Henry Gilbey - The World of Fishing

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• Duo Press Bait Kamuy 11cm 25g

  

  I bought this lure purely on the recommendation of a hugely knowledgeable French bass fisherman I know. I wanted something for fishing in the surf and tide rips that are created at the mouths of certain estuaries. This Kamuy does exactly what I hoped it would do, plus a bit more – it is fairly heavy (25g) and it casts a long, long way. It sinks to the bottom quickly, and you then need to “sink and draw” it as it swings round in the current. Reel and lift the rod tip at the same time and then let it flutter back down. Repeat and repeat. This thing really “flutters” big time, and if you really do let it sink down properly, it will flutter down backwards in a way that says “please eat me” to the bass. The bass I have had on this lure have come as you let it sink/flutter down, and they hit it really hard as it drops enticingly backwards. That big, single assist hook at the back really nails them. A specialist lure that I am sure will have a load more bass fishing applications over time, but for now it does precisely what I wanted it to do in the areas I had planned to use it. Someday soon this lure is going to hook me a truly monster bass.

• Duo Tide Minnow - various

  

  Various lengths, models and weights available, a truly modern bass lure that casts like a bullet and has a fantastic “rolling, wobbling” action. It runs slightly shallower than the Lucky Craft Flash Minnow, and is available in plenty of bright, holographic colour combinations. The Duo Tide Minnow 120 Surf in the holographic white/silver colour is a particularly lethal bass lure in choppier conditions - it works great when you retrieve it at about the (slightly slower) speed you would with say the Flash Minnow, and also put some action on them via your rod tip - reel, reel, twitch, twitch, stop, reel etc. All the Tide Minnows that I have used have a lethal kind of action, and they cast like bullets. The white Tide Minnow 120 SLD Slim is really popular among the French guys who fish for Ultimate Tackle, including the boss-man himself - and bearing in mind that he can use any of his lures that he wants, that is saying something !!

• Duo Tide Minnow 145S (sinking)

  

  We are really starting to catch on to how well various sinking hard lures can do for our bass fishing, and the Duo Tide Minnow 145S is one of the very best out there. All the Tide Minnows cast like an exocet missile, and this particular model is no exception. A sinking hard lure is generally that little bit heavier than its floating equivalent, and as well as giving you extra distance into and across the wind, a sinking lure also gives you extra stability when the conditions are more challenging. Plus they hold extra stable in fast currents – if you think about how they work as a lure, you will begin to realise just how much a sinking lure can benefit us. I have lots and lots to learn about the use of sinking hard lures in various situations, but already the Duo Tide Minnow 145S has worked well for me.

• Firetail jellyworms

  

  One of the most effective all time classic pollack lure for shore fishing especially, a firetail (black body, red tail) jellyworm is a killer. We tend to fish them on a size 3/0 hook (the Varivas Big Mouth Extra pattern) and a trace of no longer than 90cms, close to the bottom where the bigger fish are. The day these lures stop catching fish, I’ll retire.

• Gan Craft Z-Claw

  

  This rather innocuous looking bass lure turns out to be one of the most popular surface lures that the guys are using over in France, and I know of a few UK and Irish anglers who go all funny-eyed when they talk about it. The Gan Craft Z-Claw likes to be worked in a slow, lazy walk the dog style, and it creates the most stunning, subtle wake action across the surface. A French bass fanatic I know likes using the Z-Claw just as much in calm conditions as in slightly choppier seas. I reckon it won’t be long until you start seeing more and more UK bass fishermen putting a few of these in their lure boxes.

• Halco Roosta Popper

  

  Hard to track down, but casts like a bullet and is very stable. Smaller size works fine for bass, but it is overseas with the larger models and bigger fish where these outstanding poppers come into their own. I have yet to turn one over in flight, and you can’t say that very often about a popper. Australian designed and made, and the Aussies know their hardcore lure fishing big time.

