Shore-based bass fishing is one of the most exciting and accessible ways to target this hard-fighting and highly prized species. Whether you’re casting from rocky headlands, sandy beaches or estuary margins, having the right gear is essential for both success and enjoyment.
Beginner’s Guide to Shore-Based Bass Fishing
In this article, we will take a look at the bass fishing tackle and equipment you will need for bass fishing from the shore, covering everything from rods and reels to clothing and essential accessories - helping you get started with confidence and the right setup.
Rods for Bass Shore Fishing
As ever, it’s hard to find a rod that will perform well for every style of fishing available to the 21st century bass angler. So, if you are going to fish an area of shallow water with surface and sub-surface lures most of the time you will need a rod with a stiffer tip that will be more effective for working these lures.
If you’re more likely to be fishing deeper water with soft plastic lures, then a saltwater lure rod with a softer action will be more suitable. In both instances it’s important to match the weight of the lures you are fishing with to the manufacturer’s recommendations for your rod. I would recommend a rod that will comfortably cast lures in the 10g to 30g range as a good all-rounder to start with - 8’6” to 9’ is a good length for most situations.
Look for something that feels light and comfortable in the hand. A travel rod may be a good option if you need a compact rod to tuck away in your car but remember that a 2 piece rod will have a more satisfying curve for fishing and playing fish. Always wash the rod off with cold clean freshwater after every trip and don’t put it away in its bag/case until it’s completely dry.
Reels for Bass Shore Fishing
You will want a fixed spool saltwater spinning reel between 2000 and 4000 size (these sizes aren’t comparable between different manufacturers!) that is designed for saltwater use. The reel should have a dial on the front of the spool that you adjust the drag setting from.
Avoid rear drag reels and reels with a baitrunner function. These aren’t well sealed against saltwater, can be heavy and won’t last very long. The spool needs to be big enough to hold 200-300yds of the diameter braid you choose to use.
A bass lure fishing reel does a lot of work as you are constantly casting and retrieving – so its pays to buy the best you can afford. When you fill your new reel with braid avoid over or under filling the spool – if you fill the spool to within 2-3mm of the spools lip you will have a reel that casts well with few tangles.
Having the reel professionally serviced every couple of years to replace worn parts will extend its life and bring back the smooth new reel feel. As with the rod rinsing with your reel with freshwater after every outing is a critically important.
Fishing Line for Bass Angling
Load your reel with braided line with a breaking strain of 15-20lbs this will be around 0.16mm diameter. This braid is quite thin but will give you an advantage when fishing in windy conditions or in a strong tide. Attach a 2-3’ leader of mono or fluorocarbon to the end of the braid. These materials are more abrasion resistant than braided lines and easier to manage if you need to hold the leader when landing a fish.
Fluorocarbon is a harder and stiffer material generally than nylon monofilament and is less visible in the water. I attach the leader to the braid with a Double Grinner knot. This knot is easy and quick to tie in any conditions. Some prefer more complicated knots that may be stronger, but you may need to change the leader a few times in any session so quick and simple works for me.
I like to attach the lure to the end of the leader with a Savage Gear Salt Round Snap. These make changing lures simple and they don’t inhibit the lures action at all. If you are using a lure that spins you will need to add a swivel to the leader. The best place to put this is between the braid and the leader. I use a brightly coloured braid for this so I can see where the swivel is.
You can add a few feet of coloured braid to a less visible braid if that’s what’s on your reel. The reason for this is to avoid hitting the tip ring with the swivel when you wind in. This can damage the tip ring or even worse break the rod tip.
Lures for Shore Bass Fishing
As this is a big subject I’ll look at types of saltwater fishing lures and when to use them in a follow-on article.
What else do you need?
One of the attractions of this type of fishing is the small amount of gear you need to carry. Here are the things I would take for a short session:
- Mobile phone – hopefully just for photographing fish and capturing lovely sunsets. But more seriously for getting help if you hurt yourself, get caught out by the tide or need to summon help for others. Load apps for weather, tides and lunar cycles on to your phone, these are for safety and choosing the optimum times to fish.
- Scissors or nippers for cutting line. Braid is most easily cut with serrated braid scissors.
- Pliers mainly for unhooking fish and flattening barbs on hooks. I like Toit Short Nose Pliers for this. A lot of bass lures have multiple hooks so you need to keep your fingers away from the hooks when unhooking, barbless hooks help here too.
- Lure boxes – I like double sided boxes with drainage holes. These hold sufficient lures and can be washed out with freshwater at the end of the trip and left to dry to avoid rusty hooks. I use Daiwa Air Dry Bitz Double Sided lure boxes for hard lures.
- Lip grip – this gadget lets you grip bass securely and safely for unhooking avoiding sharp spines and hooks. I like the Molix Floating Lip Grip.
- A spool of Fluorocarbon Leader
- A small compartment box for swivels, snap links etc.
- A drink and some snacks
- Small tape measure to check fish length. This is quicker than weighing and lighter to carry than scales.
- Sun Screen
- Sunglasses with polarising lenses that will protect your eyes from UV light and allow you to see fish clearly below the surface. Look no further than Costa Sunglasses.
Fishing Clothing & Bags
- Bags – I like a feature packed Backpack – ideally one that will stay dry inside if it’s raining, or you get splashed by a rogue wave. A carefully considered selection of compartments is good too so you can find what you are looking for quickly and not have to turf the entire contents out to find what’s at the bottom. It also needs to be lightweight and comfortable to wear. I’m using the Nomad Design Fishing Backpack at the moment – it’s excellent.
- Waterproof case – its very useful to have somewhere safe and waterproof to keep your phone, car keys, wallet etc in. the Plano ABS Waterproof Case is good for this.
- Waders – good quality walking boots are good for most situations but sooner or later you will wish you had waders so you can wade across shallow water around rocks etc. I prefer stocking foot waders with separate wading boots with rubber soles and some studs. The boots must protect your ankles from twisting and rocks.
- Jackets – I like a short wading jacket that is waterproof, windproof and has pockets for accessories.
In the next article we will look at when and where to fish, weather conditions and safety.
