Rapala sea fishing lure

Best sea fishing lures

I was recently asked this question via email, regarding the best spinners / lures for sea fishing.

Hi I’m a complete amateur when it comes to spinning . Was just wandering which are the best all round spinners and lures to to use on the south coast.

Well the answer is not so straight forward, I need to know a few more options first, like.

• Do you mean in the UK?
• Boat fishing or Shore fishing
• Any species in mind
• Have you got a budget for your lures?
• What tackle and rods have you got already?

Anyway, I will try and answer your question -

1. If you are looking to get the fastest results and are new to sea fishing in general I would recommend using mackerel lures on a light beach caster from a local pier / deep water mark. You will find Mackerel one of the easiest species to target. It will produce good sport and hours of fun and is a great way to progress your casting technique.
2. From a boat, it depends if you are looking at wrecking – jelly/hook tail worms work well. Bassing – trolling rapala and casting a dexters wedge can provide good results
3. Different species are attracted to different lures to get best results. But always fish a larger lure than you might think.
4. If you have got spinning tackle then have a look at this article – Saltwater lure fishing. You should find most information you need there.

But, I must say, budget no problem and for the best quality, most successful salt water lure in my opinion, I would go for the Rapala range of lures. They are strong, swim well, and take a good beating. Just change the hooks regularly and tie them on well using a recommended technique.

I hope that helps. Anymore questions please reply by email or commenting on this post!

Image from: andycoan

Methods and species for lure fishing

There are lots of methods which entail the use of lures for UK sea fishing, which include; trolling, shore spinning, perking, wrecking, saltwater fly fishing and jigging. The species range that you can catch on lures is huge and includes; Bass, Mackerel, Gar fish, Pollock, Mullet, Wrasse, Cod, Ling, Bream and Flatties.

Lure fishing generally makes the contact between angler and fish very precise and much more sporting. Matching your tackle to your chosen species and the conditions is very important, you should not be in a position where you can easily overhaul the species, however this is more important to shore lure fishing. When you are wrecking / deep sea lure fishing you often need tackle that is full of power to prevent the fish hitting the wreck and making their escape.

Balanced lure fishing tackle

Tackle that is well balanced will allow you to have great contact with the sea bed / fish your are targeting, Feeling how your lure is working and where it is working is a very important factor in this type of fishing, it allows you to fish the mark hard and effectively, seeking out those predators hidden in gullies and amongst the weed.

Here are a few articles from the fishing blog that you may find interesting,

• Leads and lures
• Spinning / lure fishing tackle
• Rapala plugs – possible the best lures.
• Balanced tackle – carp rods.
• Bass lures
• Reading the shore line – improve your catch rate.
• Trolling for Bass
• Wreck fishing – hints, tips and how to’s for wreck fishing.

If you have some tips please comment on this post or contact us here and share your tips and ideas for UK lure fishing.

Fridays, over the next few weeks would be best for me. Come on lets get at least 5 yaks out there. The pollock and Wrasse fishing is great!!! and sea fishing beginners are very welcome!

I must say in this daft age of litigation – the sea fishing blog, its users or contributors will not be held liabable should any accident or injury occur and all participants join in and take part at thier own risk. This is not an orgaisned event, just a meeting of like minded people and by taking part in this trip you are happy to sign an agreement as stated above.

Further to the above – If you are interested in increasing your kayak safety knowledge and learning how to sea kayak with a degree of proficiency then please contact the fishing blog here as I am looking to organise some deals with local instructors.

It was great to get your question regarding how I attach my sinkers. The answer depends upon the type of fishing I am doing.

Lures for Wreck fishing.

I generally use either a French boom, which is a wire triangle with the arm of the boom coming of the side of the triangle and a twist in the wire along the long side.. The main line has the sinker already attached via a rotten bottom to prevent loosing gear on the wreck or reef. The leader attaches to the end of the boom, generally I add a swivel to prevent line twist. To attach the boom you just loop the line around the triangle either side of the boom. The advantage with this method is you can pre-tie a whole set ready for a session! Here is an image of a french boom

The other method I use for wrecking is a home made boom. I get 20 inches of carp tube, thread a swivel with a lead link on and gently heat the swivel until the plastic becomes pliable. At this point a create a 90 degree bend in the boom, about 4 inches from one end and allow it to cool. To use this system you need to thread your main line into the boom, one bead and a swivel. Your leader then attaches to the swivel.

Lure fishing from the shore.

I generally do not add lead to any of the solid lures like Rapala’s. It tends to hamper their swimming action, unless the weight is along way from the lure. Its possible to use this for trolling but you can buy lures designed for diving so why bother?

