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Fishing Tackle
Bass fishing – Part 3 : Bass fishing with soft plastics
23 April 2009
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Note that the fisherman is fishing his soft plastic lure right on the edge of a big tide rip. Bass love to hang around structure and tide, and very often you will find them right on the edge of the tide, just out of the fastest flow. Also note the high rod position – the angler is basically bouncing/jigging the soft plastic up and down off the bottom, back towards him, making it flutter up and down. Very easy and very effective.
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This is a channel that runs out of a huge tidal lagoon, and the bass have to come in here on their way to feed, and they also have to swim back out with the ebbing tide. A lot of fishermen have no idea that the best tide state to fish for these magnificent fish is often when the tide is ebbing (going out).
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A classic time of day for bass fishing with lures, just before the sun goes down. Casting at long range with soft plastic lures allows you to cover a lot of ground on the retrieve, and this (theoretically) is going to put you over more fish. But when do fish play by the rules ?
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This angler is playing a big bass that he hooked right along the edge of the weed you can see in the background. Always look around for tide, structure and cover that a predator like the bass can use to their advantage when hunting for food. Think like a bass at all times !! Note that it is first light as well – plenty of bass were moving around very close to us.
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The absolute joy that a big bass brings. Two anglers as happy as can be with the capture of a stunning 11lb bass on a soft plastic lure, well before first light. Never worry about whether bass are able to hit lures in the dark – they love it.
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The face of a pure predator, bathed in the glow of another glorious fishing morning. In my mind, the bass is about as perfect as it gets.
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Keep the pressure on a hooked fish at all times. Almost the most important thing to our mobile style of shore based bass fishing is a good pair of breathable chest waders, especially when the water is really cold in early winter. Get the weather right and it can be an excellent time for fishing soft plastics tight to the bottom.
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Using very fast action, modern style bass plugging rods really helps us put the proper action into our lures, and just about the single best range of bass fishing rods I have ever come across are these striking red Tenryu ones. We use mainly the Tenyru Red Dragon Express, the Rod Bar 270 and also the Rod Bar 240. You can really play fish hard on them as well.
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Does it get any better than this ? A 9.5lb bass in fantastic condition, held for a few photos and then gently released unharmed. This fisherman never stopped smiling all day, and who wouldn’t ??!!
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It is vital to use braid line for fishing with soft plastics, for you need that very direct contact with the lure at all times. It is often worth letting the lure bounce back in the tide, and you control the line by opening the bale-arm on the reel and using your forefinger to keep it all tight. Wait for the hit from a fish !!
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The soft plastic that is working the best for us at the moment, the 4.5’’ (inch) MegaBass XLayer, fished on a jig head of about 15-20g. These more muted colours are doing really well. A good tip is to use a drop of superglue at the head of the lure to secure it really well to the base of the jig head. These things look irresistible when you flutter them up and down off the bottom, and bass can not resist them.