• IMA Honey Trap 95S

  

  I am big into these heavier hard lures that cast like bullets and essentially “flutter” down through the water column when you let them sink. “Flutterers” I call them, and I am learning about them all the time – where to use them and how to fish them properly. The IMA Honey Trap 95S casts like a bullet, sinks fairly fast and can actually be retrieved at varying speeds and in different ways, but it’s when you cast it out, sink and draw it, or leave it be and let it “flutter” down that I reckon this lure has such potential for bass and pollack fishing. Have a look at this video here for some ideas on how to work the IMA Honey Trap 95S, and make sure to watch right through to see the fluttering effect I am on about.

• IMA Komomo II

  

  A long casting, ultra-shallow diving new lure from IMA, one of the best lure companies out there. A lure like this needs calm conditions to work best, for it really does swim so shallow that too much chop on the water will kill it stone dead. This IMA Komomo II (110mm, 15g) is going to be a killer for calm, settled conditions over shallow, rough ground especially. Keep your rod tip down and you can get it head shake violently from side to side literally just beneath the surface, but keep your winding speed nice and slow to medium-slow. Put your rod tip up, crank slowly, and you can get the Komomo II to literally wake long the surface. A lure like this just makes perfect sense to me. Check out a video of it working right here.

• IMA Komomo II 90

  

  I believe that this smaller bass lure is going to become a classic. I caught on it almost the moment I started fishing with it. The IMA Komomo II 90 (90mm, 12g)is not just a smaller version of the slightly larger Komomo II that I presumed it might just be. No way. This is a whole lure all by itself if that makes sense. First off it does swim shallow, but not as incredibly shallow as the larger one – still nice and shallow though, and get the rod tip up and you can get it to swim just beneath the surface if you need to. Very slow and a high rod and you can get it to wake across the surface. The Komomo II 90 has a somewhat different action to the larger Komomo II, in that it the smaller 90 seems to snake roll more than rock from side to side. This seems to really turn the bass on. Small it might be, but it casts incredibly well, and what really surprised me from the off was how well the 90 “bites in” to the sea – and especially in rougher conditions when I would not have used the original Komomo II.

• IMA Komomo SF-125

  

  This stunning looking IMA lure can be worked in a variety of different ways, but my current favourite is to get the rod tip nice and high and crank it a medium pace. This makes the lure run very, very shallow, so it’s perfect for really nasty ground (bass love this !!), and the IMA Komomo SF-125 runs with a loose, wiggling/side to side action that really turns fish on.The more I learn about this lure, the more I love it. I know of very few lures that you can force to swim so effectively at such a shallow depth - and when I mean "force", I mean by holding the rod tip up as you retrieve. Lots of lures run nice and shallow, but few can be made to run so shallow as the IMA Komomo SF-125 without killing their action. I have also begun to use this lure a lot when conditions and ground might dictate the use of a surface lure, but then the bass don't seem to want to switch on to hitting something off the surface. This lure kills in those situations. Video here.

• IMA Popkey

  

  “Hybrid” surface lures as I call them that both walk the dog and spit/pop water are often the surface lures that kill the most for bass, and this long-casting IMA Popkey is one I am really looking forward to using more and more. If we take the Xorus Patchinko as being one of the ultimate long-casting hybrids out there, then this IMA Popkey is a slightly “subtler” version that does not land so heavily. It’s also really easy to work for long periods. Check out a video of the lure’s action right here. A really versatile surface lure that does a whole lot more than you might think at first glance.

• IMA Salt Skimmer

  

  I do not know of another surface lure of this size or weight that casts like this thing. This diminutive looking IMA Salt Skimmer is an arrow in disguise, but most importantly bass just love it – the most ferocious bass hit I have ever had off the top came on this lure. It is only 110mm long and weighs a mere 14g, but believe me it just flies on the right kind of rod. The Salt Skimmer is incredibly easy to walk back and forth across the surface, and I like the slim, subtle profile that lands nice and softly as well. Not only does it “walk” or zig-zag across the top in a way that the bass obviously like, but it sometimes almost “boils” while doing it. One of my go-to surface lures now. Video here.

