Swimbaits?

[mainebasser]

Do you use them? What kind do you use? I fish smallies in Maine, that means there are pike and chain pickerel around, I don't need a $30 lure,that would be silly. I have seen some video of the LA Slider- The action looks great, but I know that doesn't always translate into catching fish. Do you guys have any ideas of what I should look at. I'd love some in a alewife or yellow perch pattern.

[mike bat]

ok so if you just wanna see what a swim bait will do in your waters ,,,, try a storm swimbait there are many different styles and sizes ..  most are fairly cheap ..... if you want a better bait all around you may wanna look at some mattlures .... the guy that makes these baits is outta calli .... he is a stand up guy and makes some of the best swimmers around ..... IMO of course .... i use the baby bass series and will be tossin the blue gill .... these swimbaits arent huge so you wont need a swimbait rod .... you can get away with a heavy filping stick ..... matts baits are around 1-2ozs .....  mainly under 2oz ..... so give them a look ...... mattlures.com ...... they are fish catchers .... i just started tossing these baits last year and caught a few hoggs and a ton of little bass to smallest was 13inches on a 5inch baby bass ....  ;D

[mike bat]

he does have a 6inch trout series that he poured a few perch in .... also there are perch in the 5inch baby bass series ( my go tos ) .... and i know he just put out a great lakes series that has a different perch i believe its a yellow perch ////  ;D

[Brad_Coovert]

I would try some of the soft lower cost swimbaits first, like the Storm swimbaits.  

You could also try one of the new Lake Fork swimbaits as they can be fished weedless or on a jighead.  They come in single packs at WalMart or 4 packs as well.  

Either way, you should be able to come up with some baits to try out for less than $10.

Brad

[Randall]

I have a new favorite swimbait to imitate gizzard shad that I just started using. It's the Storm Kick'n Minnow. I have tried a bunch of swimbaits including some of the ones that are in the $30-70 dollar range. I prefer this one that is under $6 to imitate gizzard shad over all the others. It has a wider swimming action than most other swimbaits which makes it swim more like a gizzard shad. It may not swim like a perch but it is cheap. I do know they make one in a perch pattern. To imitate perch though I would get a Mattlures perch. Matt's baits are a little more than the Storm baits but have a lot of detail and are well worth the price. I also think the baits that swim with the tail like Matt's may look a little more like a perch when swimming.

[Redlinerobert]

I've yet to pick up a swimbait.   Perhaps because I'd rather catch 40 smaller fish instead of 1 or 2 big ones.

[KenDammit28]

I've yet to pick up a swimbait. Perhaps because I'd rather catch 40 smaller fish instead of 1 or 2 big ones.

not all swimbaits work that way, though.

If you're throwing an 8-12 inch trout or something then yeah, you're not gonna catch many but there are a LOT of 4-6 inch swimbaits(the size of most every lure we use regularly) that will catch fish and are quality made.  No need to go out and spend 30 dollars to get good swimbait action.

[SwampMan]

I picked up a couple of the Castaic 6" Slow sinking swimbaits for $8 or so.  Those things are AWESOME.  They have a super slow fall, but they are really quite heavy.  Should be great for a slow retrieve.  Anyone else use these?

[Other.]

THe BPS XPS swimbait looks really neat i have one but not used it yet cause i just got it this week. Real cheap (3$-5$) and looks pretty nice i have a picture of it if you want me to post it.

[Fishing Doug]

I've yet to pick up a swimbait. Perhaps because I'd rather catch 40 smaller fish instead of 1 or 2 big ones.

I am with you on that Redline.....numbers make it a good day for me.....

[Turtle.]

I've yet to pick up a swimbait. Perhaps because I'd rather catch 40 smaller fish instead of 1 or 2 big ones.

I am with you on that Redline.....numbers make it a good day for me.....

I'll take 1 or 2  

[fourbizz]

6"

throw it on a flippin stick w/20lb

13 bucks

[mainebasser]

I like my days with a lot of fish, but living in Maine we see quite a few of those days. The fish are hardly pressured up here. I have caught my share of +3 pound smallies, but I have yet to break the 4lb mark. I had one on the scale that kept jumping from 3-15 to 4-0. I couldn't, in good concience, call it a 4 pounder. Here is a photo of a 3-13 that I caught last summer.