Seabass Softbaits

Sea bass softbaits at Charlie's Fishing: Black Minnow, paddle tails, V-tails and finesse softbaits for the salt

This page holds our sea bass softbaits: the soft lures and ready-rigged combos we stock for bass fishing from surf beaches, rocks, breakwaters, harbour walls, piers and estuaries, and from the boat. A softbait does what a hardbait cannot: it swims at a crawl, it falls on a slack line like a stunned baitfish, and with the hook point hidden it goes through kelp, mussel beds and rock without hanging up. You find the weedless Fiiish Black Minnow in all three sizes with every head weight, paddle tails from Rapala, GT-BIO, DRT and Frapp, V-tails and pintails for slow and subtle fishing, a blade softbait with flash and vibration, worms and a swimming crab for bass grubbing on the bottom, plus the jig heads, hooks and fluorocarbon that go with them. Below we go through the Black Minnow sizes and heads, the difference between a paddle tail and a V-tail for bass, which jig head weight fits the surf, the harbour or the estuary, and how to retrieve each type. Hardbaits for bass are on the Seabass Hardbaits page, and all bass lures together on Seabass.

Fiiish Black Minnow sizes: 90, 105 or 120 for sea bass

The Black Minnow is the sea bass softbait most anglers start with, and for good reason: a soft paddle tail body, a jig head that sets the weight and depth, and a Krog hook that sits in a slot along the back, so the point stays hidden until a fish closes its mouth. Fiiish makes it in three sizes, and the size is the first choice to make. The 90 (N2, 9 cm) is the fry imitation: school bass on tiny baitfish, clear and shallow water, light rods and estuaries, and it doubles as a perch and zander lure in fresh water. The Fiiish Black Minnow 90 N2 Double Combo Shore 5g gives you two rigged lures with 5 g Shore heads for shallow zones, the Fiiish Black Minnow 90 N2 Double Combo Search 8g two with 8 g Search heads for slightly deeper or faster water, and the Fiiish Black Minnow 90 N2 Off Shore Combo 10g is the one with a 10 g head for piers, current and slow retrieves in tidal water. The 105 (N2.5, 10.5 cm) sits between the two and is the size we would pick if you can only take one: big enough for a good bass, small enough for a day when the fish are picky. The Fiiish Black Minnow 105 N2.5 Combo Shore 8g is for rocky edges and light current, the Fiiish Black Minnow 105 N2.5 Combo Search 12g casts further and sinks faster for drop-offs, channels and windy shorelines, and the Fiiish Black Minnow 105 N2.5 Combo Off Shore 16g gets down in deeper water and stronger current, also from the boat. The 120 (N3, 12 cm) is the standard sea bass size on most coasts: a full baitfish profile that bigger bass pick out and that stays visible in surf and coloured water. The Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Combo Shore 12g is the all-round shore combo for beaches, harbours and rocks in shallow to medium water, the Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Combo Search 18g the one for deeper or moving water and long casts, and the Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Combo Off Shore 25g sinks fast for strong tide, deep channels and vertical fishing from the boat. If you fish a lot or lose a lure to the rocks now and then, the double packs are the better buy: the Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Double Combo Shore 12g and the Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Double Combo Search 18g hold two fully rigged lures each. Every single combo comes with a spare body. Read the full story in our Fiiish Black Minnow guide and see the whole system in Fiiish Black Minnow and Fiiish.