• IMA Sasuke 120 and 120S

  

  I have no figures to prove it, but the 120 version of the Sasuke I reckon casts the longest of all of them, and particularly the 120S (sinking) version. And they also bite into almost any sea with such ease. I love these Sasuke lures because they are so easy to fish with and they catch me plenty of bass. The first time I ever used the Sasuke 120 it caught me a good bass in the most horrendous conditions. An easy lure to get nice and shallow if needs be, and that action just does it big time.

• IMA Sasuke 140

  

  I liked the look of this lure the moment I saw it, and it kills for bass fishing. It works really well if you simply crank it in at a medium to fast pace, and the lure tends to run with a really seductive, tight “wiggle” action at a kind of medium shallow depth. You can easily make it swim shallower if you need to, just hold the rod tip up as you retrieve. Responds very well to a very animated twitch/pause retrieve style as well. On about my third ever cast with this lure I hooked a steam train of a bass that proceeded to throw the hooks as it dived hard. The IMA Sasuke casts really, really well, especially into and across the wind.There are loads of colours available, but the one you can see in the photo here reminds me of a pollack, and bass love to feed on small pollack. Video here.

• IMA Sasuke 140S (sinking)

  

  This sinking version of the already-killer IMA Sasuke 140 is everything I had hoped it might be. If I have a sniff of being out and about in heavy conditions then this one is in the box for sure. Talk about biting in hard when it gets lumpy, indeed I can’t get the seas I fish to spit this thing out, and if the lure is working away all the time then I feel that I am in with a decent shout at some fish. You can really punch this IMA Sasuke 140S (sinking, 140mm, 20g) into a headwind and still cover stacks of ground, to the point that I am fast coming to the conclusion that this is one of the best casting hard lures out there.Video here.

• IMA Sasuke SF-95

  

  I guess that I just dig the IMA Sasuke kind of action, and of course this is because they have caught bass for me from the off. So you can imagine that I was a little excited to find out that this smaller IMA Sasuke SF95 (95mm, 8g, floating) was described on the IMA website as being a very shallow runner. Me and my shallow divers, so I got hold of this lure and again caught on it almost instantly over some very shallow rough ground in less than ideal conditions. Decent fish as well, and still I can’t get over how well these small hard lures can cast if you aren’t trying to force it into a big headwind. I can get this IMA Sasuke SF95 up really shallow if I need to.

• IMA/DUO Nabarone 125F

  

  Just a very good floating minnow that has a good action and catches fish. I actually lost the largest bass that has ever hit me when I was using the red belly version (code NB009) of the IMA/DUO Nabarone 125F (125mm, 16g) – my braid was taken across sharp rocks and broke. So many of these modern Japanese lures cast like bullets and this one is no exception. I very much like the actions on minnows such as this one because they catch me fish. Nice and simple, works great with a straight retrieve – what more could one want from a minnow ? Video here.

• IMA/DUO Nabarone 125S (sinking)

  

  The sinking version of the IMA/DUO Nabarone 125 might only weigh a mere 1.5g more than the floating model, but for some reason it just flies out there a whole lot better if that is possible. This IMA/DUO Nabarone 125S (125mm, 17.5g) is now one of my go-to hard bass lures for tougher conditions, and although this might be rubbish, I do believe that I can get this sinking Nabarone to swim a little bit shallower than the floating one if needs be. Although it says on the IMA website that the Nabarone 125S swims from about 60cms down, I personally reckon that you can easily get it to swim shallower if needs be. How is that ? No idea, but these Nabarone lures work nicely. Video here.

• Jackson Athlete minnows

  

  The big range of Jackson Athlete minnows/jerkbaits have been around for years, and they have one hell of a reputation. But we are only just starting to see these bass killers now becoming available in the UK. What I really like is that Jackson make a range of different size floating and sinking minnows that cast like bullets and have fantastic rolling/wobbling actions that are typical of high class Japanese jerkbaits. The colours and finishes on these Athletes are simply sublime. Straight retrieve them, slash them hard from side to side, you name, they can take it. Another range of very good minnows are now in the UK.

