Swimbait Help?

[Bluebasser86]

Jeez, I don't know how I can thank you enough! You definitely are a great testimonial to the sport. I'm only 15, but one day with all this information I know it'll help me land more fish! Thanks again!

Stick with it. I've been fishing my whole life but only really been fishing for bass since I was 13 and I'm almost completely self taught too. Never really had anyone to teach me much about it, maybe why I enjoy helping people get into this sport now. There's other guys on here who are much more accomplished swimbait fishermen than I am that I'm sure will give you some input also but the info I gave you should be good to get yourself started and get a feel for it.

[deep]

"The Young Gun", if you got a rod stout enough to handle upto 4 oz baits (maybe a light musky/ inshore rod?), I got a few baits for you. All you have to do is PM me a mailing address, and promise to fish the heck out of those baits until they they get torn up by fish, or you lose them.

[Primus]

The young gun if you can get a rod/ reel combo that can handle baits in the 2 oz range spooled with app 20 lb line try the 6" Spro BBZ, gets a lot of bites and is very affordable for a hard swimbait. As you get older and if your financial resources permit look into hardbaits from 316 lure company , Matt lures, Bull Shad etc. One of the real affordable gems is the 6" River to Sea Bottom Walker, works great slow rolling in deep water. Another good soft swimbait is the Matt lures tournament series, he duplicates just about any forage that you care to imitate.

[The Young Gun]

The young gun if you can get a rod/ reel combo that can handle baits in the 2 oz range spooled with app 20 lb line try the 6" Spro BBZ, gets a lot of bites and is very affordable for a hard swimbait. As you get older and if your financial resources permit look into hardbaits from 316 lure company , Matt lures, Bull Shad etc. One of the real affordable gems is the 6" River to Sea Bottom Walker, works great slow rolling in deep water. Another good soft swimbait is the Matt lures tournament series, he duplicates just about any forage that you care to imitate.

Okay thanks! I've cheked into the matt lures. Once I can get the money I want to try to invest in some possibly

[cueball]

I live in Wisconsin so I understand the issues with finding swimbait tackle that is more common in other regions.

On my last trip to northern Wisconsin I was using the 3.75" Lunker City Swimfish with a 3/0 Mustad screw lock hook and a 3/8 oz tungsten bullet sinker. This easily fished on a 7' MH casting rod with 30# braid and a 12# test fluorocarbon leader. The screw lock hook helps extend bait life. I like the tungsten sinker because it is smaller profile than lead and matches the bait better, but lead definately would work. This whole package fishes real well in weeds.

I am sure that the 4" Berkley Ripple Shads would work on the same set up. I have a pack, but the Swimfish lasted through a number of fish so I never broke into the Ripple Shads. Most Walmarts I have been in recently have the sinkers and hooks.

If you are fishing in light cover a jig head is definately a good option, just make sure it has a big enough hook.

Other swimbaits I have seen in local stores are Big Bite Baits Cane Thumpers and Havoc Grass Pigs. Probably would need a 4/0 hook for those, but the same rod and reel will work fine. There are also hollow swim baits like Berkley Hollow Belly's available locally, but I have stayed away from them because I have been catching fish on what I have and the hollow baits are more expensive and less durable.

For info on the web, Rich Zaleski (google RichZ) has a blog and he fishes the Swimfish a lot and gives details about how to do it. If you are going to fish bass in northern waters you really should read his stuff. I have been reading him since the 70's and he knows how to catch fish and teach's people how to do it. There is also a video of Jeff Kriet talking about using the cane thumper which gave me the idea to try the rig I used on the Swimfish.

[The Young Gun]

I live in Wisconsin so I understand the issues with finding swimbait tackle that is more common in other regions.

