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Lure Fishing

Using artificial lures — hard baits, soft plastics, and surface poppers — to provoke predatory fish into striking.

Lure fishing is the most active and mobile form of shore angling. Instead of casting out bait and waiting, the angler works an artificial lure through the water to imitate the movement of prey — a wounded baitfish, a darting sandeel, or a fleeing surface creature — and provokes a predatory response. It demands knowledge of fish behaviour, water features, and lure presentation, but the rewards are immediate and visceral.

Types of Lure

Hard Plugs

Hard plastic lures come in floating, sinking, and suspending models. Minnow-style plugs (such as those from Savage Gear, Tackle House, or Maria) are jointed or single-piece lures that mimic baitfish. They are worked with a steady retrieve, a twitch-and-pause action, or a sweep of the rod tip. Metal lures (jigs and slices) sink fast and cast a long way — ideal for reaching fish feeding at depth from rocks or piers.

Soft Plastic Shads and Worms

Soft plastic lures mounted on a weighted jig head are hugely versatile. A 4–6 inch shad on a 20–30 g jig head can be fished at any depth by varying the countdown before retrieving. Work it with a lift-and-drop action — lift the rod tip to raise the lure, then let it sink back on a tight line. Pollock and coalfish are especially receptive to this technique when fished vertically below piers and around kelp edges.

Surface Lures (Poppers and Walkers)

Surface lures — poppers, stickbaits, and walk-the-dog lures — create a surface commotion that draws bass up from depth in calm conditions. Fishing a surface lure over shallow reef at first light or last light, and watching a large bass engulf it from beneath, is an experience that defines lure fishing for many anglers. Surface fishing works best in flat or rippled water; in rough conditions, fish deeper.

Retrieve Styles

• Steady retrieve — a constant, consistent wind that gives soft shads and hard minnows a natural swimming action
• Erratic or twitch-and-pause — irregular rod-tip twitches interspersed with pauses; highly effective for bass, which often strike on the pause
• Lift and drop (jigging) — for jig heads and metal lures; the lure rises and falls through the water column, imitating a distressed baitfish
• Walk-the-dog — a left-right surface action created by alternating short, sharp rod twitches; used with pencil poppers and stickbaits

Reading Fish-Holding Features

Lure fishing success depends on reading the water. Fish congregate around structure — rocky headlands, kelp edges, submerged reef, estuarine channels, and the turbulence behind large boulders. In estuaries, bass ambush prey at the mouths of draining creeks on the ebb tide. From rocky headlands, pollock and bass hold in the current seams where fast water meets slower water.

Dawn and dusk are the most productive times for lure fishing. Bass and pollock are visual predators that use low light to their advantage when hunting close to the surface.

Target Species

• Bass — the premier lure species; responds to surface lures, hard plugs, and soft plastics
• Pollock — enthusiastic takers of shads and jigs; excellent sport on light gear
• Coalfish (saithe) — similar habitat and tactics to pollock; common from northern coasts
• Garfish — surface predators that take small surface lures and slim minnows in summer
• Wrasse — can be taken on soft plastics worked slowly around kelp

Getting Started

Lure fishing requires a light spinning rod (7–9 ft, rated 10–40 g) and a light fixed-spool reel (2500–4000 size) loaded with 0.28–0.30 mm monofilament or 15–20 lb braid. A short fluorocarbon leader of 20–25 lb is recommended. Start with a 28 g jig head and a 5-inch shad — it is one of the most consistent lure combinations for bass and pollock from Irish shores.

Practice casting accuracy before working on distance — placing a lure accurately into a gully or beside a rock is far more valuable than casting far in the wrong direction.