Barry the Sea Bass
European Sea Bass · Dicentrarchus labrax
The classroom for this fish. Use the Trip Planner when you want a mark for today.
Lures
Five lures, five jobs. Use the one that matches the water in front of you — not your favourite. Buy the box, or pick a single in the shop.
01 · Topwater
Walk it on the surface so it splashes and wakes.
Calm mornings, or when you can see fish feeding on top.
02 · Shallow diving
Twitch it through the top metre, then pause.
Clear water, over weed, or along a harbour wall.
03 · Weedless
Cast into kelp and wrack and wind it through.
Weedy rocks, snaggy ground, estuary margins.
04 · Deep diving
Count it down, then a steady retrieve.
Drop-offs, coloured water, or when they’re holding deep.
05 · Surfing
Cast long into the white water and keep it moving.
Onshore wind, tide, and a dumping beach.
How to choose on the day
Flat and clear → topwater, then shallow. Weed and snags → weedless. Colour in the water or a drop-off → deep. Wind and white water → surfing. If nothing happens in twenty casts, change depth before you change colour.
Grok
Ask about Barry
Lures. Ask how it works, what to buy, or what people get wrong.
Ask anything about this. A few places to start: