Here in the south west, and I suspect many other parts of the Country, the seasonal influx of sprat being hoarded onto the shoreline by mackerel shoals has also seen an increase in the numbers of bass inshore. Indeed, they have been slashing, hitting and at times completely engulfing both surface and subsurface lures with gusto.

Alongside this, the recent changeable weather, at least in comparison to the marvellous summer we’ve all experienced, has encouraged the bass be to less reticent in their daylight feeding activities- mainly due to the increased swell that serves to create those magical ‘white water breaking around the rocks’ sea conditions that they love to hunt in.

All of which is a timely reminder that autumn, and the associated onshore winds and rougher sea conditions are just around the corner - which is why I am currently dusting off my ‘long distance diving minnows’ and changing the hooks and split rings in preparation. But what characteristics or attributes do I look for in such a lure?

Long casting and very shallow diving - what more could you want from a floating/suspending hard diving minnow? (this is the Daiwa Shoreline Shiner Z120F SSR or Super Shallow Runner).

Attributes

A floating, diving, hard minnow is the ‘classic’ bass anglers’ lure and one that catches a lot of bass for numerous reasons. Their slanted faces, lip or vane, especially on the medium-deeper diving (2-8ft) models provide that all important stability in turbulent seas, in addition to allowing them to be retrieved within a predetermined depth, zone or ribbon of water.

Secondly, the wobbling, quivering, shimmering action that is attainable on nothing more than a straight retrieve, alongside the buoyant qualities of the floating patterns, means that they can be allowed to swim, drift and ascend over any hard permanent structure. Furthermore, the suspending versions afford the angler the opportunity to allow the minnow to ‘hang’ in the ‘hot zone’ so to speak, with both methods of retrieve being easier to accomplish with a rod, reel and braid combination offering that all important ‘feel’ for what is going on at the business end.

Providing these lures aren’t just ‘cranked’ through the eddies and backwash created by water that is continually moving and breaking around the rocks they can, with attention, be made to look exceptionally realistic. Finally, the clever part - the vast majority of modern floating or suspending hard diving minnows possess weight transfer systems (ball bearings that relocate to the tail section of the lure when being cast) that enable them to achieve impressive distances of up to 60-70m.

In regards to the size and weight of the lure, many of the smaller (90-97mm) and lighter models (10-14g) of the same pattern can in fact ‘out cast’ their larger stable mates due to having less wind resistance. Moreover, don’t assume that the 130-140mm and 25g+ versions will necessarily present guaranteed‘increased’ distance either.

A thing of beauty, and most definitely a ‘work of art’ - the superb Daiwa Shoreline Shiner Z120F Vertice.

Eventualities

Time and again, depending on the conditions, bass can be found right at your feet whether you’re fishing from a beach in shallow water or from rocks with deep water in front of you - so why do I always have half a dozen minnows that can be cast up to 70m stashed in my lure box? It all comes down to having a lure that will either do a very specific job for me in that it mimics a certain type of prey item (by virtue of its colour, movement etc.) or one that will cover a number of eventualities. Ultimately, I would rather have a selection of floating (plus one or two suspending) small to medium sized minnows that enable me to search out various sections of the water column, that will ‘dig into’ and won’t be ‘spat out’ of the swell and that, if required, can be whacked out towards a distant protruding pinnacle, surrounded by some wonderfully confused, aerated, fizzing section of water where bewildered small fish will be momentarily panicked and where the big bass lurk...

A beast of a bass that I would not have caught if I didn’t have a lure capable of being launched a long distance, into a head wind and that would swim in a stable manner in turbulent sea conditions.

The perfect example is last September, when I landed what is my largest lure caught bass to date (73cm). The wind was in my face, and the waves were pounding through yet, at a range of approximately 45m was a delightful eddy created by the water being forced through a gully before being deflected off a large pyramid of rock. I had the perfect lure for the job (a Daiwa Shoreline Shiner Z120F Vertice) and even though the first four casts fell just short of the desired zone, the fifth (and incidentally what was going to be my last) cast zipped out there beautifully and was subsequently seized upon immediately into the retrieve - it was the‘right tool for the job’ as they say...

Marc Cowling is a professional shore based bass lure fishing guide situated in south Devon.