Winter 2023
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Photo: Bagley Baits
SEAWALL LURES
Targeting seawalls does not require a change of presentation from the boat docks that are almost always around. For me, a jig is hard to beat when you can flip or pitch it to key points, holes, or transition areas along the seawall. I will also cast out and work it parallel along the face of the seawall itself.
An All-Terrain Tackle AT Jig (1/2 oz) with a Zoom Super Chunk as the trailer is my go-to as I can cover water quickly and keep contact with the bottom to hit those hard-bottom areas.
SEARCHIN’
When the fish are feeding during the lowlight hours of the day or in the shade on the seawall, I like to throw a buzzbait or prop bait. They are great ways to cover water and look for key stretches to come back with for a slow approach with the jig.
I use a buzzbait as a search lure to determine where the bass are positioned on the cover.
Making parallel casts to the cover I retrieve the buzzbait, so it runs into the seawall and contacts the concreate or metal. This erratic action is key into trigger that bait many times.
WEIGHING IN
Deciding on the weight of a buzzbait depends on the activity level of the bass, how far a cast you need to make and what the bass are feeding on. If the bass are keying in on smaller baitfish or insects, I will use a 1/4-oz bait. If I am going to make long casts or need a large profile for the bass to key in on, I will upsize to a 1/2-oz.
Most of the time I will use a 3/8-oz buzzbait in white, black or the War Eagle Buzz Toad in Grey Ghost.
The same goes for fishing a
prop bait, like the Bagley Baits Pro
Sunny B Twin Spin.
I will cast the bait out
parrel to the seawall and
make sharp downward
strokes with my rod to get
the dual props to spit
water; and again, I want
that Pro Sunny B Twin
Spin to be contacting
that seawall.
What I like about
the prop bait over
the buzzbait, is that
if a bass strikes the
bait, but misses
it, I can pause my
retrieve and just let the bait sit there. Many times, a hungry bass will come back and striker the bait, thinking it had injured a baitfish on its initial try.
LINE MATTERS
Being that these areas have metal and/or concrete, along with possibly some rock or wood, using a fluorocarbon line is key as it is very abrasion resistance, yet sensitive and low line stretch. My top choice is Seaguar TATSU in 22-pound-test.
When fishing a buzzbait over boat dock cables, I like to spool up with the Seaguar Smackdown braided line in Stealth Gray. The braid in a 40-pound-test, will give me the confidence to put my bait where others won’t. That means, I can get that fish hoisted over or around dock posts or cables.
As you look ahead to next fishing season, or are still on the water right now, be aware of that shoreline behind the boat docks, and fish those seawalls, they’ll be another nugget you can add to your bass fishing arsenal. •
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