I had some luck last year with the 4” Cabela’s Spro knock-off reeling it quickly & keeping it just below the surface, although not waking. I caught a 16” 2.5lb crappie the very first cast I made with it in 10, although I didn’t start throwing it very much until late last year. I haven’t had any luck with the Sexy Swimmer knock offs I have, but I haven’t exactly thrown them much either. I really like throwing 4-5” soft swimbaits, especially the Shadalicious. I have some Berkley Hollow Bellies, but they seem to float more than the SKs, which I don’t care for. I use either an Owner Beast Lock hook for fishing around weeds or a 3/8oz 3/0 swimbait head. I think I’ll be throwing the weedless rigged swimbaits on braid this year to help get a good hook-set, which I have had problems with on mono & fluoro. The exposed hook though worked great with fluoro & I think I only had one fish throw it on me this last fall.
here is a picture of the Joe Bucher swimbaits i got from OBT, they are 5” and are a hard head covered with a plastic. i like the colors. the tail section has several cuts that allows for lifelike tail movement. and they only cost about $2.75 each
Man those would not last long around pike. You’d have a tail-less swimbait.
You are right but fortunately where i fish only 1 pond has any pike it it and they are all small. i wouldn’t mind sacrificing one for the fight of a nice pike or muskie though. good looking bait for $2.75
here is a picture of the Joe Bucher swimbaits i got from OBT, they are 5” and are a hard head covered with a plastic. i like the colors. the tail section has several cuts that allows for lifelike tail movement. and they only cost about $2.75 each
How do you fish swimbaits and what time of the year? Is it a lure you throw to get numbers or do you use it to target the bigger, wiser fish looking for a more natural moving bait? I’ve always heard swimbaits are good for larger fish and, as a lure, do not catch the number of fish way a reaction bait does, however the quality of fish is usually superior. Can you confirm this? I’m spooked by them honestly. I threw the hell out of them and got nothing but followers as if I was fishing post cold front. The instant I switched over to a reaction bait I slayed these same fish. I’m apprehensive about dropping some cash on the hard bait models and do not like the hollow body boot tails. Are there any affordable soft swimbaits that you consider good?
definitely targeting bigger fish. bigger bait, bigger fish right. fish fairly slow so you get the right motion. you can wake it or let it sink deep or anywhere in between. one trick is to kill it and the swimbait will swim a little erratically on it’s own if you give it a little slack line. you can stop it and push your rod at it for this effect. bass might think it is injured and attack it. i think they work better in clearer water and around actively feeding fish. if you see shad jumping or anything that looks like a bass chasing a meal is a good time to throw it in there. flats would be good and deep water off the flats. we will see, hope i have good luck with these.
here is a picture of the Joe Bucher swimbaits i got from OBT, they are 5” and are a hard head covered with a plastic. i like the colors. the tail section has several cuts that allows for lifelike tail movement. and they only cost about $2.75 each
How do you fish swimbaits and what time of the year? Is it a lure you throw to get numbers or do you use it to target the bigger, wiser fish looking for a more natural moving bait? I’ve always heard swimbaits are good for larger fish and, as a lure, do not catch the number of fish way a reaction bait does, however the quality of fish is usually superior. Can you confirm this? I’m spooked by them honestly. I threw the hell out of them and got nothing but followers as if I was fishing post cold front. The instant I switched over to a reaction bait I slayed these same fish. I’m apprehensive about dropping some cash on the hard bait models and do not like the hollow body boot tails. Are there any affordable soft swimbaits that you consider good?
the only time i fish a swimbait is when I want two or three bites and two or three fish over 3lbs. I dont get alot of bites on them at all. but if its slightly windy, the water is just partially stained, and I want to really work a nice weed edge or something like that, a swimbait can really bail me out.
I agree about reaction baits catching the fish that wont hit a swimbait. But what about the big fish that wont hit a reaction bait? when I fish one of these Im looking for the pissed off big momma thats tucked up in the weeds and has seen a crankbait or spinnerbait a million times.
