Minnow Weedless: Lurefishingforbass.co.uk
casting jigs
I do like to carry a casting jig or two for certain locations
Available in 20g and 40g, the Savage Gear 3D Jig Minnow is a very long-range casting jig which I tend to work either with a fairly fast sink and draw (the fish will hit you on the drop), or with a simple straight retrieve where it swims with a really nice side to side action. Simple but very effective. Comes pre-rigged with the hooks you can see. If you want a 30g version then check out the very good Seadra Aqua-Bullet Bait Fish and Seadra 3D Live Scale Baitfish casting jigs.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Veals Mail Order or FishingMegastore.com
Seadra casting jigs: Veals Mail Order
Savage gear Slap Walker
Long-casting surface lure, the 12.5cm is my favourite
Three different sizes/weights (10cm/10g, 12.5cm/20g, 13.5cm/26g) and some stunning colours, the Slap Walker is fantastic. They were designed for topwater fishing in the more southern parts of Europe in generally calm to choppy conditions, but I have fished them just fine in some pretty lively conditions here in the UK. They have this fairly aggressive sort of walk/spit action which you can exaggerate with more speed, or fish more subtly with a slower retrieve. All of them cast really well, with the 12.5cm/20g being a bit of a freak with how much water it can cover.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
12.5cm/20g: Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
13.5cm/26g: Veals Mail Order
savage gear pop walker 2.0
Very effective surface lure, they can literally “walk” on a slowish straight retrieve
A reworked and far better version of the original Pop Walker, these 2.0 versions are starting to work well for me. The most useful two sizes of Pop Walker 2.0 surface lures for me and how I go bass fishing are the 11.5cm/20.5g and the 9cm/11g ones. All of them cast really well, the 11.5cm version especially reminds me a bit of the Lucky Craft Gunfish, and for some reason the 9cm version seems to attract the attention of bigger bass.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
9cm/11g: Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
11.5cm/20.5g: Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore.com
savage gear gravity shallow
A long-distance, very shallow-diving hard lure
Two sizes (10cm/14g and 11.5cm/20g), the smaller Savage Gear Gravity Shallow 10cm especially does not leave my lure box. I love the tight action on a straight retrieve, and I really like the range of colours and very good treble hooks. The perfect shallow-diver to me.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
ima sasuke 105, 120 & 140
Amazing “family” of long-casting hard lures, very verstatile
The 105 (13g), 120 (17g) and 140 (20g) sizes. A staple lure in many lure boxes I am sure. Great casters, incredibly grippy, you can fish them fast or slow and they so often sort the bass out. A very good Irish angler I know is SO good at fishing the Sasuke 120 really nice and slow with his rod tip up.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Sasuke 105: Veals Mail Order
Sasuke 120: Veals Mail Order
Sasuke 140: Veals Mail Order
lure clip
I far prefer a paperclip-style style lure clip
If there’s an easier to use lure clip than these rather clever Breakaway Mini Links then I haven’t come across it yet, and I think they are just fantastic. They are also nice and cheap. Four+ years of use review here. The HTO Lure Link clip is just the same and it seems to be manufactured to slightly better tolerances than the Breakaway version these days. The Seadra Speed Lure Clip also does a similar job, and my current favourite is the BKK Fast Snap-41 - not cheap, but I lose very few of them.
Affiliate links (my sincere thanks if you choose to buy via these):
Breakaway Mini Link: Veals Mail Order or Lurefishingforbass.co.uk
Seadra Speed Lure Clips: Veals Mail Order
BKK Fast Snap-41 lure clip: Veals Mail Order
HTO Lure Link or TronixPro Small Quick Change Link (same things): Fishing Megastore.com
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