Fiiish Black Minnow

Fiiish Black Minnow at Charlie's Fishing: the weedless sea bass softbait in 90, 105 and 120

The Black Minnow is the lure Fiiish built its name on: a soft paddle tail shad with the hook point hidden in its back, so you can fish it through rocks, kelp and weed where sea bass hunt and where an open hook would snag on every cast. It was designed above all for sea bass, and the same lure catches zander and perch in canals, rivers and lakes. This page goes deeper into the Black Minnow system itself: the three sizes, the jig heads and their weights, combos versus spare parts, and which head to pick for which depth and species. The brand story and the rest of the range are on our Fiiish page. Below you find every Black Minnow part we stock and what it is for.

How the Fiiish Black Minnow system works

Every Black Minnow is built from three parts in Fiiish's patented PH2S system. A soft body with a paddle tail that swims naturally even at slow speed, a khaki jig head that sets the weight and so the depth, and a Krog hook made by VMC, slightly offset and strong, that sits in a slot along the back of the body. The head and the body hinge against each other, which adds to the swimming action and helps the hook set. Because the point stays inside the body until a fish bites, the lure is weedless around rocks, harbour walls, mussel beds and weed. The parts are sold separately, so you keep the same body and change the head when the depth or the current changes. A small dab of Fiiish the Glue (10 g bottle) fixes the body to the head so it does not slide down after a take, and repairs small tears so a body lasts longer. Read the full background in our Fiiish Black Minnow guide.

Black Minnow sizes: 90 (N2), 105 (N2.5) and 120 (N3)

The Black Minnow comes in numbered sizes, and each size has its own heads, bodies and hooks: an N2 head only fits an N2 body. The 90 (N2, 9 cm) is the compact size for small baitfish, clear and shallow water, light tackle and perch. The 105 (N2.5, 10.5 cm) sits between the two: a little bigger than the 90, for slightly deeper zones, rocky edges and light current. The 120 (N3, 12 cm) is the classic sea bass size, for open coast, bigger fish and fishing from the boat, and it has the widest choice of heads. As a rule, match the size to the baitfish the fish are feeding on; when in doubt on the coast, start with the 120.

Black Minnow jig heads: Shore, Search, Off Shore and heavier

The head is the most important choice: use just enough weight to stay in touch with the lure and the bottom, and no more. Shore is the light head for shallow, calm water, Search the medium head to cover water and go a bit deeper or faster, and Off Shore the heavy head for deep water, current and vertical fishing. The jig heads come in packs of two (the 50 g X-Deep as a single), all in khaki.

• 90 (N2): Shore 5 g for shallow, calm water and finesse, Search 8 g for deeper or slightly faster water, Off Shore 10 g for deeper water and vertical fishing, and X-Deep 20 g for vertical jigging and strong current. See the Fiiish Black Minnow 90 N2 Jigheads.
• 105 (N2.5): Shore 8 g for light shore fishing in shallow water, Search 12 g to cover more water at moderate depth, and Off Shore 16 g for deeper water and vertical fishing. See the Fiiish Black Minnow 105 N2.5 Jigheads.
• 120 (N3): Shallow 6 g for rocky stretches and sandbanks, Shore 12 g for medium depth from the shore and calm water, Search 18 g for active fishing in deeper or moving water, Off Shore 25 g for vertical jigging and strong current, Deep 37 g for deep water, and X-Deep 50 g for deep water with heavy current. See the Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Jigheads.

More heads for other softbaits are in Jigheads.

Ready to fish: Black Minnow combos and double combos

A combo is a fully rigged lure (body, head and Krog hook) plus a spare body, ready out of the packet. A double combo holds two fully rigged lures, so you always have a backup on the bank. For the 90: the Fiiish Black Minnow 90 N2 Shore Combo 5g and the Fiiish Black Minnow 90 N2 Off Shore Combo 10g, and the double packs Fiiish Black Minnow 90 N2 Double Combo Shore 5g and Fiiish Black Minnow 90 N2 Double Combo Search 8g. For the 105: the Fiiish Black Minnow 105 N2.5 Combo Shore 8g, the Fiiish Black Minnow 105 N2.5 Combo Search 12g and the Fiiish Black Minnow 105 N2.5 Combo Off Shore 16g. For the 120: the Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Combo Shore 12g, the Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Combo Search 18g and the Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Combo Off Shore 25g, and the double packs Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Double Combo Shore 12g and Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Double Combo Search 18g. Compare them with other sea bass softbaits in Seabass Softbaits.

