My year with swimbaits...so far.

Garry2rs · 08-07-10, 04:32 PM

I'm new to swimbaits in the last 9 months.

Since reading Bill Siemantel's book "Big Bass Zone" I have caught a lot of fish on both soft and hard bodied swimbaits. I have not caught anything like the 15 or 20 pounders he catches, but those fish don't live near me!

On the other hand, I've been using the 6 inch models, not the 10"+ baits that the San Diego crowd swear by...grin.

Making these baits work...Gaining confidence in them...Has been the real challenge. Along the way I have had to make some adjustments and learn some new technique that I'd like to share.

The first thing that I found was that I had to slow way down!

This was made more difficult because over the last few years the gears ratios on bass reels have become faster and faster...going from an average of 5.3 ten years ago to an average of 6.3 now. At the same time it seems that every new reel that is introduced is a 7.1 or quicker.

All this speed is fine, but swimbaits, in my opinion, need to move slowly. I'm sure that the big ones will wear you out the same way musky lures do. Even the "small" six inch models seem to work best when you slow them down to a crawl.

The second thing I noticed was that they seem to like a steady retrieve, with just the occasional change of speed or direction.

At first I was using a Skeet Reese type Jerkbait retrieve...jerk-jerk-jerk...pause...jerk-jerk-jerk...

This turned out to be a No-Go!

Winding at a steady rate, then pausing, worked much better. As I recall, most of my strikes came in the middle of the retrieve when I was doing nothing special.

The soft plastic models I tried were a big disappointment. They look great in the water and feel lifelike, but one Pike or Musky pretty well destroys them...That wasn't a big surprise, but what was a shocker was that even a couple of mid-size, 3-4 pound Bass, tore them up quickly.

I have now switched to hard swimbaits. The longest surviving one I have is a Sebile Magic Swimmer. It has caught Pike, Musky and Bass and is still in good shape.

Although they aren't jointed and have a diving lip, the Kooper, Live Target baits, with their super-high detail finish seem to fall into the swimbait category. In my mind they can stand a lot of close scrutiny. I'm sure the new jointed models will be killers when they are available.

In the meantime, stuck in Canada with duty and taxes, on anything I order from "Stateside," not to mention those brokerage house bandits, I've been on the lookout for something a little less pricey that the $18.00US. Sebile baits.

Last week a friend told me he has caught over 20 bass on an $8.00 bait made by Matzuo. It's called a Triple Play. The bait is triple jointed like the Sebile bait and runs a little deeper at 2' to 4' feet. Unlike the lipless Sebile, this bait has a small diving lip. I bought two of the 6" size and they both seem to work quite well for Bass in my area.
Garry2R's

Bassboss · 08-07-10, 06:15 PM

Thanks for the wite up Gary!!

I'm pretty much doing the same thing with mine, I'll give it a few twitches after a pause it than start reeling it up, simply got randomness. I need to learn to slow down though, I'd LOVE to get a swimbait combo too with a 5:1 reel.

I'm loving the spro swimbaits, bbz-1, I'ce caught three bass on them over 5 pounds this year, among others - they're working real well. I've also caught a few on my 7" TT, nothing over 3lbs though, lol! Others I'd like to try are the 4" TT, and River2Sea v-joint 160, and 135.

I've used a friends v-joint before, and it's got some sweet action! You stop it and it sits there folded a little, and tilted to the side. It SCREAMS, dieing minnow!

And at under 15 bucks a pop, looks like something I'll be getting for sure!

I just wish it dove a bit deeper.

cassidyta · 08-07-10, 07:24 PM

Garry,

Good job adjusting to your location. While I agree not to use them as a jerk bait, there is a time when jerking them is best. Often when I have a follower who won't commit, I will give the line a lot of slack that then one quick jerk. On a lot of jointed swimbaits, this will cause the bait to turn and face the bass. This has triggered many a strike for me over the years.
I would also say don't give up on the soft bodied totally. There will be a time where you feel a lot better about throwing a soft bodied into a spot than one with dangling hooks.

Bubba_Bruiser · 08-07-10, 07:28 PM

A good friend of mine throws the big boys and I know what you mean about getting wore out. He throws some that tip towards 4-6 oz and I lasted about half an hour on one hahaha. I have been wanting to pick up one of those Sebile's myself though. All I ever see him use on his is a slow steady retrieve too.

Jim80 · 08-09-10, 06:05 PM

Gary I throw the soft bodied ones a lot because most of the places i fish are super weedy . They produce and almost always catch fish .