When I am using rubber / silicon lures I will use a ball lead, barrel lead or my first choice would be the barrel leads with a twist of wire at each end and the line wraps around the lead (I have totally forgotten the name of this fishing weight) as these can be changed easily (but not remembered!). Why leads are also a good choice as they prevent line twist. To use these leads I will generally attach the to the main line, then a bead and a swivel. Your leader attaches to the swivel.

Lure fishing tip

Try to fish with as long a leader as possible. The more tide, murk and general movement so the shorter your leader can be. Also use clear leader for clear water.

Tight lines

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July sea angling shore species include,

Bass
Ray
Bream
Tope
Smoothounds
Dogfish
Bull Huss
Pouting
Flounder
Mackerel
Eels
Garfish
Mullet
Gurnard
Wrasse
Pollock
Turbot
Dab
Conger

Boat species, includes most of the above.

Ling
Coal Fish
Cod
Blue Shark
Turbot
Brill
John Dory
Gurnard
Haddock
Angler Fish

I was having a look on the web today for ideas for creating lure blanks when I found this on ebay – LOT OF 6 NEW 7″ JOINTED LURE BLANKS. I cannot find anything similar for the UK and was interested to know if any of you produce lure blanks, have bought them from UK or US suppliers and if so how well they worked.

A Beach full of food

Recently I was writing about reconnaissance, ie checking marks out and looking for tell tale signs of where fish might be from reading the shoreline. Today I went to a local surf beach for a session on my surf board only to discover exactly what I had been talking about. I decided not to go surfing (it was messy anyway) but to capture some images to show you some good Indicators for good Beach casting, Spinning and Kayak fishing, with regard to targeting primarily the Bass.

On arriving at the beach I could see loads of decaying weed piled up, in fact to be truthful I could smell the weed before I could see it!! I had my trusty camera phone and I started rummaging through the bio mass. The weed had started to rot and was a sticky, smelly mess. I had lots of onlookers as I did a David Bellamy searching for critters.

Fish food everywhere

The first thing of note I found was a starfish. Now I do not know if many UK fish eat star fish or even scavenge on starfish but it was proof that this mass of weed held secrets and things of interest. Any dead beasts were being held in the weed, this could just of easily been a small pouting or sand eel. The fact here is not that starfish were in the weed but carrion was certainly on the menu.

I was hunting for the seaweed fly larva that I had mentioned before, but alas there were none. There were plenty of adult flies but for some reason no larva. I will have to research this and see if there was a logical reason why.

Food on the shore

Turning over large clumps of the seaweed produced a little beast that I know as “Sand Hoppers” (Talitrus saltator). These wee beasts live on rotting vegetation and they use powerful muscles in their abdomen to hop. These creatures spend much of their lives buried in the sand and are generally nocturnal, but the can be found under the weed in the moist, dark environment this creates. They can grow to about 2.5 cm in length.

As the surging tide engulfed the rotting weed you could see these beasts trying to escape, but many were being washed in. I could imagine the fish loving these protein packed snacks. They look like freshwater shrimp (Gammarus pulex) and there are a few fly patterns here that would suite the salt water fly fisherman.

Read the shore line

I carried on checking the beach for signs of life and ideas to prove to me that there were more tasty morsels here. I could see a lot of holes on the high tide mark, but digging them out by hand proved fruitless. I really tried hard to find you some seaweed flies, but still nothing, however another sign that the beach contained a sound food source was that of sea birds foot imprints. Now I know that we don’t go to the beach to catch Gulls and waders ( I have caught a few in my time by accident ), but its another part of the picture. The beach was littered with imprints of bird feet, meaning that either they roosted there over night or they were feeding heavily on a rich food source. By the way that I could follow imprints from one bunch of weed to another was a sure indicator that these birds were feeding, not resting. This was yet another sign that what was on the beach was well worth hanging around for and feeding on. Now I am sure that what the birds found tasty and worth hunting out; the local fish population would also agree. Just to confirm, this beach is not a dumping ground for “fish and Chips” or half eaten sandwiches so I am sure they were browsing on quality, organic, local marine produce.

Check the shoreline

I am sure you do this already, but when you go to the beach, look, smell and investigate to find out what it has to offer and what fish might be “looking for” to eat that evening. If there were Bass there you could be landing your rapala on there nose cast after cast, but if they are anything like trout, because they are feeding on thousands of sand hoppers they could not care less about your lure. Just a thought anyway!!!

Never give up. Just keep trying different different ideas, variations and baits. You never know your next idea could turn the tables.