On my last trip to northern Wisconsin I was using the 3.75" Lunker City Swimfish with a 3/0 Mustad screw lock hook and a 3/8 oz tungsten bullet sinker. This easily fished on a 7' MH casting rod with 30# braid and a 12# test fluorocarbon leader. The screw lock hook helps extend bait life. I like the tungsten sinker because it is smaller profile than lead and matches the bait better, but lead definately would work. This whole package fishes real well in weeds.

I am sure that the 4" Berkley Ripple Shads would work on the same set up. I have a pack, but the Swimfish lasted through a number of fish so I never broke into the Ripple Shads. Most Walmarts I have been in recently have the sinkers and hooks.

If you are fishing in light cover a jig head is definately a good option, just make sure it has a big enough hook.

Other swimbaits I have seen in local stores are Big Bite Baits Cane Thumpers and Havoc Grass Pigs. Probably would need a 4/0 hook for those, but the same rod and reel will work fine. There are also hollow swim baits like Berkley Hollow Belly's available locally, but I have stayed away from them because I have been catching fish on what I have and the hollow baits are more expensive and less durable.

For info on the web, Rich Zaleski (google RichZ) has a blog and he fishes the Swimfish a lot and gives details about how to do it. If you are going to fish bass in northern waters you really should read his stuff. I have been reading him since the 70's and he knows how to catch fish and teach's people how to do it. There is also a video of Jeff Kriet talking about using the cane thumper which gave me the idea to try the rig I used on the Swimfish.

Thanks a ton!

[Sam Fisher]

banjo minnow

[wisconsin]

Everybody seems to be focusing on soft swimbaits but floating and slow sink hardbaits are way more fun to fish and most of the Wisconsin bass season you'll be fishing warm water when the hard baits work as good or better. I mostly throw 3:16 hardbaits but rago,triple trout,ms slammer,matt lures,and plenty of others make baits that will catch fish.

They are expensive but if you buy one at a time and catch a bunch of fish on it (as you should anyways) before you buy more it hurts less. Matt lures hard gill,and 3:16 baby wake are great numbers baits to get your feet wet.

[hatrix]

As for ordering the Hudd's just go to the actual Huddleston site. TW is always out of the Huddleston's I want. I just ordered some not to long ago from Huddleston cause TW never has what I want. Also those ripple shads work pretty good as trailers for me. I use them if I am out of Big Hammers cause I can get them locally. I get the biggest ones whatever size that is and cut the head off behind the eyes and throw them on swim jigs or chatter baits. They almost seem to last forever unless a little fish bites the tail off. I have one still on a swim jig from last year that has cause at least 60+ fish.

[kayl.]

Everybody seems to be focusing on soft swimbaits but floating and slow sink hardbaits are way more fun to fish and most of the Wisconsin bass season you'll be fishing warm water when the hard baits work as good or better. I mostly throw 3:16 hardbaits but rago,triple trout,ms slammer,matt lures,and plenty of others make baits that will catch fish.

They are expensive but if you buy one at a time and catch a bunch of fish on it (as you should anyways) before you buy more it hurts less. Matt lures hard gill,and 3:16 baby wake are great numbers baits to get your feet wet.

+1

The hard stuff is a lot more fun to throw and is more toothy-critter-resistant IMO.

OP- I live near Milwaukee and have caught some surprisingly small bass on big swimbaits; don't be afraid to buy a larger bait and throw it, even if your local anglers think your bait is ridiculous...

I'm a big fan of the Mattlures Hard Gills if you can afford one. Mattlures also has a bait called the Jitterfish that has been good for me and it's only $20ish. If you get a chance, definitely buy one of the 3:16 baby wakes or wake jrs....The Mattlures Hard Gill and the Baby Wake have been my most productive swimbaits FWIW.

Just watch out, before you know it, you'll have several hundred $$'s worth of swimbaits; they're addictive!

[Primus]

I forgot another fun little bait that is affordable and will get you bit which is the River to Sea 95 size V joint wake minnow, despite it's name its really a shallow running swimbait. I used to catch a lot of fish on it but took out of the rotation as I wanted to focus on larger baits, runs about 8$.