Swim Baits?

[MIbassin]

hey guys,

i really want to take up swim bait fishing. (soft plastic swim baits such as the yum money minnow) i would like you guys to share some techniques, lure selections and where and when to fish them. thanks!

p.s the water i fish has submerged weeds (not too thick) and the water is clarity is 8-10 feet

[MarkH024]

Yum Money minnow is a hollow body swimbait, not to be confused with a soft body plastic swimbait. They're two different plastics. Hollow body baits you need a swimbait hook like the Gamakatsu 5/0 swim bait hook.. Screw the nose of the bait on hook it up through the hollow belly and skin hook the point. Now it's weedless and you can throw it anywhere.

I like SK Shadalicous brand myself...they work great for me.

You can straight retrieve, burn it, stop-n-go, jig it. I mean you can fish it any way you want. Pick natural colors or something close to what the forage is on your lake. They're a lot of fun to fish and they catch pigs. You'll catch other species of fish on it too....walleye, pike, perch, crappie.

[Bluebasser86]

The hollow belly style swimbaits you're talking about can be very effective, especially in sparse to moderate weed cover like you mentioned. One of my favorite techniques for them is to just tick the top of the weeds and rip it out whenever it starts to catch in the weeds. I either use a keel weighted swimbait hook if the weeds are heavier or an open hooked jighead if the weeds aren't too thick. A steady retrieve or slowly pumping the rod will cause a lift-drop motion of the bait and the fish will crush it when it drops in front of them. The bait's mentioned work well and I'll toss out the Havoc grass pig as one of my favorites for this techique.

[MIbassin]

thanks you so much you both mentioned very useful tips that i will definitely use next time i go out on the lake!

[smalljaw67]

The hollow belly style swimbaits you're talking about can be very effective, especially in sparse to moderate weed cover like you mentioned. One of my favorite techniques for them is to just tick the top of the weeds and rip it out whenever it starts to catch in the weeds. I either use a keel weighted swimbait hook if the weeds are heavier or an open hooked jighead if the weeds aren't too thick. A steady retrieve or slowly pumping the rod will cause a lift-drop motion of the bait and the fish will crush it when it drops in front of them. The bait's mentioned work well and I'll toss out the Havoc grass pig as one of my favorites for this techique.

I fish mine pretty much the same way Bluebasse86 does, I like to try and reel just fast enough that the bait stays just at the tops of those weed occasionally ticking the top. I also like to fish them deep on a jig head, now when I say deep I'm talking around 8' to 12'. You can fish them deeper but I prefer other baits but for that 8' foot range I use a 3/8oz jig head and let it slowly fall to the bottom and then reel slowly, just fast enough that the tail goes back and forth. Doing that seems boring and it is until you get a strike because one thing they do is generate violent strikes, you'll be on your third or fourth cast and just reeling slow like you did before and you're expecting to bring the bait back to the boat for another cast and all of a sudden the rod tip goes into a bend and you rear back to drive the hook home and then you realize how much fun it is to use. I have had the most success with one of the cheaper models, the Luck-E-Strike Bass Magic hollow bodied swimbaits in the 3.5" and the 4.5", the smaller version I use strictly with swimbait hooks and the larger one I use both the hooks and jig heads, and when using the swimbait hooks don't go cheap, get the Owner Swimbait hook with the screwlock with centering pin because they don't work if not rigged perfectly straight.

[drew4779]

I've had good luck with soft magic swimmers. They're weedless and bass love them. Plus you can fish them endless ways by re-positioning the weights. The only draw back is they're expensive.

[Loop_Dad]

I don't know if it is technically swim bait, but I also like Swimming Super Fluke for fishing on top of weeds with weighted hook, fished like other folks mentioned above. I feel it glides on top of the weed better because of the body shape.

[Jay Ell Gee]

I'm kind of addicted to the Lake Fork Magic Shad. It's pretty much the only plastic I use in the fall. Keel weighted swimbait hook with a keeper, then slow retrieve it, swim/pop, use it as a jerkbait, or even wacky rig it on a weighted wacky hook.

It's beyond fun!

[mikeeasttn]

The Big Hammer swimbait tails are not hollow bodied but rig them on a light BH jig head and they can be fished like hollow bodied swimbaits and they will catch fish.