Top lures so far this season have been the Megabass x140, Ima komomo 2 , Feedshallow and the Maria Chase patterns.
These lures are consistent bass catchers and although designed for subsurface use, some of them can also take bass on a very very slow retrieve where the lure just meanders along the surface, a method that is often called waking. This technique can be very good in low light and calm conditions. I've even caught bass of over 7lb on a plug that was crawling along while lying on its side before.
Although they have taken fish ,soft plastics just haven't been catching as consistently for us so far. Looking at other catch reports around Cork we're not the only ones who have been finding plugs more reliable lures this season.
That could be all set to change though , and I will be expecting soft lures to really start making some decent returns on both numbers and size of fish. Infact judging from last season , I would be suprised if the biggest lure caught fish from Wednesday onwards were not to fall for one of the many rubbery creations available now.
The Megabass Xslayer was last seasons favourite but with people unhappy about the price of them it will be interesting to see which of the better value newcomers will become anglers favourites.
Its all a far cry from back in the day when the older bass angler in Wales would fashion "eels" from disused white electrical flex . "Clem" managed 7 bass one sunny afternoon fishing over some steep boulder strewn ground, the biggest over 6lb , and all falling for one of his homemade specials , now thats what I call re-cycling!
Interesting comments. I've really found hard plastics consistently outfished softs, and stopped using soft plastics altogether last year.
ReplyDeleteBut I noticed in previous years that fish are a bit more easily spooked early in the season with hard plugs. For example Zonks seem to have this effect, even though a month later the same plug is nailing them big style.
This season, with all the clear water we had early on, I also noticed a had a lot of fish following right to the side of my kayak but not taking. So I thought the time was right to go back to a soft plastic, but I wanted one that still put out plenty of vibration in the cloudy water. I tried a Savage Gear Sandeel, 42g, an absolute beast of a thing. And to my surprise it caught bass when I couldn't get a touch on plugs.
In a few weeks time, when our bass season really gets going, I'll be back to hard plastics only, but there will be a place for a certain few soft plastics now in my box.