Bass Chaser Of The Month - Hugo Libosvar

Hugo libosvar

On a rainy, windy morning in mid-February, I found myself with my waders and my rod packed, ready for my first session of the year chasing a big winter bass on lures. Why was I going fishing you may ask? In truth, I have no idea. The conditions were bad, the tides were very small, no one I knew had landed a lure-caught bass in weeks. It may have been down to the fact that I hadn’t wet a line anywhere in ages, and I was just desperate to get out there and give it a crack. But nevertheless, there I was, cycling up to a summer spot that I knew well, ready to give it my best shot.

The spot I was going to was a large stretch mid-way up an estuary, which has pieces of man-made structure around it, resulting in areas of standing deeper water at any stage of the tide. I got in the water and started fishing on the ebb of the tide, aiming to fish areas of current as the water flowed out. My goals for this session were fairly simple: Despite the mild temperatures we had this winter, the bass were likely to be lethargic, so fishing slowly was the key to the game. In an attempt to match what I expected the bass to be feeding on, I tied on a 3.5” Z-Man EZ Shrimp in the ‘Sexy Penny’ colour, to give off a bit of bright colour in the cloudy water. I rigged this with a simple Texas hook with a weighted jig head, so I could fish through the standing weed without getting snagged. I then proceeded to cast the shrimp into the running current, hopping it back along the estuary mud, creating a bit of disturbance in the sediment with hopes of enticing some fish.

With the tide now in full ebb, I followed the running water down the mark, progressively fishing the shrimp into current ripples as they began to appear. After around half an hour, I reached my first piece of standing structure: a small cement jetty perpendicular to the bank, stretching out into the current as it ran past. Due to the fact the tide was small, the current was not running very hard, making bait presentation fairly easy. Walking out along the jetty, I cast my shrimp beyond the small current ripples, before hopping the bait back through the current. On the fourth hop, I lifted into what initially felt like a heavy mat of weed, until it gave several enormous headshakes and the drag on my Shimano Vanford screamed into life.

With a big (and extremely exhilarating) first run, the fish peeled off a quick 20 metres of line straight up-current, keeping to the bottom and fighting me every step of the way. After a heart-pounding 5 minutes, including a hectic scrap among the weeds and a few big lunging runs, I jumped into the water and my first bass of the season slipped over the net cord.

Measuring 60cm on the nose and weighing 4lb 14oz, it’s safe to say that I couldn’t have been any happier with the way the session had turned out. After some measurements and a few quick pictures, I had the privilege of returning her to the water and watching her cruise away, but not before she gave me a piece of her mind with a hard nip on the thumb and a few spikes in the hand to boot. While lure fishing for bass during winter is not for the faint of heart, those that are willing to put in the time and do the research will find that bass can be tempted out on lures even during the coldest periods of the year. Tight lines!