Black Minnow heads: Shore, Search, Off Shore and the deep ones

The second choice is the head, and this is where the Black Minnow beats a normal shad on a jig head: you keep the same body and swap the head to match the depth and the current. The names tell you what they are for. Shore is the light head for shallow, calm water and a slow swim close to the surface. Search is the mid weight that casts well and sinks at a controlled rate, the head to cover water and find the fish. Off Shore is the heavy head for depth, strong tide and the boat. For the 90 the heads are Shore 5 g, Search 8 g, Off Shore 10 g and X-Deep 20 g, sold as Fiiish Black Minnow 90 N2 Jigheads. For the 105 you have Shore 8 g, Search 12 g and Off Shore 16 g in the Fiiish Black Minnow 105 N2.5 Jigheads. The 120 has the widest range: Shallow 6 g for rocky stretches and sandbanks, Shore 12 g, Search 18 g, Off Shore 25 g, Deep 37 g and X-Deep 50 g for deep water with heavy current, all in the Fiiish Black Minnow 120 N3 Jigheads. A simple rule for the 120 from the shore: 6 or 12 g when you can see the bottom and the water is calm, 18 g when the wind blows or the tide runs, 25 g when you fish a deep harbour mouth or a tide race, and 37 g and up only from the boat. Keep a pack of Fiiish Black Minnow 120 Spare Bodies N3 and a pack of Fiiish Black Minnow Spare Hooks Krog in the bag: a body that is torn at the hook slot swims badly, and a Krog hook that has been dragged over rock loses its point. More heads for other softbaits are in Jigheads.

Paddle tails for sea bass: Kickman, Roller Shad, Cramp Shad and Snatcher

A paddle tail pushes water. The flat tail kicks on every turn of the reel, which bass feel on the lateral line from a distance, so it is the tail for coloured water, surf, dusk and night, and for covering a beach fast. The Rapala CrushCity The Kickman is a paddle tail with a salted belly that keeps it upright on a jig head, weightless or weedless, and a tail that starts kicking at the slowest retrieve: 3" (7.5 cm, 3 g) for fry, 4" (10 cm, 6.5 g) as the all-rounder and 5" (12.5 cm, 14 g) for bigger bass. Rapala's own pick for it is the VMC Bullet Jig, which runs from 1 to 28 g so you can match any beach or harbour. The GT-BIO Roller Shad 85 is a ready-rigged shad with a strong vibration: two 8.5 cm bodies, an extra wide gap weedless hook and an 8 g lead-free jig head in one pack, with an Easy Rig System that fixes the body to the head. Read more about the range in our review of the GT-BIO lures for sea bass fishing. The DRT Cramp Shad (11 cm, 10 g, 5 per pack) combines a small V-tail with a very high-frequency paddle tail for a subtle swim on a light jig head, weightless or on a weighted offset hook, which makes it a good harbour lure when bass follow but do not take a loud shad. The DRT Cramp Shad FAT (11 cm, 19 g, 4 per pack) has a broader, flatter body and a head-heavy salt mix: on a weightless 4/0 offset hook it glides in a wide S-curve on a straight retrieve, like a small glidebait but soft and weedless. The Frapp Snatcher 4" (10 cm, 4.4 g, 6 per pack) is a long paddle tail whose tail swings calmly from side to side instead of in a figure of eight, a natural action for clear water and careful fish, and it swims at every speed. From HideUp we add two slim soft swimbaits with a low-pitch rolling action: the HideUp Stagger Original 3" (7.6 cm, 4.5 g, hook 2/0) for shallow water and light tackle, and the HideUp Stagger Original 4" (10.2 cm, 10 g, hook 3/0 to 4/0) as the all-round size for clear water and pressured fish. See all shads in Paddle Tails, and the brands at Rapala, GT-BIO, DRT, Frapp and HideUp.

V-tails, pintails and split tails: paddle tail or V-tail for bass?

