I want a bass this year

[GAV*81]

I want to start lure fishing for bass this year, what rod and plugs do I need also what type of ground should I be looking to fish and what conditions, I'm looking to fish around county durham coast but can travel, any help would be appreciated thanks.

[PAUL1971]

AREET GAV WERE TO START ARE YOU SITTING COMFY LOL

Obviously the two most important pieces of equipment are the rod and reel. You must choose wisely in selecting which rod and reel to use.
For starter I would select a six to 9ft medium action rod. If you have a ultra A graphite spinning rod of medium action will suffice for 95% of the situations you will encounter.

The reel is of course your other major piece of equipment. In my opinion your most important choice. If you are a beginning fisherman I recommend using an open faced spinning reel. The object of fishing is to have fun; using equipment that is within your capabilities will allow this to happen. Select an open faced spinning reel that has a good drag system and holds at least 150 yards of braid.

lures choice is a head ache...best advice i can give you is pick natural colours
like green silver blue white or lures the colour of mackeral and sand eels

line you will also need to get 20-25lb florocarbon as this is translucent in water and the fish wont see it hope this helps

[GAV*81]

Thanks mate I have a few spinning rods and reels also a tronix LRF rod with a few soft plastic lures I havnt caught a bass yet on a lure I've had one on bait a couple of year ago down horden but really fancy doing a bit more lure fishing this year, thanks for the info.

[PAUL1971]

catching a bass on a lure is totaly diffrent on bait.....esp if you using light gear and braid...lv it when i working the lure and the adrenalin is pumping with antisapation of that take.

[mickbrennan]

I had a few bass last summer using fire tails good scrap with light tackle

[pulp]

Get a front drag reel, rear drag will fail if you intend to do any wading, it's inevitable they get splashed/dunked.
Front drag reels are more water resistant.

A budget also helps people with rod and reel selection.

If your working to a smallish budget look at bushwhacker rods, they are good value for money, if you want something a little more expensive teklon concept rods are excellent value for money.

Regarding braid and lures, get 20lb braid, you need to be able to rip a lure out of kelp when fishing in the rocky weedy shallows. lures...now there's a minefield. Get very shallow divers, sandeel and small baitfish imitations. Get a topwater 'walk the dog lure'. Try and get to one of the lure meets on here, being shown how to work a top water properly would help. Other than that, just get out fishing...

How to find Bass...they like to feed in the shallows, hard ground especially, the beaches are harder work and don't usually hold the fish like hard ground does.
The final thing to consider is they can't really be arsed to chase after lures till the sea is about 10 degrees. 14 degrees and the sport gets fantastic, shame the magic 14 doesn't last long up here.