For Starters

“There is a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.” ― Steven Wright

…...Love that quote.

Since setting up this site, I have been asked on a number of occasions for some advice and guidance in using my needlefish. Please bear in mind therefore that the aim here is to provide a starting point from which new recruits to needlefishing can determine their own destiny and the route they wish to take.

I am a very average angler and rely heavily on gleaning informative help and advice from others so I shall not pretend that anything I have written is in any way original or groundbreaking. Hopefully though somebody will find the odd snippet that I have learnt and regurgitated here useful in getting them started with needlefish.

I will add at the end some links to sites whose contributors are far more authoritative than me on this subject and I would strongly recommend following the links if you have not seen them before.

There is no complicated technique with needlefish. Cast out and retrieve and you stand every chance of catching..... Bass love them. As fishermen though, we are always looking to vary the challenge, improve our chances and develop our own techniques especially when the fishing is slow. It is therefore worthwhile to put a little more thought into using these very simple lures. It is that simplicity that makes them so receptive to angler input and subsequently so adaptable to a wide variety of the conditions and ground we encounter in our fishing.

The hard needlefish and the philosophy behind its use evolved during the 1970’s and 80’s among a group of surfcasters targeting striped bass along the East coast of America. It proved particularly successful at enticing the bigger specimens and became embedded as one of the go to methods for shore based striper fishing.

Move on a few decades and the needlefish as a lure and a technique was adopted, adapted and expanded by the White brothers from the Channel island of Jersey who very successfully target the bass found in our local waters. Over the years, they have generously shared much of what they learnt with the lure fishing public and their exploits have generated quite a following from anglers based on this side of the Atlantic.

In the US, shore caught striped bass frequently weigh in excess of 40lbs. The shore caught record is just under 80lbs. Much of the US surfcasting is carried out in tough conditions on a very exposed coastline. For these reasons the equipment used tends to be much stronger and heavier than the standard outfits we use and as a consequence a selection of slightly lighter handmade needles have been developed by a number of makers over here.

My needles come in a variety of profiles and sink rates and I have tried to cover the majority of marks and conditions with a suitable pattern. The following is a summary of those needles:

1) Level sink slim: The standard needlefish is weighted to sink horizontally and I make a selection from 110mm, 130mm, 135mm and 160mm in length, from 12g to 42g in weight and from floating to fast in sink rate. (Other weights/sink rates can be made to order). These are the backbone to my line up and from sheltered bays and estuaries to crashing surf and current scoured headlands, they are what I turn to for most of my fishing if the ground is clean and/or there is a reasonable depth of water,

2) Tail weighted needles: These can be session savers when conditions are against you. Heavily weighted, they cast extremely well and rise quickly to the surface on retrieve. I often use them with just a single hook on the tail when targeting long range structure, when the wind is up or when the water is carrying lots of loose weed. They fish on or just below the surface even with a surprisingly slow retrieve rate.

3) Stubby needles: As the name suggests are shorter and fatter in profile. Not all bait fish or indeed cephalopods are long and thin. I do two versions the first is 110mm x 22g and the second a slightly porkier 30g. They cast extremely well and can be fished over shallow ground as on retrieve they rise quickly and can easily be worked a few inches below the surface. In addition to the usual needle presentation, I have also found that stubby needles respond well to some animation in the form of twitch and sink, walk the dog etc.

4) To compliment the needles, I make a selection of slim pencil poppers which are long casting and are a great alternative when bass are feeding on top and conditions do not suit the usual armory of surface lures. These are available in 130mm x 22g, 24g and 27g and 160mm x 42g. They can be waked or animated to imitate fleeing sandeel. They are a good option when surf fishing.

If you are new to needlefishing, try to spend an hour or so of daylight getting to grips with them over some clean ground, ideally with a bit of current so that you have an idea of how conditions might influence lure choice, how they fish with different retrieves and how your input affects things at the business end.

For the most part, what you are trying to do is present the needle to a bass as inactively as possible and in as horizontal an aspect as possible. How you achieve this depends upon the conditions you are fishing. You need to suspend the lure at various levels off the bottom and this is done by selecting the right weight and balance of needlefish combined with keeping an appropriate tension in the line. The greater the tension the higher the needle will rise in the water column. It pays to try to fish the whole water column over a few casts to search out where fish might be operating.

Tension in the line is not just the tension created by turning the reel handle. Often a rip or estuary flow away from the angler for example will be more than enough to suspend the needle and it may pay to release line to control the drift at the right depth. Often current is sweeping along the shore, cast at 90 degrees to the shore, take up the slack while letting the lure sink and then allow it to arc around, with and across the current, requiring minimal line retrieve to control its travel as it does so. Once it has completed its arc, wind in and recast.

There may be occasions, particularly when fishing marks such as estuaries or channels, that require you to cast up current and then have to retrieve at speed to keep enough tension in the line and contact with the needle.

At other times there is little or no current affecting the needle and tension is then created only by your rate of retrieve and choice of needle.

Remember the less energy a bass has to expend to eat your needle the more likely it is to attempt to do so. Don’t get too fast with retrieve speed and if your needle is dragging the bottom, rather than working it faster, replace it with a slower sinking one and slow things down.

As a caveat to the above, I have found a slight difference between night and day. I generally fish lighter and slower at night than during daylight. Fish are often not so close to shore in daylight so a heavier needle gives a little more casting distance and I have also found that the dead slow approach often so productive at night is not quite so consistent during daylight.

As a further caveat, there are frequent occasions when waking a needle across the surface at a fairly brisk pace on the darkest of nights will succeed when the slow, naturally unaware presentation has failed and indeed when a static or slow drifting needle in bright sunshine will be hammered. There are no right or wrong ways or rules to follow. Mix up how you are fishing and even if you have had a fish or two one way, don’t be afraid to try a different approach for a few casts if the action cools.