Build your own: spare bodies and Krog hooks

Once you own a few heads, you only need to top up bodies, which makes the Black Minnow cheap to keep fishing. The spare bodies come three per pack in a range of colours: Fiiish Black Minnow 90 Spare Bodies N2, Fiiish Black Minnow 105 N2.5 Spare bodies and Fiiish Black Minnow 120 Spare Bodies N3. Swap a body that is torn at the hook slot, because it no longer swims well, or change colour to match the water. The Fiiish Black Minnow Spare Hooks Krog come in N2, N2.5 and N3, four per pack: salt water and rocks dull a point fast, and a sharp hook is what keeps the next fish on. A good start is two heads in the weights you fish most, two or three packs of bodies in different colours and a pack of hooks. More hooks are in Hooks and Rigs.

Fiiish Snaps and Power Tail Evo

The Fiiish Snaps are compact stainless steel snaps that leave the nose of the lure free to swing, ten per pack in five strengths: Ultra Light (8 kg) and Light (10 kg) for perch, trout and shore fishing with small lures, Medium (23 kg) as the everyday snap for zander and sea bass, Strong (30 kg) for pike and vertical jigging over wrecks, and Extra Strong (50 kg) for the heavy work. See all snaps in Small fishing tackle. The Power Tail Evo is not a Black Minnow but a dense, compact vibration lure that casts far and gives a tight, high-frequency vibration for reaction bites from perch, trout and asp: Fiiish Power Tail Evo 30 (3 cm, 2.5 g), Fiiish Power Tail Evo 40 (4 cm, 5 g) and Fiiish Power Tail Evo 50 (5 cm, 8 g). Compare them in Vibration Baits. Looking for a present? The Charlie's Fishing Giftbox is in this collection too.

Which Black Minnow head for which depth and species

• Sea bass over sandbanks and shallow rock, or in a calm estuary: 90 or 105 with a Shore head, or the 120 with the Shallow 6 g.
• Sea bass from beaches, harbours and piers in shallow to medium water: 120 Shore 12g, or 105 Shore 8g on lighter tackle.
• Covering water over drop-offs, channels and windy shorelines: a Search head, 8 g on the 90, 12 g on the 105, 18 g on the 120.
• Deep water, tide races and vertical fishing from the boat or a breakwater: Off Shore, 10 g on the 90, 16 g on the 105, 25 g on the 120, and Deep 37 g or X-Deep 50 g on the 120 in heavy current.
• Zander and perch in canals and rivers: 90 with a Shore 5 g or Search 8 g head; for deeper rivers and lakes the 105 Search 12g, or the 90 Off Shore 10g for vertical fishing.
• Reaction bites from perch, trout and asp: Power Tail Evo. See Seabass, Zander, Perch and Trout.

Why buy the Fiiish Black Minnow at Charlie's Fishing

We stock the Black Minnow as a complete system: all three sizes, every head weight from 5 to 50 g, spare bodies, Krog hooks, glue and snaps, not just a few combos. Everything ships from our own stock in the Netherlands with fast delivery across Europe, and we are happy to help you choose the head weight for your spot and tide. For more sea bass tactics, read Night Fishing for Seabass in the Netherlands and Seabass fishing with John Willems, and for zander softbaits see Zander and Perch Softbaits.

Which Fiiish Black Minnow size should I choose?

The 120 (N3) is the classic size for sea bass on the open coast and from the boat. The 105 (N2.5) is a good middle size for the shore, and the 90 (N2) is the one for small baitfish, clear and shallow water, and perch and zander in fresh water.

Do Black Minnow heads fit every size?

No. Each size has its own heads, bodies and hooks: N2 heads fit the 90, N2.5 heads the 105 and N3 heads the 120. The Krog spare hooks are sold in the same three sizes.

Can I fish the Black Minnow in fresh water?

Yes. The 90 and 105 catch zander and perch in canals, rivers and lakes. Use a Shore or Search head in shallow water and an Off Shore head for deeper water or vertical fishing.