Jim

Bassboss · 08-09-10, 06:24 PM

Finnaly slowed down a little, payed off well with a 4lber?

Nice and slow, and a few pause. I still want that swim bait combo though!

Krtismo · 08-10-10, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassboss

I've used a friends v-joint before, and it's got some sweet action! You stop it and it sits there folded a little, and tilted to the side. It SCREAMS, dieing minnow!

And at under 15 bucks a pop, looks like something I'll be getting for sure!

I just wish it dove a bit deeper.

Who makes this V-Joint? I haven't heard of it.

And what kind of soft swimbaits have you guys been using? Hollow bodied swimbaits or rigged softbody swimbaits?

Bassboss · 08-10-10, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krtismo

Who makes this V-Joint? I haven't heard of it.

And what kind of soft swimbaits have you guys been using? Hollow bodied swimbaits or rigged softbody swimbaits?

River2Sea makes the V-Joint, here's a link. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/River...age-R2SVM.html

walkeraviator · 08-10-10, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krtismo

And what kind of soft swimbaits have you guys been using? Hollow bodied swimbaits or rigged softbody swimbaits?

Ditto to this question. It seems that in the bass community everyone is going with hollow body swim baits with the weighted hooks rigged weedless... But does anyone do the good old fashioned paddle tail on a jig head with teh hook just stickin up out the back? requires a lot less effort to set the hook... even with mono and a lot of line out. This is how i caught all my specks when bay fishin in TX.

Question is, can this tactic work for bass? 4" paddle tail (bass asssassin turbo shad) on a jighead.... say a red shad color in dark water or at night and a white pearl or shad patteren in the day in clearer water???

Krtismo · 08-10-10, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassboss

River2Sea makes the V-Joint, here's a link. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/River2Sea_V-Joint_Minnow/descpage-R2SVM.html

Oops, I should have read your first post closer!

I just bought a 3" and a 4" Reaction Strike Revolution Shad off ebay for about $9 shipped each. Both are the slow sinking model. I should be able to give them a try this weekend and I'll report back on them.

cassidyta · 08-10-10, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkeraviator

Ditto to this question. It seems that in the bass community everyone is going with hollow body swim baits with the weighted hooks rigged weedless... But does anyone do the good old fashioned paddle tail on a jig head with teh hook just stickin up out the back? requires a lot less effort to set the hook... even with mono and a lot of line out. This is how i caught all my specks when bay fishin in TX.

Question is, can this tactic work for bass? 4" paddle tail (bass asssassin turbo shad) on a jighead.... say a red shad color in dark water or at night and a white pearl or shad patteren in the day in clearer water???

Yes it works. I have been doing it for a while. It doesn't do as well as in the bay, but I have gotten many bass off of it.

walkeraviator · 08-10-10, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cassidyta

Yes it works. I have been doing it for a while. It doesn't do as well as in the bay, but I have gotten many bass off of it.

what colors and what size jighead?

cassidyta · 08-10-10, 11:50 PM

I usually throw blue with white in my area. I throw a 1/2 oz jig head and yo-yo it on my retrieve.
I use them next to large boulders. I let it slide down the boulder and then jerk it away quickly. Most strikes come after the first jerk when the bait starts to fall again. As though the fish tried to flee from the waiting predator.

