soft or hard???

[soccplayer07]

What produces more fish for you...soft or hard swim baits???

For me...Soft by far!

[Hammer 4]

I think it depends on which baits you have..

Hard baits like the 3:16's, Rago's, Nates, and Tylers kicker lures might change your mind..

On Edit...for me it's the soft Hudd weedless trout, only cuz I can't afford to lose many more of these spendy suckers.. :-[

[soccplayer07]

Ty hammer. Can you name the exact copy you use of each hard you suggested???

[midnighthrasher]

Berkley hollow bell swimbaits 5" in pearl are amazing!!! My best swimbait producer for sure.

[Adam G]

Soft for sure.

Baitsmith all the way!  There's 5 more inches of bait inside that 5 lb smallies mouth.

Yes, big swimbaits work for bronzebacks!

[NOVA Angler]

Adam that's a toad!

[RoLo]

I've seen remarks referring to REAL swimbaits, and not those soft paddletail things.

Well, I've been in love with soft paddletail worms, paddletail grubs, paddletail minnows

and paddletail shad, long before hard swimbaits reached the East Coast.

It's not as though I don't throw hard swimbaits, in fact, I'm ashamed of the money I've spent

on hard swimbaits that are lying in a pile in my tackle cabinet.

It could be that hard swimbaits appeal to fishermen more than fish,

but soft swimbaits are incredibly weedless, which is an enormous asset.

I don't hesitate to pitch a 6 Berkley Hollow-Belly, where a hard swimbait

would get hung before it could move 6 inches.

Roger

[Randall]

I am about 50/50. I prefer hard baits because they are more fun to fish for me but I still use plenty of soft baits.

[Rich Tehan]

My hard swimbaits are on their way.  I've fished soft swimbaits, and (unless you count the scrounger) I haven't caught any bass on them yet. I just don't like the action they get.  The paddle tail only gives action to the back portion of the bait and I want it to swim from head to tail.  Although, I've seen the testimonies, so I know I should give them a better chance.  Is there any good soft swimbaits that aren't paddle-tail?

[River Rat316]

Remeber, what we the fisherman think is "good action" from a lure, and what fish think are 2 different things. Some of the better soft swimbaits are pretty subtle, but the fish eat them

[RoLo]

Remeber, what we the fisherman think is "good action" from a lure, and what fish think are 2 different things. Some of the better soft swimbaits are pretty subtle, but the fish eat them

You're right on the mark!

I've retired several hard swimbaits that have unbelievably seductive action,

but they're all-show-and-no-go.

Bass LOVE paddletail lures, beginning with the paddletail worm and swim senko,

moving through the money minnow and skinny dipper,

all the way up to the Basstrix Paddletail and Berkley Hollow-Belly.

Roger

[Adam G]

Remeber, what we the fisherman think is "good action" from a lure, and what fish think are 2 different things. Some of the better soft swimbaits are pretty subtle, but the fish eat them

x2

This is so true.  A Baitsmith or Hudd coming up to the boat will make my passengers go "hey check out this trout!"  The tail barely moves on those baits.

Nobody mistakes a triple jointed hard bait or a paddletail for a trout.

Granted, sometimes the fish want more action.  I've never seen a spinnerbait fish...

[NOVA Angler]

Hammer, How are your hookups with the weedless Hudd?

[midnighthrasher]

Remeber, what we the fisherman think is "good action" from a lure, and what fish think are 2 different things. Some of the better soft swimbaits are pretty subtle, but the fish eat them

x2

This is so true. A Baitsmith or Hudd coming up to the boat will make my passengers go "hey check out this trout!" The tail barely moves on those baits.

Nobody mistakes a triple jointed hard bait or a paddletail for a trout.

Granted, sometimes the fish want more action. I've never seen a spinnerbait fish...

What??? Are you kidding me!!!! I got tons of spinnerbait fish swimming around. Little ones bigger ones. They are generally white/chartreuse.

[Mattlures]

In general soft swimbaits are more natural and subtle. Hard swimbaits are usualy more agresive.