A V-tail or pintail hardly vibrates. It slides, rolls and darts, and it falls slowly on a slack line, which is exactly what a sandeel or a smelt does when it is hurt. That makes it the tail for clear water, bright days, flat calm, hard-fished harbours and bass that follow a paddle tail and turn away. The rule of thumb: paddle tail when you need to be found, V-tail when you need to be believed. The Rapala CrushCity The Stingman is a salted pintail in 7.5, 10 and 12.5 cm that sits naturally in the water and is made for drop shot, weightless on an offset hook or a slow retrieve on a light jig head; the Rapala CrushCity Stingman 15 cm is the big one for bass on larger sandeels and launce. Which CrushCity model to fish when is in Rapala CrushCity softbaits: which one to fish and when. The Megabass Hazedong is a slim, scented V-tail with a natural rolling and darting action on the smallest rod movement, rigged weightless, on a light jig head or on a finesse rig: the Megabass Hazedong 3" (7.5 cm, 10 per pack) for bass on fry, the Megabass Hazedong 4" (10 cm, 7 per pack) as the all-round size and the Megabass Hazedong 5" (12.7 cm, 7 per pack) for a sandeel profile. The Fish Arrow Flash Jerk Split has a foil insert that flashes through the translucent body and a split tail that kicks and glides on light jig heads and drop shot: the Fish Arrow Flash Jerk Split 3" (7.5 cm, 6 per pack) and the Fish Arrow Flash Jerk Split 4" (10 cm, 5 per pack). The Toppies Pintius 9 cm is a floating, flavoured pintail made without PVC or plasticisers: on a dart jig it darts, on a Texas or Carolina rig it drifts slowly upwards on the pause, and on a drop shot it survives far more fish than a normal pintail. The Rapala CrushCity The Jerk (9.5 cm, 7 per pack) is a floating, stretchy TPE minnow that darts on an EWG offset hook and hangs level on a drop shot. For the lightest work, when bass sip tiny fry along a harbour wall, the Jackall Driftfry is a slim elastomer minnow for light jig heads, drop shot and Texas rigs: the Jackall Drift Fry 2.5" (6.3 cm) on jig heads of 0.3 to 2.7 g, the Jackall Drift Fry 3" (9 cm) and the Jackall Driftfry 4" (10.2 cm, 5.2 g) with a moulded bill that gives a controlled roll on a slow retrieve. The HideUp Stagger Stick is a slim, lightly weighted stick with a controlled fall and a subtle panic flutter, for wacky, Carolina and light jig head rigs: the HideUp Stagger Stick 4" (8.4 cm, 3 g, hook #1) and the HideUp Stagger Stick 5" (12 cm, 10.5 g, hook 3/0). All slim softbaits are in V-Tails & Pintails, and the brands at Megabass, Fish Arrow, Toppies and Jackall.

Flash and vibration: the Fish Arrow Flash Jerk Spin

Sometimes you want both: the subtle profile of a slim softbait and a signal that bass pick up in murky water or at night. The Fish Arrow Flash Jerk Spin has a foil insert that mimics scales and a small spinning blade under the tail that adds flash and vibration on a straight retrieve. The SW versions are from Fish Arrow's saltwater line: the Fish Arrow Flash Jerk Spin 3" SW (7.5 cm, 3 per pack) on a 1/0 jig head for school bass and the Fish Arrow Flash Jerk Spin 4" SW (10 cm, 3 per pack) on a 3/0 head as the main size. The Fish Arrow Flash Jerk Spin 3" and Fish Arrow Flash Jerk Spin 4" are the same lure in the standard colour range. Fish them on a slow, steady retrieve just above the bottom in a harbour basin, or count them down along a pier and swim them back through the shadow line at night. The matching head is the BKK Hyperlatch Round Jig Hooks in 1/0 or 3/0.