Be aware that conditions are constantly changing, wind speed/direction, water depth, wave/surf size, current strength/direction. All these can change to a greater or lesser extent over the duration of a session so be constantly assessing if you should be changing needle or adapting how you are fishing it.

With each change you make, ensure you can feel the needle as it works, have absolute confidence in your lure choice and keep it in the water every second possible.

Become fully immersed in the process and hone your senses to the conditions so that you are always in touch with the needle. Be aware that needlefish glide through the water and provide very little resistance so take that into consideration when getting the feel for how it is working. You will not feel vibrations down the rod tip for example, at best you just want enough feel to very slightly bend the tip of the rod.

At the beginning of each session, it can take a bit of time to tune your senses to how the needle is fishing. For your first few casts, it can be worthwhile attaching a needle that you think will be heavier/faster sinking than you might put on otherwise. This will enable you to feel for the sea bed more easily and tune in to how currents, wind and wave action are influencing the needle. Once you have a feel for how things are working you can then adjust needle choice accordingly.

I hope I have not given the impression that for any chance of success you need boxes filled with a vast array of different needlefish, (if I have then I look forward to hearing from you). Assuming this is not the case, then the following may help to narrow down the choice of needle to suit the situation it is intended for.

I was recently asked to advise on needle selection for surf fishing a section of coast in different conditions and this was my reply:

“Many thanks for getting in touch. I love summer surf fishing and the lures I make are designed very much with this type of fishing in mind.

Conditions will dictate the choice of lure and how it is fished. Very generally, in daylight hours I tend to use slightly heavier lures and fish them with a moderate retrieve speed. At night I like to fish as light as possible slowing retrieve speed down to not much more than keeping tension in the line. With this in mind, changes in current, depth of water, surf size, wind etc during a session can mean adjusting the weight/sink rate of the lure several times over the duration of a tide to keep fishing effectively.

A rough guide as to what might be suitable:

Calm conditions, flat to 1ft surf: 1) 130mm x 16g to18g level sink, long nosed needle. 2) 135mm x 19g to 22 g level sink needles. 3) 110mm x 12g level sink needle. 4) Floating needle. 5) 22g slim pencil popper.

1-2ft surf, gentle breeze: Same as above but would also think about: 1) 135mm x 24g to 26g level sink needles and 2) 110mm x 22g stubby needle.

2-4ft surf, breezy: 1) 135mm 24g to 30g Level sink needles. 2) 110mm x22g and 30g stubby needle. 3) 24g to 27g pencil popper. 4) 135mm x 30g tail weighted needle.

4ft plus surf, windy: 1) 135mm x 26g to 42g level sink needles. 2) 110mm x 30g stubby needle.

3)135mm x 32g tail weighted needle 3) 27g slim pencil popper.

If you were looking for just the one lure for that area I would suggest a 135mm level sink needle around the 24g to 26g weight if mainly fishing in daylight, possibly down to 22g if mainly night fishing.”

There are obviously a multitude of different types of mark and a multitude of different conditions we fish them in, which would take many more hours than I have available to list and make suggestions for but by thinking about the expected conditions, I hope the above provides enough to make an educated guess as to which of my needles might suit your circumstance.

If the mark you intend to fish is deep water or a fast flowing channel then I would suggest selecting a level sink needle over 30g in weight.

For shallow, rough ground, soft plastics fished as needlefish are the answer or a surface needle can work very well depending on how shallow and whether there are a good few inches of water over any weed. Tail weighted needles rigged with a 2/0 -3/0 single hook on the tail and no belly hook are also a very productive option for shallow ground particularly if the bass are out of casting range for Senkos and the other soft plastics.

Have I not mentioned colour? omg! I am sure you have had enough of my waffle. However the only thing that I think might have a slight edge whatever the conditions is having a dark back and light belly but I haven't used a colour yet, solid or laminated that I haven't caught consistently on and if I can feel the needle is fishing right I am happy and very confident that if it meets a bass then a hook up is inevitable.

The following links will help with giving a great start to targeting bass with needlefish. In my view THE place to start with any bass lure fishing info is Henry Gilbey’s website/blog. He has a great search facility and if you enter needlefish a mine of information will be at your fingertips. The links here are to a series of fantastic guest blog posts by Keith White. Read all of Keith’s posts and any other needle related posts that come up on Henry’s search facility and you will be good to go.....:

An introduction to needlefish lures for bass fishing - Guest blog post by Keith White — Henry Gilbey (henry-gilbey.com)

Guest blog post - Keith White - Learning to sew, part 2 of a needlefish series — Henry Gilbey (henry-gilbey.com)

Guest blog post - Keith White - Learning to sew, part 3 of a needlefish series — Henry Gilbey (henry-gilbey.com)

Guest blog post - Keith White - Learning to sew, part 4 of a needlefish series — Henry Gilbey (henry-gilbey.com)

A load more needlefish information - Guest blog post by Keith White — Henry Gilbey (henry-gilbey.com)

Marc Cowling is a guide operating along the South coast of Devon. Have a read of his needlefish journey and how he has come to designing his own signature series:

The Marc Cowling Signature Needlefish – South Devon Bass Guide

And a little more reading from across the Atlantic:

How To Fish Needlefish Lures For Striped Bass (myfishingcapecod.com)

A Little Bit of Needlefish History (bassdozer.com)

I hope this helps someone along the road to needlemania. I would be very grateful for any comments that might provide further enlightenment and encouragement.

White insulation tape: Best way I have found of marking weights etc. especially for the hours of darkness.