Medium Sized Swimbaits?

[BigBassin144]

I'm looking into trying swimbaits this year, and I wanted to get a couple medium sized ones. I've got two 4"ers already, but I want something in the 6-8" range. I don't want to spend a ton either. If possible, I'd like to keep it under $25 per bait.

I really wanted hard swimbaits, but I've been hearing a lot of good about the 6 and 8" Hudds. I was also looking at the new 6" Spro BBZ-1.

I will be fishing these in a lake that has some really big bass, but also some huge Musky. They both gorge on the hundreds of thousands of 3-5" crappie, lol. The Musky is why I didn't want to spend more than 20-25 bucks a piece. I won't spend more than our most expensive musky lure, lol.

Any other suggestions from the swimbait guys on here?

BB

[Kevin]

Hi Anthony.. great question. My favorite size swimbait here out East is 6 inches. While I do use bigger and smaller swimbaits, the 6-inch is really my go-to.

One of my absolute favorite lures, and one I fish a lot, is the Osprey Winged Talon. It is a 6" soft line-thru swimbait. I prefer the soft line-thu's over the hard swimbaits because of the the increased landing percentages. I lose a lot of fish on hard swimbaits.

When you hook a fish on the line-thru Winged Talon, that big bait will slide up your line, just like a texas-rigged worm would do. It eliminates a lot of leverage that bass have with hardbaits to throw the hooks.

As to hard swimbaits... I tend to use the floating ones more. The 6" BBZ-1 is really nice and about as good as it gets, design-wise. One hot tactic is deadsticking these floating hard swimbaits in wind and waves. You just can't do this stuff with the soft swimbaits.

I'd definitely recommend trying out the Osprey Winged Talon in 'Shad' color.

Hope this helps!

Kevin

[BigBassin144]

Thanks Kevin, I'll check the Osprey swimbaits out, they look nice.

BB

[Bassboss]

I agree with Kevin, I go loose quite a few fish with hard swimbaits as appose to hard ones, with the hard ones they seem to get more leverage to shake to the hook, with the softer swim baits, they flex, so they just can't get the leverage they need to throw the hook. One swim bait I got late last year was the jackall Swimming Ninja, I really liked this bait a lot, and caught quite a few nice fish on. The hook to land ration on it is VERY good, they get the back hook and because of the flex, the front one comes around and sticks them. I had the hitch color. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Jacka...cpage-JSN.html

Unfortunately, you can't reel them to fast, they tend to roll, and loose some of it's action.

[Strike_King 609]

6" Spro BBZ-1 is a great bait. I can throw it a mile. Its action is Great too. I would also pick up the sexy swimmer from Strike King. Its action is great too. I would stay away from the smaller Sexy swimmers i feel that the action is far less for the money. Yum make great soft swimbaits I fish the Big Money Minnows last year they were deadly for me in the middle of the summer. You cant pick up all this up for under $40.00 you have to do like i do every friday night i surf all the fishing tackle sites. Thats when they put up the weekend sales. Check out www.Landbigfish.com and www.lurenet.com both have great buys every weekend. good luck on the water.

[Rebbasser]

Kevin-does that swimbait use a single hook? I have used the Missionfish by 3:16 that looks very similar.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Rebbasser

Kevin-does that swimbait use a single hook? I have used the Missionfish by 3:16 that looks very similar.

Hi Reb.. The Winged Talon uses a single treble hook.

The 3:16 Mission Fish (another great lure - I use for bed fishing mostly), is primarily used with a single EWG or Swimbait hook (not a treble). I guess you could probably rig one with a treble, but I haven't since I primarily jig them on beds.

The 3:16 Mission Fish is a much thinner and lighter bait than the Osprey Winged Talon.

[Rebbasser]

Thanks for the info, Kevin. I'll have to look into those!

[BigBassin144]

Thanks guys. I got about 4 packs of YUM money minnows (two regular and two of the fat money minnows) for like 5 bucks a pack at a show. I've also got a pack of Poor Boy's Silly Rabbit, and some SK Shadalicious swimbaits that were on sale at TW.

Everyone seems to like the Spros and $20 for the 6" is a great value, and frankly, I'm surprised they didn't price them higher. I think I may get one of the Ospreys and a 6" Hudd.

If anyone has any more recommendations, let me know, the monkey will appreciate it.

Thanks again,

BB

[screwballl]

One of my favorites is the classic 5" Yum Money Minnow. It is a hollow body so it handles swimbait or EWG hooks (weighted or weightless) like a champ, and it has excellent motion weighted or weightless.
For lakes with shad, I use the Pearl or shad colors, for the others, I use the bluegill colors.

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

Thanks guys. I got about 4 packs of YUM money minnows (two regular and two of the fat money minnows) for like 5 bucks a pack at a show. I've also got a pack of Poor Boy's Silly Rabbit, and some SK Shadalicious swimbaits that were on sale at TW.

Everyone seems to like the Spros and $20 for the 6" is a great value, and frankly, I'm surprised they didn't price them higher. I think I may get one of the Ospreys and a 6" Hudd.

If anyone has any more recommendations, let me know, the monkey will appreciate it.

Thanks again,

BB

Hmm.. bad call on the fat money minnows, they're life less pieces of plastic!

[BassinNC]

Originally Posted by Bassboss

Hmm.. bad call on the fat money minnows, they're life less pieces of plastic!

