DUO Tide Minnows

I can't say enough good stuff about Duo, this is a company that produces quality lures that will catch you quality bass. There is a wide range of lures available and often the question is, which lure is best for what I want? which will catch me fish? which one is the killer I have been searching for?

Again you need to think about your lure fishing, what kind of marks are you fishing, what are conditions like, what bait fish are in the water. This answers a lot of the previous questions, lets start with lure size, how big or small should your lures be. The answer for me is you need a range of sizes to suit certain situations, as for the big question well I once nailed a bass on a Waterford beach just shy of 10lb, she unfortunately died on the beach, when I gutted the fish she contained, six whole squid, two peelers, one edible and the tail section of a mackerel so these fish can eat and hit big baits.

So in duo I have everything for the 75cd right through to the 175 slim. But I choose where and when I fish these lures. I tend to use smaller lures early in the season the 90s is a favourite of mine, I love the action of this lure and it casts like a bullet, the 75 cd is very similar and also works well for sea trout. The new slim range are really worth looking at, the lure in the man picture in orange and gold is a 120slim which is one of my go to summer lures when there are quantities of sand eel in the water. If there is a good bit of lift or fizz on the water I use the surf range, the 120, 135 and 150. These are a heavier bulkier more stable lure that fish well when there is a good chop on, which we all know is prime bass time. Some of the really big lures like the 175 are an excellent imitation of Launce which is a late summer staple of the bass diet, I have had great success at the mouths of big estuary systems with these lures. Remember that it may be difficult to fish all this range on one rod, a rod that is good at lures in the 10-20 g range may not do so well with the really big lures and vice verse. The range I find most use full, usually fall in the 14g range, these lures need a medium action rod to work effectively some thing that has a bit of give, a big fast action rod can kill the action which in these lures can be quite subtle. I fished a 120slim on the bar270 and was not impressed but once I switched to the lighter rod I have not looked back with what I feel is an extremely useful lure.

As the season progresses and i fish different conditions and marks I will write reports on these lures and give some insight into method, technique and colour. A few pointers are early in the year and when it's calm think small, in choppy weather use a bulky more stable lure, in deep water try a sinking or diving lure and remember try to match the hatch.