Hi DaithiO,
When you mention lures it sounds like you are talking about spinning for them. It was always my thinking this time of the year the spinning dies out and its more bait fishing for bass. Many reasons for this, but you need day light to spin as most marks for spinning are rocky so its far too dangerous and this time of the year we dont we dont get a lot of day light. The tides can also be must rougher in the winter so its not safe to head to many rock marks. Along with the rocks been always wet from the rain and rougher tides can make them more slippy and its not easy to cast a lure if strong winds are in your face. Basically light gear like spinning is usually kept for the finer times of the year. Now I may be wrong but I dont know anybody here that spins in the winter. It will be March/April again before I take out the spinning rod anyway. Regarding lures, there is loads and loads, but starting off you cant go to wrong with soft plastics and jelly lures, dexter wedge, german sprat, plugs, tobys and surface lures . With regards to depth it depends on the venue. If its very shallow and a place that you could get stuck in weed and rocks then maybe surface poppers are your best bet.Poppers mimic an injuired fish and it spits out water in front of it so it looks like a struggling fish making a racket and it will stay on top of the water all the time. If you have more of a depth to play with you can get loads of different diving lures that will run at depths from just under the surface at 1 foot to 20 feet or greater. Isnt technology great. At the start I would get a few lures that mimic sandeel, sprat, herring, mackerel, pollock and whiting. The main things bass would be chasing and eating. Dont spind a lot as it could take you a while to figuire out what works best and you could lose a lot of lures at the begining. For example dont use a German sprat in very shallow water as it will sink fast and get stuck. If the area is weedy you can get weedless jelly lures that you put your hook inside the lure so it picks up no weed. Honestly its really hard to give you a straight answer to your questions as its all a trial and error for you to figuire out what kind of ground you are fishing over and how deep the water is. You could cheat and ask local lads that fish if there is any thats fishes best but do not take the answers you get to heart as not everybody will tell you what is working best so you might have to put the time and effort in to figuire it out. It will be much more rewarding for you when you figuire it out yourself and hook a 6 pounder. Go on to youtube and watch Henry Gilby spinning, you could pick up a few tips from him.
If you have surf fishing gear like a beach caster or a light bass rod why not have a crack at shore fishing for them. Pm me if you need help with rigs or need any suggestions. But if you can make a running ledger, pullley rig, flapper rigs then they will do the trick for you. You can buy them at you local angling shop usually but your better off learning how to make your own as you can control the size of your hook snoods.Using fluro 15lb or less works for me for my snood. Its going to cost a bit to get all the bits at the start but its a better job,dont forget a crimper when making rigs. Regards to bait, again the venue is key, estuaries crab works best, surf beaches crab, lug, sandeel works best for me. But squid, razor fish and mackerel can beat any bait in the winter at times. Hard to beat fresh lug in my opinion. With regards to tide cyclesI cant really answer you but its said a few days before full and new moons work well. I dont take much notice of that, I head out when I get a good surf on a surf beach or if there is a poor surf I try estuaries and tidal flat venues, but surf beaches can be mighty after a storm as there is loads of bait washed up so it can prompt a lot of fish to come in close to feed. I find 2 hours before and 2 hours after low water can be great in most places down here. Also a few hours before and fished up to high tide can work well. Also fishing the flood from low up to high water can be great. And I know a venue or two that fishes very well on the ebb and I got my best ever bass of 7 and a half pounds in one of those venues a few hours after high water. So dont ever think the tide isnt right unless you have tried that tide a few times as every place can be different. Keep a diary and record results. Keep note of venue, date, bait used, where the wind was coming from, height of tide if you have a tide times book and how rough it was. It can be a great tool to come back to when your trying to decide between a few venues at a certain time of the year. Also record any other catches you hear of. I know one place here that fishes mighty the month of April here and can be hit and miss the rest of the year but by recoding catches I can see back through the years April in this venue was always great. Im rambling now a bit but if you need any more info feel free to ask, but the biggest tip I can give you is keep it simple and put in the time. Dont give up even if you have gone a long period without catching one, it happens to everybody. And last but not least obey the bass laws and put those silver bars back so in years to come you can meet its young ones