• Lucky Craft Flash Minnow

  

  Hugely popular and hugely effective, this lure will never go away. Watch for the hooks, they are like needles !! Runs slightly deeper than the Maria Chase, with a fantastic, rolling action, and it casts incredibly well. Work a little bit slower than the Maria. A huge range of colours available. This is one of the original “modern” shallow divers.

• Lucky Craft G-Splash

  

  All time classic popper, works really well especially in choppier conditions. Very stable. Very good hooks on them as well.

• Lucky Craft Gun Fish

  

  A classic amongst bass freaks, I know some anglers who swear that this is the only surface lure you will ever need. Works really well when the conditions are that bit too choppy for the Lucky Crafty Sammy. The Gun Fish creates a stunning wake/spitting action when you “walk” it.

• Lucky Craft Sammy

  

  An all time favourite for many bass anglers, perfect for calm conditions. Still the biggest lure caught bass I have ever seen came on one of these, over in Jersey some years ago now. They cast like bullets and create the most stunning, wake-like action when you “walk” them across the surface.

• Lunker City Slug-Go

  

  A hugely effective soft plastic lure, worked just under the surface at a slow rate of retrieve. Make them dance by working your rod tip and reel handle. The first time I saw one of these lures worked properly I nearly passed out !! They look better than the real thing, and if you rig them correctly then they are virtually weedless and this means you can fish them though virtually anything. I still feel we have a lot to learn about lures like this here in the UK and Ireland for our bass fishing. They have caught some truly huge striped bass over in the US on the Slug-Go lures.

• Maria Angel Kiss

  

  A very good bass lure, but it dives slightly deeper than it says on the packet. Great action, casts really well. The Maria Chase BW is the shallowest swimming Maria lure I know of, but the Angel Kiss is a quality bit of kit that catches plenty of fish for lots of anglers.

• Maria Chase BW

  

  In various holographic colours, but especially the silver, this is one of the most effective bass lures of recent years. Runs nice and shallow. Work hard and fast, make it dart from side to side more via the rod tip as well. The SW models dives that bit deeper. The Maria Chase BW in holographic silver is always one of my “go to” bass lures, and I would feel naked going fishing without at least one in my lure box.

• MegaBass Do-Rum

  

  Not remotely cheap, but from the first time playing with one I just knew that the MegaBass Do-Rum was going to catch bass. The Do-Rum in any of the various sizes is no great casting lure, but it goes out fine if needs be. Get the rod tip up high, slow right down on the (straight) retrieve and you can make the Do-Rum literally wake very, very seductively literally in that fine line between surface and just below. My second cast with a Do-Rum I think it was and a bass jumped on it fishing it just like that. Put your rod tip in the regular position, don’t crank too fast and this lure will swim just beneath the surface as an ultra-shallow diver that slays fish.

• MegaBass FX9 saltwater version

  

  I almost wish that this little MegaBass FX9 (saltwater version, 90mm, 3/8oz) had not done so well for me on the bass, because now it is another on the growing list of my “can’t go bass fishing without it” lures. I am getting more and more into the smaller bass lures, and this little thing just flies out there. The FX9 swims fairly shallow, and you can very easily force it up even shallower via a higher rod and a slightly slower retrieve. The action is a very, very intense kind of wobble/rock from side to side to side that really lets the sides of the lure almost flash in the light, and it is interesting to note that the FX9 has done well for me in very bright and flat conditions. You need to bear in mind that the bib which moves up and down can be broken if you smash the FX9 hard into a rock like I did.

