“I think we’ll catch today mate”, was my proclamation as my 2nd Guide Joe and I shook hands besides one of our many roadside meeting points, so that he could jump in with for the final 10 minutes of the journey. It’s better to knacker one car rather than both…!
Following a couple licks across the face from Bertie, the next 10 minutes would involve a bone-rattling ride through some of the South Hams’ narrowest lanes, before we arrived in an area that saw us catch a number of quality winter bass in 2024 and 2025.
Tides and Tactics
With a massive spring tide to contend with on what was a rare sunny morning amongst the utter tripe we’ve experienced since 2026 rolled in, I was pleasantly surprised to see some very decent clarity to the water. It was better than I’d anticipated as it happened, more so due to the strength of the current rather than the amount of rainfall and the subsequent run off you may be surprised to read.
Our tactics for this 5 hour session would involve casting and moving for the first couple of hours – effectively searching out the weedy margins for bass that just love to sit and position themselves until the very last moment – when the depth to the water is about to uncover their backs and reveal that evil dorsal fin…
Did it bother us that it was February? No, not at all. As I said in my previous post (here) – if the bass are there, then you’ve got to head out with the confidence that you’re going to hook one. In addition to this, what assists greatly with this mindset is having what is a ‘not so secret’ weapon attached to the end of the line…..
Creature of Habit
When everything is through the floor – the bass numbers, their prey prevalence, and the sea temperature to name a few of the vital components to a bass lure fishing session, the Megabass Sleeper Craw is a lure that WILL put a bass on the deck when everything else in your lure box has failed – be it because it isn’t suitable, not what they want, or has simply let you down in some way.
Yes, my ‘sighted-fished’ bass from January 2023 above did take an alternative to the Megabass Sleeper Craw (most probably because they weren’t for sale until March 2023) rigged onto a standard Size 1 weedless hook with a Cheb Weight dangling from it.
However, although I have a dozens of different types of creature baits stashed away from various companies, until there is a reliable way to avoid using all manner of ‘finery’ to keep the damn things from pulling around the hook every time the lure comes into contact with the bladderwrack, I will stick to what has and continues to catch me, and our South Devon Bass Guide clients, a lot of bass.
Weed guards, worm stoppers, and cheb weights mighty look sexy, but they just aren’t for me because I feel that I will be reducing my chances of fooling a bass having all of that attached, and that is not how I’m ‘wired’ I’m afraid. Give them a reason to not take a lure and they won’t is my mantra, based on 300+ days a year out fishing or guiding for these wonderful fish.
Yes, I am creature of habit, but why would I want to use anything else but the superb all-round package that is the Megabass Sleeper Craw when the odds are stacked against me by virtue of hunting for what is a wily foe? The last thing I want to do is bump a clump of weed, and then be wondering if the lure is sitting correctly on the hook for the rest of the retrieve.
Moreover, keeping a lure in the water and fishing effectively is even more important when, as I’ve said, the bass are less widespread in the depths of winter, rather than in your freezing hands continually as you push it back around the shaft after every retrieve.
Slack Liner
So, Joe and I worked some seriously tasty ground and with real vigour too – so much vigour in fact that I completely misjudged just how quickly the tide was ebbing! Bugger! There was a certain stretch that I had been looking forward to fishing for a couple of months when an easterly blows, but by the time I’d made the decision to hike around to it the water had already disappeared!
Nevermind. Joe and I still had our ace to play – it was just a case of waiting for what was a viciously swirling and back-eddying section of water to just ease off a touch, before planting our Sleeper Craws into the mix… Precisely like last year (when I mentioned this in multiple Audio Clips such as here), it was immediately after I noticed a slower section of water bordering the main vortex that I lobbed in the Craw – it looked and felt very, very ‘bassy’ to me…
And ‘bassy’ it was! One turn of the handle, that’s all it took for the lovely bass (above) in the 4lb range to seemingly sense the ‘plop’ of the lure in the 2-3ft of water, before presumably ‘arrowing in’ on the splash and the first movement that ensued, followed by that lethal pause that I administer. Again, this is out of habit, plus understanding from experience what make these remarkable fish snaffle these extraordinary lures.
And what a thrill in regards to bite and the battle… All I felt was a very, very gentle pull on the braid, followed immediately by another – a pull that was so subtle that it didn’t even register on the tip. But I knew it was a bass… Therefore, I lifted into the fish (I have NEVER struck a bass in my life) and began turning the handle… One turn, two turns, three turns, four… More slack line…! This git was swimming right at me!
Now, bear in mind that I use a Shimano Vanquish C3000XG that recovers 94cm of braid per full turn, and you can imagine how quickly this fine February fish was swimming, no doubt shaking its head as it did so – even though I didn’t feel this occurring. Eventually, although it took six or seven long seconds and at least 12 turns of the handle, I felt the weight of her as she attempted to run parallel to my stance.
But with a consistent level of pressure applied throughout what remained of a pulsating scrap, she relented and allowed me to pull her up the gravel and wrack-covered foreshore – a section that only dries out maybe 20-30 times a year such was range of the tide.
Better still!
But do you what really made my day? As it transpired, as soon as I’d returned my fish that Joe very kindly photographed and then videoed swimming away for me (when he could have just as easily carried on fishing) within only a few minutes of waiting for a brutal rain shower to blow through, Joe went and latched into a stunning 56cm bass.
What’s more, about an hour into the flood and a further half-a-mile from where we’d fished down to low tide, the words “everything is right – we’re going to catch another one Joe” hadn’t even left my lips when Joe’s rod buckled over to the tune of an equally beautiful, and surprisingly ‘silvery’ 57cm late(ish) winter fish.
I hope you enjoyed that account – one I enjoyed writing as it’s been a while since I tapped away on the keyboard writing about a bass capture, and rather, I have been learning how to film and edit the forthcoming series of productions for my new Marc Cowling | Bass Lure Fishing | The Definitive Guide YouTube Channel. Wow!!! Now that is a learning curve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My Books
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The Lure of The Bass – The Revised Edition
Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective (Volume 1)
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Marc Cowling | Bass Lure Fishing | The Definitive Guide
Marc Cowling | Bass Lure Fishing 