I enjoyed a short evening session over low water recently that prompted me to ask myself a question? I started the session fishing a shallow boulder strewn shoreline bumping a megabass soft plastic lure through the shallow water. After half an hour searching  familair ground as the tide pushed in I had nothing to show for my efforts. As is often the case I followed my instinct and moved to some deeper water thinking that the bass were too wary to come in close as it was very calm and clear.

After scrambling a hundred yards over boulders I cast out the same lure and on the first retrieve had a fish hit the lure close in without hooking up. A couple more casts resulted in nothing. I changed over to a an IMA hard plastic lure and cast this out working it back briskly. After two or three casts I was jolted into focus as a fish hit the lure hard. After a short spirited tussle I released a bass of a couple of pounds.

A few more casts brought no response so again I changed lures. A black Fillish minnow was sent out and after two casts another bass of simular size. These were the only two fish caught but I ponder as to what difference the change of lure made. On some sessions I frequently change lures for various reasons. Depth of water, water clarity, suspended weed and matching what I think the bass are feeding on.

The question I asked myself is did changing the lure result in me  catching the second bass or would I have caught it anyway? There are so many variations that can make the difference in a each fishing trip and much of what I do is driven by instinct. The size, colour and design of lures undoubtedly makes a diffrence but how much and how many lures does an angler need? With limited time to experiment I only carry a small selection of lures that I have confidence in introducing the occasional new pattern when I am tempted at the tackle shop. I suspect that lures catch more anglers than fish. If you asked ten anglers their top ten lures you would undoubtedly get ten different lists?

It is always good when that first bass of the season hits the lure! I have not invested much time in lure fishing for bass so far this year as I have been focussing on other species. My first session after bass a couple of weeks ago was thwarted by dense weed that made fishing the shallow ground I enjoy fishing virtually impossible. The latest session saw clear water and a gentle wave hitting the shoreline. I love this visual fishing in very shallow boulder strewn water bringing a soft plastic through very shallow water. The bass will move in with water just covering their backs and when they hit the lure there is a flurry of spray as the fish fight hard on a tight line clearly visible as they struggle before being brought to the shoreline.