Worms, curl tails and a crab: bass feeding on the bottom

Bass do not only chase baitfish. Over mussel beds, in rock pools and along harbour walls they root for crabs, shrimps and worms, and a small, slow softbait on the bottom catches those fish. The Chasebaits Smash Crab JNR (7.5 cm, 19 g, pre-rigged 2/0 hook, sinks about 4 seconds per metre) always lands on its belly, and its legs and claws vibrate on the drop; cast it to the edge of the rocks, let it sink, and hop it slowly back or leave it still for a few seconds. The PXS Kagashi Worm is a slim pin-tail worm with a natural shrimp scent that works on a round jig head, a drop shot, a Texas or Carolina rig and as a trailer: the PXS Kagashi Worm 3" 7.5 cm (8 per pack) for the lightest finesse work, the PXS Kagashi Worm 4" 10 cm (8 per pack) as the all-round size and the PXS Kagashi Worm 5.5" 13.5 cm (6 per pack) for a ragworm profile. The Rapala CrushCity The Curl is a salted, scented curl tail in 7.5, 10 and 12.5 cm whose tail keeps fluttering at the slowest crawl, a good choice on a jig head along the bottom of a harbour when the fish are picky. And the DSTYLE Torquee Straight Type HG 4.8" (12.2 cm, 4.2 g) is a heavy salt straight worm that works by itself on the fall and on the bottom, on a neko rig, wacky on a jig head or on a 1/0 offset hook. More in Ned's & Worms, Curl Tails & Twister Tails, Chasebaits, PXS Pitch and Strike and DSTYLE.

Jig head weights for surf, harbours and estuaries

The jig head decides whether a softbait fishes or just sinks. Too light and the lure never reaches the fish in the tide; too heavy and it ploughs the bottom and loses its swim. As a guide for a 10 to 12 cm softbait: in an estuary, over a sandbank or along a shallow rocky edge, 5 to 8 g keeps the lure swimming slowly just above the bottom. In a harbour basin, along a pier or a breakwater, 10 to 18 g gets down to the fish and holds there on a slow retrieve. On a surf beach the swell and the undertow pull on the line, so 12 to 25 g is normal, with the lighter end on a calm day and the heavier end when the waves build. In a tide race, a deep harbour mouth or from the boat you go to 25 g and more, and with the Black Minnow 120 that means the Off Shore, Deep or X-Deep head. Pick the smallest weight that still gives you bottom contact: a slow fall is usually what triggers the take. Round heads such as the BKK Hyperlatch Round Jig Hooks swim shads and V-tails straight, the compact VMC Bullet Jig casts a long way in the wind and comes in 1 to 28 g, and a dart head such as the Toppies Tungsten Dart Jig makes a pintail dart left and right on twitches. The full range is in Jigheads, with BKK and VMC heads at BKK Hooks and VMC.

How to retrieve a softbait for sea bass

A softbait for bass is rarely wound in fast. The straight slow retrieve is the base: cast, let the lure sink to the depth you want, and wind just fast enough to feel the tail work. In current, cast up and across, let the lure swing round on a tight line and only wind when the swing is over; the tide gives a Black Minnow or a Kickman all the action it needs. Lift and drop, also called sink and draw, is the one for rocks and harbour walls: a slow lift of the rod, then let the lure fall on a semi-slack line and watch the line for a tap. Most takes come on the drop. Twitch and pause suits V-tails and pintails: two short twitches, a pause of a few seconds, repeat; the Hazedong and the Stingman glide and roll on the pause. At night and in surf keep it simple: a straight, slow retrieve with a paddle tail that pushes water, as John Willems describes in Seabass fishing with John Willems in the Netherlands. And when nothing moves, go down: a crab or a worm on the bottom, hopped a few centimetres at a time, picks up the bass that are not chasing.

Hooks and fluorocarbon for sea bass softbaits

Salt water, mussels and rock are hard on hooks and line. Check the hook point after every snag and after every fish, and rinse your jig heads in fresh water at home. For weightless and weedless rigging of a Stingman, a Hazedong or a Cramp Shad FAT you need a wide gape offset hook that holds the body straight and sets cleanly: the BKK Predator WG has a Super Slide coating and a micro barb that makes unhooking easy, and it doubles as a drop shot and wacky hook for the Pintius and the Stagger Stick. For the Black Minnow, the Krog spare hooks above keep the weedless system working. A fluorocarbon leader between the braid and the lure is standard for bass: it takes the abrasion of rock and shell, it sinks, and it is hard to see in clear water. The Stroft Fluorocarbon FC2 has a hard surface made for mussel beds and rocky bottoms, sinks fast and stretches little, so you feel the tap on the drop; most bass anglers fish a diameter around 0.30 to 0.40 mm from the shore and go a step heavier among rocks. Tie it to the braid with an FG or a double uni knot and use a small, strong snap or tie direct to the jig head. More in Hooks and Rigs, Lines and Leaders and Stroft.