I like shadalicious swimbaits. they are cheap but effective, just make sure you throw them with a nicely weighted swimbait hook so they dont turn over on you.
here is a picture of the Joe Bucher swimbaits i got from OBT, they are 5” and are a hard head covered with a plastic. i like the colors. the tail section has several cuts that allows for lifelike tail movement. and they only cost about $2.75 each
How do you fish swimbaits and what time of the year? Is it a lure you throw to get numbers or do you use it to target the bigger, wiser fish looking for a more natural moving bait? I’ve always heard swimbaits are good for larger fish and, as a lure, do not catch the number of fish way a reaction bait does, however the quality of fish is usually superior. Can you confirm this? I’m spooked by them honestly. I threw the hell out of them and got nothing but followers as if I was fishing post cold front. The instant I switched over to a reaction bait I slayed these same fish. I’m apprehensive about dropping some cash on the hard bait models and do not like the hollow body boot tails. Are there any affordable soft swimbaits that you consider good?
the only time i fish a swimbait is when I want two or three bites and two or three fish over 3lbs. I dont get alot of bites on them at all. but if its slightly windy, the water is just partially stained, and I want to really work a nice weed edge or something like that, a swimbait can really bail me out.
I agree about reaction baits catching the fish that wont hit a swimbait. But what about the big fish that wont hit a reaction bait? when I fish one of these Im looking for the pissed off big momma thats tucked up in the weeds and has seen a crankbait or spinnerbait a million times.
I like shadalicious swimbaits. they are cheap but effective, just make sure you throw them with a nicely weighted swimbait hook so they dont turn over on you.
My experience has been exactly the opposite. I catch lots of fish on 5” hollow body swimbaits and hardly anything on the hard swimbaits.
Interesting. What do you, if anything, contribute to the success of the hollow bellies over the hard baits? I didn’t care for the action of the hollow bodies as it was really subtle but perhaps that is good. What do I know? I got more interest from the fish and action out of the bait when I rigged a spit ring onto the hook line tie and added my own hook weights to the baits. I might have been fishing the wrong time of year with the lures, however I believe a bait should produce any time of the year but swimbaits seem to be a pre-spawn through spawn bait from what I gather. I have the same results with lipless cranks. I can’t buy a bite on them past a pre-prespawn (like late ice out and the fish move shallow to warm) movement and the later pre-spawn bite. When the water is warm lipless cranks = pike bait for me. I refuse to bed fish do to a moral stance but if I did, I would totally throw some bed robbing swimbait imitators and pay big bucks for ‘em too.
I fish the basstrix baits. Better action in my opinion. 90% of the time im fishing it on a leadhead jig with the hook exposed. Steady retrieve, either counted down to depth or as a wake bait.
Ill fish them near grass, standing timber, rip-rap, shallow ditches or ledges. When the bass are shallow, ill throw them.
My experience has been exactly the opposite. I catch lots of fish on 5” hollow body swimbaits and hardly anything on the hard swimbaits.
Interesting. What do you, if anything, contribute to the success of the hollow bellies over the hard baits? I didn’t care for the action of the hollow bodies as it was really subtle but perhaps that is good. What do I know? I got more interest from the fish and action out of the bait when I rigged a spit ring onto the hook line tie and added my own hook weights to the baits. I might have been fishing the wrong time of year with the lures, however I believe a bait should produce any time of the year but swimbaits seem to be a pre-spawn through spawn bait from what I gather. I have the same results with lipless cranks. I can’t buy a bite on them past a pre-prespawn (like late ice out and the fish move shallow to warm) movement and the later pre-spawn bite. When the water is warm lipless cranks = pike bait for me. I refuse to bed fish do to a moral stance but if I did, I would totally throw some bed robbing swimbait imitators and pay big bucks for ‘em too.
I leave bedding bass alone too. where i fish there aren’t that many bass to begin with and if i disturb a big female, maybe that would put her off her spawn and i don’t want to do that.
I fish the basstrix baits. Better action in my opinion. 90% of the time im fishing it on a leadhead jig with the hook exposed. Steady retrieve, either counted down to depth or as a wake bait.
Ill fish them near grass, standing timber, rip-rap, shallow ditches or ledges. When the bass are shallow, ill throw them.
What jighead is that twitch? I can’t seem to find any that have a long enough hook for me…...Granted I could use my 7/16 or 3/8 weedless ball jig head without the weedguard if need be
You know, I really cant remember. I know I grabbed them at BPS because of the longer shank. I think they are Gammakatsu.
I picked up some Buckeye J-Will heads and some Jewel Swim Gems to try out this year. The hook isnt a light wire like the one in the pic and they should hold up in case I do hook a good one.