• MegaBass Giant Dog-X

  

  Once again, it’s the French guys who have really put me onto this outstanding surface lure. There are times when you might want to fish with surface lures, but you want the lure to have a quieter, more subtle action – the MegaBass Giant Dog-X is this lure, and the French bass anglers rave about it (and especially in the French Pearl colour, as close to white as possible, plus the orange you see here). The trick with the Giant Dog-X is to slow right down and fish this with a high degree of finesse – it will walk very subtly and literally criss cross in on itself if that makes sense, plus from time to time it will dart under the surface and then pop back up. Seeing bass smash into this thing is just out of this world.

• MegaBass X-120SW

  

  I am using more and more of the quite frankly outstanding MegaBass lures, and this thin, long casting “minnow” that is the X-120SW is going to live in my lure box for a long time I feel. Some people say you need to work these lures with your rid tip to achieve the maximum effect, but it did just fine for me when I cranked it a medium to fast pace. I think I had five bass in five chucks at one point with this lure. The MegaBass X-120SW has a really nice tight, wobbling/rolling action that obviously does it for the fish, and it swims about the same depth I reckon as a Lucky Craft Flash Minnow – nice and shallow, but not as shallow as say the Tackle House Feed Shallow. Depending on where you are fishing, this X-120SW is going to be a continual killer for our bass.

• MegaBass X-140SW

  

  The fact that a lure company goes and brings out a larger minnow than it’s already killer X-120SW must mean something. My feeling is that the new MegaBass X-140SW (140mm, 19.5g, floating) will prove to be a killer bass lure – it casts like a bullet, it looks stunning in the water, and my hunch is that it will work in all kinds of sea conditions due to its incredible stability. The action is a very intense, classic kind of minnow rolling wobble, and the X-140SW can really be worked hard as well – twitch, pause, etc., and the lure naturally floats slowly back to the surface when you leave it be. If bass don’t jump on this thing then I will be utterly gobsmacked.

• MegaBass XLayer

  

  A top of the range soft plastic lure that is starting to do serious damage on the bass for anglers who have switched onto this way of catching them. Again, we have lots to learn about these soft plastic lures for bass, but at the moment we are tending to twitch the MegaBass XLayer almost like a hard minnow type lure (say the Duo Tide Minnow etc.), to imitate a sandeel or other small baitfish. They also work if you gently "bounce" them on and off the bottom as you retrieve it, or simply let them trundle down in the current. A really good jig head to use for the XLayer is the 7g Decoy SV-67 Bachi Head (as in the photo) - note that the hook comes out of the lure on the narrow side, and not the flat side. Bass seriously kill these things. The XLayer can also be rigged weedless. The "AYU" colour on the XLayer does real damage on the bass.

• MegaBass Zonk Gataride 120mm

  

  A very long distance casting lure from the Japanese guys who are creating so many awesome lures these days. The Zonk Gataride can simply be cranked in at a medium pace, but it works far more effectively if you put some action into it via your rod tip. Then it really comes alive. Some Irish friends of mine are really starting to nail a lot of decent bass on this lure, but do watch out for that fairly fragile plastic lip – if it gets banged too hard on the rocks (wrong cast etc.), then it can break. You can get the lure to swim at a fairly shallow depth, so it’s perfect for the rough ground marks where a lot of the big bass like to hang out. Excellent when there is some wind about, for the Zonk Gataride really cuts through it well.

• Smith Haluca 125F

  

  There can’t be many 125mm (medium sized) minnows out there that cast as well as this Smith Haluca 125F (125mm, 13.9g, floating) – honestly, this thing just flies out. For a medium sized, fairly narrow profile minnow/jerkbait, it’s like a proverbial arrow. The action is a good rolling wobble that is so typical of lipped minnows, but it’s that casting ability that really made me sit up and take notice. You can get this thing to run really shallow with a high rod tip – it is stated at running from about 10-60cms. Smith lures have a great reputation for nailing bass and I can see no reason why this Haluca 125F won’t carry on in the same vein. I understand that there is a sinking version of this Haluca in Japan, and that is one lure I would very much like to see.

