No, I’m not going completely crazy, even though this bloody awful weather is becoming tiresome to say the least - especially as I strongly suspect there are still bass to be caught on lures. In fact it was the capture of a very nice (near 7lb) bass in extremely shallow water just over a week ago, on a hard surface lure fished in a subtle manner that has got me seriously been thinking about surface lures that are less conspicuous - soft surface lures!

Short windows

Due to my local coast being both dangerous and essentially unfishable (due to the mud-like clarity and floating weed fragments) with lures for the past months or so, within those very short windows of opportunity I have been concentrating my efforts within many of the estuaries and tidal lagoons scattered around the south Devon coastline. Within these beautiful and natural surroundings the water is shallow and more often than not, calm to slightly choppy because of the increased shelter from the land - the result of has generally dictated the use of a either of weedless soft plastic such as the OSP Do Live Stick and subtle top water lures such as the Savage Gear Pop Walker and Whiplash Factory Spittin Wire.

Method to my madness

After pouring over my notes, something that has become apparent is that when the water has been flat calm and clear (clarity of over 1.5m) the weedless soft plastic lures either worked quickly after resting on the seabed or gently twitched and allowed to drift through the water column and in the flow of the current have been responsible for the majority of bass catches.

Whereas, if there has been a cloudiness to the water (primarily due to flood/rain water) then the small 80-95mm surface lures fished slowly and almost lazily, so to cause a ‘wake’ more than anything across an oily calm surface or across the chop but always with the flow of the current , has been the successful method.So what I am wondering is can I combine the two methods in some way: by using either a naturally sinking weedless, weightless soft plastic fished on or very close to the surface or indeed, utilise one of the very few floating weedless soft plastics that are out there?

The Lunker City Slug Go can be absolutely deadly when fished on the surface of the water!

Why not?

Firstly, let’s look at the first option. A senko, soft stickbait or twitch bait type lure fished weedless and weightless such as a Fish Arrow Flash J Split, OSP Do Live Stick, Lunker City Slug Go, Doomsday Laggin Dragon or RAIS Spotter can easily be ‘kept’ on the surface providing you retrieve it quickly enough. The lure descending enticingly (should you pause the retrieve) can also be added into the equation in this scenario, which could of course, work a treat. Outside of these moments however, the lure will be moving across the surface quite quickly - which sort of defeats the object when the water temperature decreases and when the bass may well become increasingly reluctant to ‘chase’ down their prey.

The OSP Do Live Stick and similar lures can look very enticing when skipped across the surface, followed by allowing it to sink very naturally through the water column.

The second option, and the one that has been stewing away in my mind, is the use of lures such as the Z-Man Pop Shadz and one that I am more familiar with - the Savage Gear TPE Mudd Minnow.Both of these lures are weightless and weedless (the Z-Man requires a separate weedless hook to be inserted such as a 5/0 Owner Weedless Twistlock, whereas the Mudd Minnow is rigged for you), cast reasonably well and are very easy to ‘work’ with an appropriate lure fishing set up and the same overall motion as if you were retrieving a regular hard surface lure in a walk-the-dog fashion. The caveat being that the Pop Shadz does require a little more finesse and a more jerk-pause-jerk retrieve, otherwise it has a tendency to ‘burrow’ under the surface, yet the TPE Mudd Minnow has a wonderful zigzagging and sliding action.

A lure that I think has serious potential when utilised in the ‘right’ scenario - the Savage Gear TPE Mudd Minnow.

What could transpire to be significant however is that both of these lures are what I would describe as ‘subtle’ on the surface (good in calm shallow water), in addition to having the ability to be utilised where weed (especially the bladder-wrack commonly found in estuaries) is breaking the surface and where bass are very likely to be situated. Note that, thus far, I have only used these particular lures very occasionally and have never caught a bass on either of them - these are unchartered waters for me, but why not give them a go?

Hoping!

The current long range forecasting models are currently suggesting that high pressure may well build over the UK over the Xmas period and possibly last into the start of January – I’m sure most bass lure anglers are hoping this forecast is accurate! All of which, alongside the sea temperature remaining quite warm (well over 11c in my local area) has got me champing at the bit to get out there in an attempt to extend this season well into 2019.

Marc Cowling is a successful bass lure fishing guide based in South Devon.