swim baits help

okay, so i have always wanted to use swim baits but never got around to using or buy any.

so any tips would be great and what would you recommend to use/buy for a beginner like myself.

thanks

Austin

tubefish wrote:okay, so i have always wanted to use swim baits but never got around to using or buy any.

so any tips would be great and what would you recommend to use/buy for a beginner like myself.

thanks

Austin

X2

Hey tubefish and fishntoss,
What do you mean by "swim baits" ?
How big and for what?

bodfish

well, i fish mainly for freshwater large mouth bass

what i mean is, is there a Go-to(or any swim bait) swim bait people use for this species? how they work it. just simple stuff. i haven't ever used on before, so i thought i might as well get started.

I love my swimbaits n pretty much all I throw. It all depends on time of year on what to throw. When the trout trucks stock which is fall-winter an early spring. I bring out the 8"-12" trouts wimbaits. Spring an summer more towards the 3 1/2" - 6" baby bass, bluegill, an shad patterns. With the big baits you gotta have heavy rod n reel to support the weight of the lure when throwin with 20-25 lb test. The 3 1/2 - 6" can b thrown on a normal rod with 10-15 lb test. Were you plan on fishin? might be able to match the forage there.

bodfish wrote:
Hey tubefish and fishntoss,
What do you mean by "swim baits" ?
How big and for what?

bodfish

x2 again

Not up on lake fishing much. If I catch anything it's usually by luck it seems. I know that's fishing but, I don't have alot of knowledge as what to use for bass. Tubefish pretty much hit the nail on the head with his question. I do have some swimbaits. Just no hits with any of the ones I've used in the past. I don't have anything more than 3 inch in size.

As with any fish lure, nothing is a sure thing. Swimbait fishing takes a bit more dedication than other types, i.e. worming or tossing cranks. Also for swimbaits over 6" you need a heavier rig to accommodate the heavier baits, i.e. 8" hudd's, BBZ's ect.

If you plan on throwing for example 6" soft, or hard baits, a good flippin rod and reel will suffice, heck you could even use a good 7' to 7'6" MHF rod for 6" hudds and spro bbz's and those weight baits.

If you plan on throwing 8" baits and bigger, then you need a swimbait specific set up. The reel should be a deep spool, like a Curado 300, or one of the round reels, like a Calcutta. Line needs to be heavier too, most go with 25 to 30 lb mono for these heavier baits. And the reason for a higher capacity reel is, if you throw say a 9" lunker punker, which will cast a long ways, it's possible on a good reel to almost get spooled during the cast, as punkers fly way out there, and also if you happen to hook up with a sizable striper.

I would say for a good starting point, a couple of 6" hudds in trout, a 6" bbz in matted trout, and a 6" lunker punker would be fine. That way if you already have a MH rod, and a decent baitcasting reel, with say 15lb mono, or fluro, your set.

Everyone has their opinion about what rod, reel, and line to use, I have mine, although I didn't mention brand names, I did use models I use, cuz I forgot the other bands models..lol

Also re: swimbaits, they have ROF's, rate of falls, the depth of water you fish will dictate which ROF you choose, they come usually in ROF 0 (floater) ROF 5, ROF 12, and ROF 16 for real deep water. If you fish city park lakes for example, a ROF 5 is best, due to the sallow water, i.e. usually less than 10 ft. deep. Any how, if you have specific questions, don't hesitate to ask.

fishntoss wrote:

bodfish wrote:
Hey tubefish and fishntoss,
What do you mean by "swim baits" ?
How big and for what?

bodfish

x2 again

Not up on lake fishing much. If I catch anything it's usually by luck it seems. I know that's fishing but, I don't have alot of knowledge as what to use for bass. Tubefish pretty much hit the nail on the head with his question. I do have some swimbaits. Just no hits with any of the ones I've used in the past. I don't have anything more than 3 inch in size.

Can you be more specific, i.e brand os baits, and how you fish them, and where do you fish them, i.e. docks, weeds, grass, ect..?

I do fish mostly lakes nowadays(when I can go). I'm just not good at fishing lakes. I try to find weed beds or usually relatively close to shore. When I had a boat, I'd try to get close to limbs from trees hangin in the water and such. Somewhere there might be cover. That's when I'm actually tryin for Bass. Again, my knowledge of bass fishin is next to nothing.
I do have a baitcast setup with a Shimano Citica reel and a Loomis m/h fast action rod. I just need to get out and use it.

use huddlestons, spro bbzs, black dog, triton mike bucca bull shad, and then there is 3:16 hard baits and soft baits. 3:16 hard baits will be hard to get but if you have a chance to get one, get it if you are willing to spend the money. my recommendation is to start off with a rof5 6'' huddleston. for the color i like the juevinille trout. but here is a link for the 6'' huddlestons [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Again, the baits you use should be dictated by the water you fish. A good starting point is a 6" hudd, if the water has lots of weeds, the weedless hudd would be the way to go. If the water is 10' or less, get the ROF 5, up to 20, then get a ROF 12, over 20' deep, then get the ROF 16. If you choose baits that are either slow sink or fast sink, then 10' or less get the slow sink (SS) over 10' then the fast sink.

As aj mentioned 3:16 has some good baits, I'd pass on the hard baits though, to hard to get, and very pricey. One bait I really like from 3:16 is their Mission Fish, it's totally weedless and catches fish, they come in an assortment of colors and sizes, and you fish them just like a jig, or a worm.

The hudd's can be fished in a number of ways, from bottom bouncing them to slow trolling, or just cast and retrieve, slowly, the fish will tell you what works best.

