Lures · Searching water

Shallow-diving minnow

A hard lure with a lip that dives to a set depth and wobbles on a straight wind. It covers lots of water with no skill needed.

HOW TO FISH IT← YOUBraid PE 1.0–1.5FG knotFluoro leader 15–20lbDiving lipsets the depth, 0.5–1.5mMinnow 10–14cmfloating or suspendingsteady wind; pause now and thensurf, gullies, estuary mouths: bass
Targets
Bass, pollack, coalfish
Where
Surf, gullies and estuary mouths; North Wales, Fylde and Cumbria for bass
Use it for
Bass

What you need

Mainline
PE 1.0–1.5 braid
Leader
15–20lb fluorocarbon
Connection
Clip or loop knot
Lure
10–14cm floating or suspending minnow, diving 0.5–1.5m

Build it

  1. Clip the minnow on.
  2. Cast across the waves or along the gully.
  3. Wind steadily. The lip makes it dive and wobble.
  4. Pause now and then. A floating minnow rises, which often triggers a take.
On the beach

Fan your casts in an arc, with the first few short. Bass are often much closer in than you'd expect, in the white water.

Knots for this rig are in Knots. Line strengths, hook sizes and weights are starting points: scale them to your tackle, the ground and the tide. Diagrams are schematic and not to scale.