Cali Urban Creek Bass and Green Sunfish Fishing Action

 Bass Attack Urban Creek Bass Fishing with Underwater Shots

Last week, I visited one of my favorite urban creeks in California. It's packed with cover and loaded with largemouth bass, green sunfish, carp, catfish and other eager biters. So far, most of the bass I've caught in this creek are tiny. However, this last trip really blew me away-several decent-sized largemouth bass were caught, along with a bunch of chunky green sunfish on an assortment of lures.

I was really impressed with this section of the creek. It's relatively un-trashed, when compared to some of the upstream parts of this urban creek. The tree canopy is pretty dense, covering the surface of the water with loads of shade. There is scattered fallen logs and brush along the shore, with fast sections and slow, deep pools. It really feels like a different world from many other urban creeks I've fished. Even better, I had this section of the creek to myself. That's not to say it hadn't been fished before, as evidenced by a few stray pieces of fishing line and beer bottles. 

I started out catching one nice largemouth on a Real Fish Swimbait Hard Shad model. He hit it after a long retrieve in some rapids near a spillway. Catching that fish set the pace for the day. As you can see from the above video, I ended up doing pretty well on this trip. I'm also very pleased with how the video turned out; it's definitely one of my best urban creek YouTube fishing videos so far. The music choice may not be perfect for all audiences (dubstep?) but I hope you still enjoy the fishing!

The last pool I stopped at was absolutely amazing. Landed a healthy largemouth bass on my first cast, with a dropshot Zipper worm. Next up with several more missed strikes on the same worm. Switched over to a Yo-Zuri Snap Bean and was instantly back in the action. The largemouth would chase this tiny micro crankbait, but it was the green sunfish that went wild over it. I lost track of how many of these big-mouthed greenies I landed on this ultralite crankbait, but at one point I was hooking up on every cast. I'll be posting a review series sometime soon of my favorite ultralite crankbaits and jerkbaits, with more on these wonderful micro cranks! 

 

I also landed several fish on the usual assortment of microjigs, crappie jigs and one other lure, a hand-painted blank lure jerkbait from wLure. II don't have an airbrush, but I've still had a fun time hand painting a few blank crankbaits and jerkbaits from wLure. Catching a fish on a lure you've painted yourself is especially rewarding.

The new time change really throws off my fishing schedule, in a good way. I'll have to agree with a recent post over at UrbanFlyVentures-let's Spring Forward and stick with it, no more Fall Backs! I had been fishing for several hours but the sun didn't appear to be anywhere near ready to set. Definitely felt odd, but I'm thrilled to have a longer time to fish each day, at least until next Fall. Sounds like there will be plenty more urban creek fishing adventures to post at Hunting the River King in the near future!

Real Fish Bait HardBait Shad Swimbait Review + Video

There's currently a vast array of swimbaits being produced in Asia. Some of these are sold through major brands like Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas, while others may be found through more specialized fishing tackle distributors, with some very unique and interesting lures available. Such is the case with Real Fish Bait, based out of Modesto, California. Tackle Tour has featured Real Fish Bait on their website several times, mostly for their large selection of affordable swimbaits, both hard and soft. Most recently, Tackle Tour showed off some of the new offerings from Real Fish Bait at this year's ISE.  I was fortunate enough to get to try some of the latest swimbait offerings from Real Fish Bait, including their impressive Hardbait Shad lures. (More after the jump with video)

The Hard Shad comes in 4 different patterns: threadfin, pumpkinseed, crappie and largemouth. They are done in a photo realistic finish-style, similar to the ABT swimbaits. Colors are sharp and the photo transfer process seems fairly seamless. Further setting apart the Hard Shad lures from many other swimbaits is the nifty "broomtails" feature. I haven't seen too many swimbaits that go for the bristle approach to create a realistic fin appearance, and the tails on the Real Fish Baits look great. It's a smaller swimbait, at 4'', built with six jointed sections, connected by metal pins/wires.

The Hardbait Shad lures are advertised at sinking at roughly 6'' ROF. They have a very natural, lifelike action in the water, even on slower retrieves. Being able to slowly work a hard swimbait through an area is definitely a something I look for in swimbaits; as too many hardbait versions (including the Spro Baby BBZ) seem to lose almost all their action at slow speeds. The Hardbait Shads maintained a tantalizing "S" wobble at both slow and fast speeds.

Do bass like the Hardbait Shad? Indeed! I had a lot of followers and strikes on one short urban creek fishing trip with this small swimbait, and managed to get a fish striking it on film with my Kodak HD cam. You can actually see the fish come after the lure on the first cast, in the top left side of the screen, if you look closely (watch it on 720p HD quality for best shots).

                                       

  
Durability is one point I am concerned about in regards to the Hardbait Shad. In the above video, you'll see a bass hit the lure twice, hooking up and getting landed on the second toss.

After catching this bass, I've gone on to use this same swimbait lure on several more California fishing trips. It's landed me some of my biggest urban creek bass and I've very happy with it. After getting hit by a particularly tough bass, you may find that the joints get a bit stiffer at the 2nd section. A few quick wiggles should fix the problem.

The 4'' Hardbait Shad looks great, swims great and definitely catches bass. It's a smaller swimbait with a whole lot of potential, at a fairly reasonable price. I'll be updating this post as I fish with this offering from Real Fish Bait in the future. Until then, if you are intrigued by this smaller swimbait, check it out at their website, available online for $11.99. Tight lines!

[Update March 12, 2012: I've since used the Hardbait Shad on several other fishing trips and have been impressed with its performance. It's definitely a keeper of a lure for me on my urban creek and lake bass trips!]