I have to agree. I have never had any luck with them but I hope they work for you.

[Jrob78]

If you can get a hold of any Academy H20 hard swimbaits I highly recommend them. I realize that there aren't Academy's up your way but they do sell them on Ebay. The larger sized ones have a great action. They retail for about $8 a piece.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3593/...eaa4da8bfa.jpg

[screwballl]

Originally Posted by Bassboss

Hmm.. bad call on the fat money minnows, they're life less pieces of plastic!

hmmmm
Not sure if you got a bad batch or just takes a little practice with them but I have found these to be more lifelike than most other soft swimbaits. I have also found these tend to work better with a slow to medium retrieve. Running it too fast causes odd movements.

[3dkicker]

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

I really wanted hard swimbaits, but I've been hearing a lot of good about the 6 and 8" Hudds. I was also looking at the new 6" Spro BBZ-1.
BB

I did well last year on the Sebile swimbaits both the 6" and 4" slow sinking models. Only problem is that they don't suspend and come up quickly when you retrieve them. I did find that if you kneel and reel you can keep them down in the 4' range. Other than that they run just under the surface and when the bass come up and suck them down it's a lot of fun. I don't think I've lost a fish yet on them.
You can get them on sale for around $12 too.

[BigBassin144]

Bassboss, I'm assuming you had a bad experience with the Fat Money Minnows? What don't you like about em?

Originally Posted by 3dkicker

I did well last year on the Sebile swimbaits both the 6" and 4" slow sinking models. Only problem is that they don't suspend and come up quickly when you retrieve them. I did find that if you kneel and reel you can keep them down in the 4' range. Other than that they run just under the surface and when the bass come up and suck them down it's a lot of fun. I don't think I've lost a fish yet on them.
You can get them on sale for around $12 too.

Man, I forgot about the Sebile Magic Swimmer. I'll have to add one to my list of possibilities. Thanks 3d.

BB

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

Bassboss, I'm assuming you had a bad experience with the Fat Money Minnows? What don't you like about em?
BB

I didn't like the action, it didn't have much at all, it just kinda swam through the water with little tail movement (compared to other soft swimbaits). After fishing it for two week ends and not catching any fish, I just gave up on them and put them in the back of tackle box so to speak.

p.s. You may wanna check out the new Jerry Rango BV 3D swimbaits, there's a article on tackle tour about them. They looked pretty nice, not to much$ either

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Jerry...age-JRIGH.html

[cassidyta]

As of late, the catch-22 has been my go to 6" soft bodied swimbait.
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Casta...ge-CSCTSS.html. They are great on Bass, but I do not know how they would do when facing the musky.

I was recently given two of the castaic rock hard baits and will say that I am rather impressed with them They are on the edge of your price range, but perform equal to baits double the price. Only the trout is available for purchase now, with the rest of the arsenal out in May.
http://store.castaicswimbait.com/Cat...Hard-Swimbaits

On the topic of the money minnow, I would disagree with saying it was a waste. I think that they can be a great bait to trigger a strike when the fish are a little lock jawed.
Sometimes you want a subtle tail kick to represent the dying fish more than one that is swimming like an olympian.

[danielbasspro]

I been throwin a money minnow. But it seems the skinny dipper is the way to go its very big down here right now

[bassinbob]

I have to agrere on the money minnow for paddle tail soft swimbaits. Tried 3 or 4 brands and they caught bass. I'll be using the Hudd 6" weedless this year. I have been reading a lot about swimbaits and the Hudds seem to be reguarded pretty good. If you find a good bluegill bait BB let me know.

[Naevulle]

Though most of the hard swimbaits are over your price range take a look at mattlures.com. They have become about the only swimbaits I will use anymore. The quality is top notch and they look more like a real fish than anything else I have used. Matt's support is better than anyone I have ever worked with. I use his bluegill series quite a bit and I have even had other bluegills swim with it as if it was a real fish.

[BigBassin144]

Naevulle, how, those hardbaits are expensive, but I like the looks of some of mattlures soft swimbaits, Especially hte yellow perch. I'd like to try a good yellow perch swimbait, but they're hard to find. And they are a great price!

Have you used any of the soft swimbaits?

Thanks for the recommendation.

[Naevulle]

I order mine from the website. I had a problem with on of his hardgill bluegills one time and he overnighted a new one to me free of charge to replace it. His ultimate bluegill series is the best soft swimbait I have ever used (about $23). All of his stuff is very durable. He hand makes all of them, that is why they are hard to find, but his attention to detail is awesome. That detail is what makes them so effective, especially for the larger, harder to tempt bass. As you know, if a bass sees something wrong they avoid it. The larger bass seem to be a bit more picky about things like that. I know they cost more but compared to others on the market in the same catagory, his prices are very good. I can't buy more than 1 or 2 at a time as the boss ( I mean the wiife) raises all heck. She just does not understand my spending $60 for one bait yet she will spend $300 for a bag that hangs over her shoulder lol. To each his/her own I guess.

I am not saying that you have to buy his stuff but to just consider one in the future. If you live in a area with big bass his lures are hard to beat in the swimbait market.

[Cavs1123]

I'd try the sexy swimmer

[WTL]

Oh great anth, I didn't know spro offered a 6" bbz....thanks for blowing 20 dollars of my money. Geez...