Check the sea for food

You can clearly see here how the seaweed is being taken out washing the creatures and carrion from it. Beach casting in these conditions can be hard as you catch alot of weed, so you need to fish the edge. Fishing from your Kayak off the back, in the clear water just might produce fish. Cunning eh!

I would be delighted to hear you opinion on this post.

If you spend £10 on these lures they will send you £20 worth.

Have a look here for Salmo Lures

These Lures are ideal for plugging for Bass and Pollock!!

This fella is a great ebay seller and I would recommend him to anyone! Here is a link to his fishing rods.

Anyway the first kayak fishing rod is a SHIMANO solara 6 ft baitcasting rod,

• Model Number SLC-60M2

• 7 Aluminium oxide lined rings

• Durable Aeroglass construction rod blank

• Graphite reel seat

• Comfortable cork handles

• Convenient hook keeper ( Base of top handle )

• Trigger grip

• Line weight 6-15lb

• Lure weight 1/4 – 3/4oz

• Power Medium

• Fast Action

• Gold/brown blank

• Black whippings with gold accents

I will use this for bottom fishing and lure work.
And the other kayak fishng rod is a FIN-NOR 6 foot Graphite Spinning rod
High Grade Portuguese Cork Grips

• Made by FIN-NOR, a high quality and respected brand in America

• 7 fully lined rings

• All rings ( except tip ring ) have 2 legs on the same side

• so as to not hamper the action of the rod

• Suitable for either fixed spool reels or the smaller multiplier reels

• Casting weights Approx 1/8 oz to 3/8 oz

• Ideal lines for this rod are 6 – 12 lbs

• Two piece cork handle

• 2 piece design so easily hidden in your car!

• Medium action but with plenty of lower down strength for the bigger fish

I will use this for lure / plugging.
I have sat in the Kayak and had a dry run (how sad), both rods are very fine in construction, with low down grunt. I just cannot wait to catch a fish on them. 3 lb bass will be top sprt, let alone when I hook a big one.

EDIT – 17/08/07 – I have been using the bait casting rod regulary now and i am delighted with the way it handles fish and lures (it casts a dexter wedge really well), its a really great rod and I cannot recommend it enough.

Spinning is my favorite method of catching fish. You really need to hunt the species down, take time over where you are going to go fishing, look at what they are feeding on, use lures right for the conditions and get great sport when you hook a fish.

Selecting tackle for spinning depends upon what types of lure fishing you intend to do and the locations that you are going to fish for example spinning rod length depends on the following,

1. Rock ledges require a longer rod. 10 to 11 foot is ideal in my opinion as you can get the lure back from an over hang without getting to close to the water, especially if it is rough.
2. Longer rods are good for light ledgering. I often use a light carp rod to spin and ledger for Bass and Flounder.
3. Shorter rods are better if you have foliage over hanging you behind ie when you are plugging for Bass in estuaries.
4. Plugging from boats and kayaks is easier with a short 8-9 foot rod. You can bring your catch along side the boat far more easily and from a kayak you don’t have such a long butt section to get in your way.

The line you decide on is down to your own taste. I prefer braid as it has a very low diameter, hence less wind and tide effect on the line. There is very little give with braid so you keep in contact with the lure at all times. This does mean that you need to have the drag on your reel set correctly, a large Bass hitting you plug with a drag set hard will smash your line. You need to be mindful of that fact. Another draw back is you have less diameter to stand up to abrasions on rocks. Always regularly check your line during your session. Many people will use a fluro carbon leader of 8 – 20 foot to provide an invisible link between your main line and your lure.

Reels vary depending on the style of fishing you are doing. Most common in the uk is a small to medium size fixed spool reel. I use an Abu Garcia 304, which is a smaller fixed spool reel with rear drag. This reel will hold 210 yds of 10lb line, has instant anti reverse and a 5.5 to 1 ratio meaning that it reels in fairy quickly allowing for fast retrieves if required. I do not see the need for a bigger capacity than this. The only other type of reel I would consider would be one with a bait runner facility. This allows the spool to run free and the bale arm down and the drag set ready for when you engage the fish, good for Carp and Bassing. Bait casting multipliers are a great option if you are casting heavy lures. A multiplier requires an amount of force to get the spool turning and then to take line from it as it spins, avoiding birds nests. Most lures for UK fish are not heavy enough for this.

You need to keep mobile. Your tackle wants to be very accessable at all times. You need to carry it with you. Bum bags and other similar products are great for this. You cam get a cheap one from the market which will see many years service or you can buy the latest “fishing” one that could cost you £50. They both do the same job, the choice is yours. Waist coats are another good option and the same thing applies – 15 quid or 150 quid, you choose.