One thing that you need to do, is Stop thinking you can't catch fish, be cause you Can, just takes a bit of practice, and working knowledge of the lake, and your equipment which will come with time on the water, we all went through it, so have some confidence in yourself.. I'm gonna send you a PM for some good reading on how to catch bass. Get out there and fish!!!

Hammer 4 wrote:Again, the baits you use should be dictated by the water you fish. A good starting point is a 6" hudd, if the water has lots of weeds, the weedless hudd would be the way to go. If the water is 10' or less, get the ROF 5, up to 20, then get a ROF 12, over 20' deep, then get the ROF 16. If you choose baits that are either slow sink or fast sink, then 10' or less get the slow sink (SS) over 10' then the fast sink.

As aj mentioned 3:16 has some good baits, I'd pass on the hard baits though, to hard to get, and very pricey. One bait I really like from 3:16 is their Mission Fish, it's totally weedless and catches fish, they come in an assortment of colors and sizes, and you fish them just like a jig, or a worm.

The hudd's can be fished in a number of ways, from bottom bouncing them to slow trolling, or just cast and retrieve, slowly, the fish will tell you what works best.

One thing that you need to do, is Stop thinking you can't catch fish, be cause you Can, just takes a bit of practice, and working knowledge of the lake, and your equipment which will come with time on the water, we all went through it, so have some confidence in yourself.. I'm gonna send you a PM for some good reading on how to catch bass. Get out there and fish!!!

alot of good info hammer but with all the info couple of you guys have given already it sounds like he is not even reading it and too busy saying he cant.

miller wrote:

Hammer 4 wrote:Again, the baits you use should be dictated by the water you fish. A good starting point is a 6" hudd, if the water has lots of weeds, the weedless hudd would be the way to go. If the water is 10' or less, get the ROF 5, up to 20, then get a ROF 12, over 20' deep, then get the ROF 16. If you choose baits that are either slow sink or fast sink, then 10' or less get the slow sink (SS) over 10' then the fast sink.

As aj mentioned 3:16 has some good baits, I'd pass on the hard baits though, to hard to get, and very pricey. One bait I really like from 3:16 is their Mission Fish, it's totally weedless and catches fish, they come in an assortment of colors and sizes, and you fish them just like a jig, or a worm.

The hudd's can be fished in a number of ways, from bottom bouncing them to slow trolling, or just cast and retrieve, slowly, the fish will tell you what works best.

One thing that you need to do, is Stop thinking you can't catch fish, be cause you Can, just takes a bit of practice, and working knowledge of the lake, and your equipment which will come with time on the water, we all went through it, so have some confidence in yourself.. I'm gonna send you a PM for some good reading on how to catch bass. Get out there and fish!!!

alot of good info hammer but with all the info couple of you guys have given already it sounds like he is not even reading it and too busy saying he cant.

well, I'm trying to convince him he Can.. Confidence is a key part of fishing, along with technique, and of course finding the dang fish..LOL

Thanks Hammer for all the INFO THAT I HAVE READ and to the OTHER posts THAT I HAVE READ THRU. When I do get to fish, I prefer streams, which mostly means I like Trout fishing more so than BASS fishing. The few times I've have tried BASS fishing, I haven't had much luck at it as I know very little about BASS fishing. ie: Lake fishing. I have all the confidence in the world that gettin more info than I have NOW, I'll be catching more and bigger BASS. Cheeeesh,,, someone asked a question and I just x2'd it..Where the Heck does it say I don't think I can catch fish..????????????????? Seriously..

Bass can be a tad harder to catch than trout, they are predators and spook fairly easy in some cases. They also are the # 1 targeted fish in the US.

For me right now is the late spawn right now so fairly little bass still on beds but when I do see them on the beds I usually throw my swimbait passed the bed , bring it to it and make a lot of movement with usually with a Huddleston shad then the bass gets pissed and eats it. So If you see any beds right now use a smaller swimbaits because the bass will just chase off the bigger ones

Hey guys,
WOW!,... what a great thread! (post , or whatever,!)

I could go on for pages about swim baits', history, design, technique, and use. But for the simple use of this discussion, let me say that the one thing that swim baits are most responsible for in fishing, is that it they brought the pursuit of BIG fish to the average fisherman. Since their introduction, the idea of catching a personal best has been reduced from years of long pursuit, to a moment in the right place at the right time for many more fisherman than ever before. They are a big fish lure, and if you apply enough effort and time, you WILL catch your personal best using them. There are a handful of lures that are BIG fish oriented and the swim bait is by far at the top of the list. BIG fish fishing is an ATTITUDE, a mental discipline, and a personal commitment, and swim baits are the simplest and easiest way to "step up your game" toward this. I recommend that everyone who is interested in catching a BIG fish, learn what it takes to become a swim bait fisherman.

About 20 years ago during the heyday of the "trout" swim bait craze, a few of my friends and I decided we would pursue the swim bait technique with a passion. We fished the baits religiously for about five years, sometimes fishing nothing else for weeks on end. Spent literally, thousands of dollars on hand made trout baits and the early Castaic Bait lures. As a result, myself and at least two others blew up our shoulders, causing permanent damage. But during that same time caught (between about eight of us) over 80 fish,weighing 10lbs +. No lie just fact. My personal best, on a home made swim bait, was just a hair under 16, We would cast hundreds of times in a day to get, maybe, three bites, possibly no captures. But we lived for the BITE!!!
I can no longer cast the big baits because of the damage I have caused my shoulders from casting those damn things.


Swim Baits? You bet! If you are really interested in pursuing BIG fish, I suggest you make the commitment, change your attitude and technique and step up to the big leagues!! Hee Hee!!

bodfish

PS BIG fish fishing is a whole different set of skills, mindset, mechanics and philosophy, It is a commitment, both mentally and spiritually. I encourage everyone to go there at least once......!!!!