• Storm Shad

  

  One of the all time best and most effective soft plastic lures, these Storm Shads kill for pollack, coalfish, cod etc. Awesome off the shore and from the boat, I tend to use the smaller 4’’ and 5’’ for pollack fishing off the rocks, and then use the larger sizes for the bigger stuff on the boats. The Norwegians use the Giant Storm Jigging Shads for their monster cod and coalfish – these are huge lures that catch huge fish, and I know how well they work. My arms are still aching !! There are few predatory species that will not attack one of the Storm Shads – anglers I know love them for bass, and we have smashed giant trevally (GT) on them overseas. That quivering tail obviously does it for a lot of fish.

• Tackle House Feed Shallow

  

  Awesome slashing, side to side action if you crank it. Runs extremely shallow (perfect !!). Seems to work well when retrieved at a fast or medium pace, a hugely versatile and lethal bass lure. This one has caught lots of big bass for lots of anglers over the last year or so, indeed it is fast becoming a cult sub-surface, minnow-type lure. One thing I find strange though is that the treble hooks that come with the actual lure are plain awful, and they will straighten on a decent fish or a snag - take it from me, change them for better ones the moment you take it out of the packet. Daft I know to be replacing hooks on such a good lure, but that's the case at the moment. If the situation changes, I will let you know. The holographic white/silver Feed Shallow and the black back/silver holo one you can see here in the picture are particularly good colours for bass fishing.

• Tackle House Nabura Deka 30g vertical jig

  

  I never, ever go out lure fishing now without at least one of these little vertical jigs in my lure box. The French guys put me onto their use for bass and pollack off the shore (plus mackerel, garfish, wrasse etc.), and I have never looked back. Take the little treble hook off and rig this small vertical jig with Decoy size 1 assist hooks, exactly as you can see in the photo to the left (the assist hooks come as you see them, two rigged on to a small split ring). Make sure to clip the lure onto your line via the split ring that the two assist hooks attach to (so the hooks are at the top of the lure). Small vertical jigs like these cast insane distances, so they let you cover a lot of water – if you need them to, they will sink really fast and get you down to species like the pollack. But bass also love them. Use them over sandbanks, in fast currents, in rough seas to get you down, indeed I reckon the possibilities are endless. Don’t be afraid to really jig these lures – bring that rod tip up high and then let the lure flutter right down. Vary your speeds. Nearly all the time you are going to be get hit on the drop, so be ready. If there are pollack around, then these things are almost stupidly effective.

• Xorus Patchinko

  

  One of the new breed of ultra modern surface lures for bass, this thing casts like a bullet and fishes like a dream. Bass love them !! You have to use this to see how far you can cast a lure, seriously, and this extra distance and ability to cast very accurately allows you to cover more ground. A very powerful wake/spitting action when you walk it.

• Xorus Rolling Shad

  

  The Xorus Rolling Shad mounted on a Decoy Pentagram ½ oz 3/0 jig head. A soft plastic lure that is fast gaining a very good reputation for catching some big bass. There are various ways you can fish a soft plastic shad, but a very most consistent method when shore fishing tends to be to cast out and across the current and then retrieve it slowly with a “sink and draw” kind of action. Let the shad hit the bottom, pick up the slack, and then lift the rod tip up followed by letting it almost fall back down again – “sink and draw”. This enables the Rolling Shad to flutter head up as you lift the rod tip up, and then flutter back down (head first) to the bottom as you let it drop. This makes that tail vibrate enticingly. Reel a few turns and do it again and again. You would be surprised at how much ground you can cover with this lure, especially in a strong current when you can “sink and draw retrieve” very slowly because the lure is always working in the tide. Shads work best when tide makes their tails vibrate.

• Yo-Zuri Mag Popper

  

  One of the all time most popular and successful hybrid surface lures. It kind of walks and spits at the same time, much like the Lucky Craft Gun Fish and the Xorus Patchinko. Still excellent, but more modern lures cast further and therefore cover that bit more ground. This lure is going to carry on catching lots of good bass for lots of anglers for many years to come.