It may sound a bit over the top and I don’t want to sound like your mother but a consideration should be a floatation device. If you get it wrong and end up in the drink you will wish you were wearing one, especially if it is winter and there is a sea running!! There are loads of products on the market from traditional life jackets to floatation suites and jackets. I know it takes the fun away, but maybe just consider wearing one when the weather is inclement.

Often over looked is good foot ware. You are going to end up in pretty inaccessible places, slimy rocks, muddy gravel etc. Consider a strong shoe with good ankle support and one that can cope with salt water.

Lure fishing is the best Bass fishing method for me. Its active and great fun, good luck to you! Have fun selecting tackle for spinning.

Looking at the Rapala web site they write about the first Rapala ever made in the 1930’s, by a Finnish man who whittled a piece of cork down with a knife to imitate an injured minnow. He caught bags of fish on this lure, everyone wanted a piece of the action and today we have Rapala ! (Their story is better than my version)

Rapala still state “To this day, no other lure holds more world records.” And I am sure this is accurate. The design of the lure is to perform in the water like an injured fish. This action is why Rapals are so effective. The motion is supposed to trigger the fish into taking the lure as it perceives it through its many sense to be in distress, hence an easy meal. This makes perfect sense if you consider the survival of the fittest theory.

Rapala still hand tune their lures. You should be able to unpackage your lure and go fishing, with no need to adjust the front eye to trim the plug. However should you need to tweak your lure follows this guideline.

• Bend the front eye up to create a more aggressive swimming action or downwards to slow the action of the lure.
• If the lure tracks in one direction ie left, bend the eye slightly towards the left
• Do not ever adjust the front swimming vein and only bend the eye gently and use small adjustments only.

Rapala also have their own knot they suggest you should use, but I always use a small link swivel and have never had any problems. You can also quickly change damaged lures or change to a different style if you require.

There is now even a Rapal fishing game so when the weathers rough you can still fish!!

Storm say they get into the head of fish, meaning that they try and understand what makes fish react in the way they do to certain stimuli. With this knowledge in hand they then produce some serious lures to aid us all in our fishing.

The fishing fly, Devon, Mepps spinners and Redgill were the common standard for years and in their own way they pushed back barriers in design and technology for the fishing industry in their day, however now we have taken a huge leap forward in artificial baits and lure in my opinion.

Lures in the past looked the part, but smelt of old rubber or aging copper and other metals. In modern times lures pop, vibrate, glow and best of all they can attract by scent. This provides the whole package to the fish, every receptor is being fed with the right cues to create the attack response in the brain.

Storm produce a huge range of “Hard lures, Soft lures and Hybrid Lures” Some dive deep, other skit the surface. There is every colour you can dream of in every shape you would consider but the section that really caught my eye was the Storm Soft lures.

The first product – The intense Swim Shad – intense non fade colours, internal lead head, holographic flash foil, I-Bolt system holographic WildEye, life-like swimming action. What a product, it’s a design piece!

There are crabs, prawns, shrimp, fish, leech, craws. Just about anything that lives in water has been developed into what appears to be a high quality fishing lure. Have a look here Storm lures

The wind where I went at Poldhu was fresh off shore. I have bought a leash to attach myself to the yak as it travells quick in the wind and I do not want to become seperated from it.

I did about 2 hrs trolling, the tide was going out and it was very sunny and sadly I caught nothing. While i was trying to beach near Mullion, I caught a wave and started to surf in, until the last min when the boat went sideways, overturned and snapped my rod at the butt section!!!! Pictures to come.

A lesson learnt, I need a procetive tube, or a better method of holding rods in a “SAFE” position when launching and landing my RTM Disco in waves.

The flip side is its now got a great length butt section and its much easier to handle!!

I have great knowledge of marks in Devon, Cornwall, The Isle of Man and Dorset so that’s where I will start. However when it comes to the rest of the country, I am starting to struggle.

Ramsgate, Dover, Sea Brook, Fleetwood, The Tyne, Whitby, Lowestoft are all areas I hear of but know little about so I will have to research them unless you can write them for me and have a chance of winning the £40 on offer on the fishing-blog competition.

This feature will add a great new dimension to this fishing blog and I hope it will help some of its 100 200 300 daily users.

I also plan on adding more video venue guides like this one at Loe Bar in Cornwall

The future

The focus of the blog is also turning more and more towards Sea angling and its many facets, so I feel that some of the coarse fishing and carp fishing articles will take a back seat for a while.

Kayak fishing is taking off in the UK and our users of the site seem to indulge many hours in the kayak fishing section here on the Fishing blog, so there will be a focus on bringing more information forward regarding this method of sea angling.

I have written here about the reasons for trying Kayak fishing

Thank you for your support

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