Which sea bass softbait for which situation

• Estuary, sandbank or shallow rocky edge: Black Minnow 90 or 105 with a Shore head, Kickman 4" on a 5 to 8 g head.
• Surf beach, swell and wind: Black Minnow 120 Search 18g or Off Shore 25g, Kickman 5" on a Bullet Jig of 14 g and up.
• Harbour basin, pier or breakwater by day: Black Minnow 120 Shore 12g or Search 18g, Roller Shad 85, Flash Jerk Spin 4" SW.
• Harbour wall at night: a paddle tail on a slow straight retrieve, Kickman, Snatcher or Black Minnow 120.
• Tide race, deep harbour mouth or boat: Black Minnow 120 Off Shore 25g or the Deep and X-Deep heads, Black Minnow 105 Off Shore 16g.
• Clear water, flat calm, bass that follow but do not take: Stingman, Hazedong 4", Flash Jerk Split, Cramp Shad.
• Bass sipping tiny fry close to the wall: Drift Fry 2.5" or 3", Hazedong 3", Stagger Stick 4", Black Minnow 90.
• Bass on sandeels and launce: Stingman 15 cm, Hazedong 5", Black Minnow 120.
• Bass grubbing over mussel beds and rock pools: Smash Crab JNR, Kagashi Worm, The Curl, Torquee Straight HG.
• Rocks, kelp and snags: Black Minnow with its hidden hook, Roller Shad 85, or any V-tail weedless on a BKK Predator WG.
See also Seabass, Seabass Hardbaits, Softbaits and Zander and Perch Softbaits.

Why buy sea bass softbaits at Charlie's Fishing

We fish for bass on the Dutch North Sea coast ourselves, from the beach, the breakwaters and the harbours, and we pick our softbaits for those conditions: wind, surf, strong tides, mussel beds and rock. That is why we carry the Black Minnow in all three sizes with the heads, spare bodies and Krog hooks to keep it fishing, and next to it paddle tails, V-tails, worms and a crab for the days when the fish want something else. Every lure ships from our own stock in the Netherlands with fast delivery across Europe, and we are happy to tell you which size and which head weight fit your mark and your tide. For a night on the Dutch coast, read Night fishing for seabass in the Netherlands.

Which Fiiish Black Minnow size is best for sea bass?

The 120 (N3, 12 cm) is the standard sea bass size: a full baitfish profile that bigger bass pick out and that stays visible in surf and coloured water. Take the 105 (N2.5) when the fish are picky or the water is clear and calm, and the 90 (N2) when bass feed on tiny fry in an estuary or along a harbour wall. From the shore, start with a Shore or Search head and go to Off Shore only in deep water or strong tide.

Which jig head weight for sea bass from the shore?

For a 10 to 12 cm softbait, 5 to 8 g in an estuary or over shallow rock, 10 to 18 g in a harbour or along a pier, and 12 to 25 g on a surf beach depending on the swell. Use the lightest head that still gives you bottom contact, because a slow fall triggers more takes than a fast one. In a tide race or from the boat go to 25 g and more.

Paddle tail or V-tail for sea bass?

A paddle tail such as the Black Minnow or the Kickman pushes water and is the first choice in coloured water, surf, at dusk and at night, and when you want to cover a beach fast. A V-tail or pintail such as the Stingman or the Hazedong hardly vibrates, glides and falls slowly, and catches in clear water, flat calm and hard-fished harbours where bass follow a paddle tail and turn away. Carry both and let the fish decide.