Tuesday, 29 January 2013

My top 5 bass lures of 2012

The weather in North Wales has been awful recently with 30-50mph winds, heavy rain and freezing temperatures. Add to that the fact I've just started a 50 hour a week job and it's easy to see why I've not done much fishing.

So to keep the blog posts going I thought I'd post a list of my top 5 favourite bass lures. I'd love to see some comments added with your favourite lures too.

Bass

When it comes to bass, I have always been a little bit of a lure tart and own more lures than I could ever possibly use. There are a few though that I would never leave the house without. Here they are!

1) IMA Komomo II (Asanago and Joker flashing plate)
IMA Komomo Joker FP

 

IMA Komomo Asanago FP
These shallow running lures have done the business for me since I've started using them last year. During daylight hours, the asanago FP is second to none but the Joker FP comes into its own after dark. There best use for me has been over shallow reefy and bouldery ground where its irrisitable action proves deadly for bass of all sizes.



2) Daiwa Shore Line Shiner R50+ SSR F (Anchovy)


Daiwa SLS (Anchovy)
DSLS caught bass of 5lb+
Probably my favourite and most productive hard lure in my box at the moment. In the Menai Straits where I fish regularly, this lure just slays fish, my three best fish last year all falling to this fantastic lure (all of which were over 5lb). Just as with the Komomo II's, the DSLS is a shallow running lure, diving to around 1ft in depth but I have also had some good results fishing this lure over clear, deep water.




3. IMA Salt Skimmer 110 F

I've done my fair share of surface lure fishing over the last year and without doubt the Salt Skimmer has been my favourite topwater hard lure. Not only is it well priced in comparison to the other leading surface lures, but it is also one of the easiest to work, especially when fishing in wind. It's brilliant walk the dog-action and subtle profile has risen fish in even the toughest conditions for me and for that reason it is permanently placed in my box. I haven't really got a colour preference for this lure, as each of the three I have are all just as productive as each other.







4) Savage Gear Sandeel (All colours and sizes)

Ask most anglers what their favourite soft plastic lure is for bass and I guarantee the majority of them will say the SG Eel, myself included. Ranging in size from 12.5 to 20cm and weighing between 23-150g they are absolutely brilliant off deep water shore marks or from a boat, but can be just as deadly fished just under the surface with a fast retrieve on shallow marks. The SG eels are definitely one of my go to lures when fishing new areas and another lure I'd never leave the house without. My particular favourite size and colours are the blue version in 12.5 and 16cm variety.






5) Megabass Zonk Gataride 120 (Katakuchi)


Zonk caught bass of 4lb+
I've had my very shallow divers, my surface lure and my SP, so here is my all-time favourite mid depth lure. Diving to around 3-4ft, the Zonk is always my lure of choice when fishing in depths of 6-12ft. Off the rocks of Anglesey is where I've had most of my success on this lure, in particular with the Katakuchi colour. I think I'm now on my third one due to fish completely destroying my previous two lol. To date this lure has also been my younger brothers favourite and the exact lure he lost a monster on a few years back, which we had estimated to be pushing double figures, ouch :s No doubt this lure will continue to give me plenty of action for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for taking the time to look,
Tight Lines,
Ross






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14 comments:

  1. Mayfly29 January 2013 at 05:07

    I like the look of the Komomo Asanago FP..and might just invest,,, I used to use the savage lure but found that they were a bit heavy for the shallow ground that i fish, so I have dropped down to paddletail hollow swimbaits (any good make that is black and white approx 75-90mm) with a 7-10 gram weighted head, had fab sport with these in the shallows last season ....tight lines, Johnwhen my mates on either side were blanking!!

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    1. Unknown29 January 2013 at 05:21

      If you can get hold of one, it's a must buy John, brilliant lure. Thanks for your input :)

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  2. Anonymous30 January 2013 at 08:16

    Hi Ross,

    I mostly fish on a sandy estuary in relatively shallow water say 4 ft deep. I've yet to try the SG Eel but I'm sure they will work well. How do you fish them?.. presumably bumping them along the bottom as I see they come with a weighted head. How do you fish them under the surface which you mentioned as I presume they'll sink pretty fast?

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    1. Unknown30 January 2013 at 09:01

      Thanks for your comment :)
      In an estuary, presuming the bottom is clean, a simple sink and draw method bumping bottom would probably be the best way to work the SG Eel. Due to the weighted head, this part of the lure will bury into the sand/mud when left to drop, leaving the tail section sticking out, when jigged the head will then come up out of the sand/mud causing a small puff of sediment to shoot up with the lure...very similar to the habitual movements of real sand eels.
      To work the SG Eel just below the surface, keep your rod tip as high as possible and reel in reasonably quickly with a straight retrieve. Experiment with it to work out how fast you need to reel to keep the lure up in the water :) Hope that's helped a little. Tight Lines!

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    2. Unknown30 January 2013 at 10:04

      Hi Ross

      I caught my best lure caught Bass 8lbs 6ozs on a Storm Jointed Thunderstick Black & Silver. I watched as 2 large Bass followed it and both tried to take it. So I guess I have always been biased towards jointed plugs and they do have a very enticing wobble on the retrieve. I will howver be trying some of the ones you suggest as they sound like they are very effective. I am up in yor area fishing this weekend (weather permitting) as my aunt lives at Llithfaen which is very handy for the Lleyn. Reading your Blog reports is very interesting they really are excellent, keep up the good work. Regards and tight linrs, Steve

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    3. Unknown30 January 2013 at 10:58

      Thanks for the kind words Steve. Agree with you on the thunderstick, cracking lures, probably the best jointed lure for bass on the market and very affordable as well :) I would have offered to show you a few marks if you did end up heading this way, but I'll be in work 8-6 both days :( Good luck if you get out though, Tight Lines!

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    4. Anonymous30 January 2013 at 14:57

      Thanks for your advice on the SG Eel which is very helpful. I'm still learning the ropes with soft plastics but keen to explore the different techniques. The black fiish minnow sounds very interesting. Have you tried them? If so, would you recommend the same method for a clean sandy bottom on the estuary? As I've been using mainly hard lures, my old favourite is the Megabass X120 as it's a great Sandeel imitator. Cheers Phil

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    5. Unknown31 January 2013 at 11:55

      Ye, the fiiish black minnows are also brilliant lures and working them in a similar fashion will be just as effective. I've had a lot more fish on the SG Eels but that is down to nothing more than the fact I use them more. You won't be disappointed with either!

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    6. Unknown10 August 2020 at 14:06

      J11 an j13 are very good jointed lures got bass too I’ve accounted for many school bass from my local estuary and my biggest of 7lb 4oz off a surf beach in Great Yarmouth my favourite jointed lure there idiot proof cast in and retrieve with a simple bump and pause every now and again

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  3. David31 January 2013 at 06:55

    Some sound choices there Ross.

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    1. Unknown31 January 2013 at 11:50

      Cheers David :)

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    2. Squiff18 April 2017 at 03:09

      Hi ross how are you getting on with the tope this year. Hope the hunt is still on and how meany have you had simon from a mark you fished last year.

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  4. Rajputseo1 July 2018 at 06:15

    nice bLog! its interesting. thank you for sharing....
    fishing tackle 

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  5. Unknown23 December 2018 at 22:47

    I have bought a Zonk recently and had 8 sea bass bites in one fishing. Four of them landed. Great lure for our very picky bass in Tenerife. I have ordered more plugs from Ichiban Tackle.
    Really enjoying fishing with it !

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