08-07-10, 04:32 PM	#1
Garry2rs BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: AZ. USA. and Ont. Canada Posts: 145	My year with swimbaits...so far. I'm new to swimbaits in the last 9 months. Since reading Bill Siemantel's book "Big Bass Zone" I have caught a lot of fish on both soft and hard bodied swimbaits. I have not caught anything like the 15 or 20 pounders he catches, but those fish don't live near me! On the other hand, I've been using the 6 inch models, not the 10"+ baits that the San Diego crowd swear by...grin. Making these baits work...Gaining confidence in them...Has been the real challenge. Along the way I have had to make some adjustments and learn some new technique that I'd like to share. The first thing that I found was that I had to slow way down! This was made more difficult because over the last few years the gears ratios on bass reels have become faster and faster...going from an average of 5.3 ten years ago to an average of 6.3 now. At the same time it seems that every new reel that is introduced is a 7.1 or quicker. All this speed is fine, but swimbaits, in my opinion, need to move slowly. I'm sure that the big ones will wear you out the same way musky lures do. Even the "small" six inch models seem to work best when you slow them down to a crawl. The second thing I noticed was that they seem to like a steady retrieve, with just the occasional change of speed or direction. At first I was using a Skeet Reese type Jerkbait retrieve...jerk-jerk-jerk...pause...jerk-jerk-jerk... This turned out to be a No-Go! Winding at a steady rate, then pausing, worked much better. As I recall, most of my strikes came in the middle of the retrieve when I was doing nothing special. The soft plastic models I tried were a big disappointment. They look great in the water and feel lifelike, but one Pike or Musky pretty well destroys them...That wasn't a big surprise, but what was a shocker was that even a couple of mid-size, 3-4 pound Bass, tore them up quickly. I have now switched to hard swimbaits. The longest surviving one I have is a Sebile Magic Swimmer. It has caught Pike, Musky and Bass and is still in good shape. Although they aren't jointed and have a diving lip, the Kooper, Live Target baits, with their super-high detail finish seem to fall into the swimbait category. In my mind they can stand a lot of close scrutiny. I'm sure the new jointed models will be killers when they are available. In the meantime, stuck in Canada with duty and taxes, on anything I order from "Stateside," not to mention those brokerage house bandits, I've been on the lookout for something a little less pricey that the $18.00US. Sebile baits. Last week a friend told me he has caught over 20 bass on an $8.00 bait made by Matzuo. It's called a Triple Play. The bait is triple jointed like the Sebile bait and runs a little deeper at 2' to 4' feet. Unlike the lipless Sebile, this bait has a small diving lip. I bought two of the 6" size and they both seem to work quite well for Bass in my area. Garry2R's

08-07-10, 06:15 PM	#2
Bassboss BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Shawano, WI Posts: 7,761	Thanks for the wite up Gary!! I'm pretty much doing the same thing with mine, I'll give it a few twitches after a pause it than start reeling it up, simply got randomness. I need to learn to slow down though, I'd LOVE to get a swimbait combo too with a 5:1 reel. I'm loving the spro swimbaits, bbz-1, I'ce caught three bass on them over 5 pounds this year, among others - they're working real well. I've also caught a few on my 7" TT, nothing over 3lbs though, lol! Others I'd like to try are the 4" TT, and River2Sea v-joint 160, and 135. I've used a friends v-joint before, and it's got some sweet action! You stop it and it sits there folded a little, and tilted to the side. It SCREAMS, dieing minnow! And at under 15 bucks a pop, looks like something I'll be getting for sure! I just wish it dove a bit deeper. __________________ If you can't fix it with heavy squats or fish oil, you're probably going to die.

08-07-10, 07:24 PM	#3
cassidyta BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 2,928	Garry, Good job adjusting to your location. While I agree not to use them as a jerk bait, there is a time when jerking them is best. Often when I have a follower who won't commit, I will give the line a lot of slack that then one quick jerk. On a lot of jointed swimbaits, this will cause the bait to turn and face the bass. This has triggered many a strike for me over the years. I would also say don't give up on the soft bodied totally. There will be a time where you feel a lot better about throwing a soft bodied into a spot than one with dangling hooks. __________________ If you have ever wondered if you should retie, the answer is yes.

08-07-10, 07:28 PM	#4
Bubba_Bruiser BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: South MS Posts: 3,659	A good friend of mine throws the big boys and I know what you mean about getting wore out. He throws some that tip towards 4-6 oz and I lasted about half an hour on one hahaha. I have been wanting to pick up one of those Sebile's myself though. All I ever see him use on his is a slow steady retrieve too. __________________ \,,,,/ ROCK ON! HRN4L!

08-09-10, 06:05 PM	#5
Jim80 BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Thomaston CT Posts: 3,862	Gary I throw the soft bodied ones a lot because most of the places i fish are super weedy . They produce and almost always catch fish . Jim __________________ In memory of Zooker 1/11/73-7/2/2010. You will be sorely missed and never forgotten.

08-09-10, 06:24 PM	#6
Bassboss BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Shawano, WI Posts: 7,761	Finnaly slowed down a little, payed off well with a 4lber? Nice and slow, and a few pause. I still want that swim bait combo though! __________________ If you can't fix it with heavy squats or fish oil, you're probably going to die.

08-10-10, 11:50 PM	#13
cassidyta BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 2,928	I usually throw blue with white in my area. I throw a 1/2 oz jig head and yo-yo it on my retrieve. I use them next to large boulders. I let it slide down the boulder and then jerk it away quickly. Most strikes come after the first jerk when the bait starts to fall again. As though the fish tried to flee from the waiting predator. __________________ If you have ever wondered if you should retie, the answer is yes.

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