I also believe hard swimbaits are not swimbaits at all.

In geneal hard swimbaits are best as topwater baits. In general soft swimbaits are best as deep water baits. Both are good in the middle.

soft swimbait (REAL SWIMBITS not paddletail tubes) catch bigger bass. This also coincides with the suble nature of soft swimbaits and that they are generaly fished deeper.

Aint nothing wrong with a paddle tail tube. They work well but they are generaly fished different (faster) then other(REAL) soft swimbaits and they are a numbers bait. They are not consistant trophy catchers.

disclaimer: I used the phrase "in general" because there are always exception in fishing. Yes I know that a few big fish have been caught on Paddle tubes and some hard baits do catch big bass. But many more big bass have been caught on soft ones.

[Hammer 4]

probably the best hard bait for the $$$ is Tyler's kicker trout, he can custom make any pattern you want. This would be a 8" bait. Also the 8" BBZ hardbaits work well.

Nate's 8 or 10" slowsink trout, again these can be custom made.

Google 3:16 baits, Jerry Rago baits, Nates baits. There's bound to be a bait that will work in your lake.

I shamfully neglected to list Mattlures, as a Quality hard, or soft swimbait..doh..

Ty hammer. Can you name the exact copy you use of each hard you suggested???

[Hammer 4]

Decent..swimbaiting takes alot of patience..you get skunked alot, But imho, the fish you do get are better quality, i.e. bigger fish. With the weedless Hudd, the fish has to commit, and you have to let them, otherwise you wind up losing a bunch of em.

Hammer, How are your hookups with the weedless Hudd?

[Rich Tehan]

In general soft swimbaits are more natural and subtle. Hard swimbaits are usualy more agresive.

I also believe hard swimbaits are not swimbaits at all.

In geneal hard swimbaits are best as topwater baits. In general soft swimbaits are best as deep water baits. Both are good in the middle.

soft swimbait (REAL SWIMBITS not paddletail tubes) catch bigger bass. This also coincides with the suble nature of soft swimbaits and that they are generaly fished deeper.

Aint nothing wrong with a paddle tail tube. They work well but they are generaly fished different (faster) then other(REAL) soft swimbaits and they are a numbers bait. They are not consistant trophy catchers.

disclaimer: I used the phrase "in general" because there are always exception in fishing. Yes I know that a few big fish have been caught on Paddle tubes and some hard baits do catch big bass. But many more big bass have been caught on soft ones.

Can you please post a picture of a soft swimbait and a paddletail, not sure I understand the difference.

[soccplayer07]

I just picked up a few weedless huds. they look great but I'm a little worried about the hook up ratio.

[Hammer 4]

RTBass, I'm not Matt, but I think these are along the lines of what he meant. The Ayu would be a tube type, the Mattlures Trout, would be the soft swimbait.

[Hammer 4]

This is the trout swimbait

[Hammer 4]

Don't be...yes your gonna lose some, just as with any other lure..give the fish time to commit..I do a fast 3 count once the fish takes the bait..then set the hook in a upward motion.

I just picked up a few weedless huds. they look great but I'm a little worried about the hook up ratio.

[Rich Tehan]

Oh I see the difference now.  What confused me is that I've seen soft trout swimbaits much like that but with a paddle tail. Does that soft trout get any swimming action without joints, a bill, or a paddle tail?  Or do you have to impart the action with the rod? I couldn't find any videos of it.

[Mattlures]

There are plenty of "real" soft swimbaits that have paddletails or boot tails. I am basicaly putting the paddletail tube in its own seperate catagory. When I talk about "real" soft swimbaits, I am mostly referring to larger baits like Hudds ,Stockers ,Old Castaics, my trout, Ospreys and a bunch of others.

There are a few medium sized soft baits that catch big fish too like my gills and and tournament ospreys and a few other smaller baits.

Again, I am not saying the paddle tubes are bad, they are just different. They are not big fish baits. Maybe they catch a little bigger then average but rarley a BIG fish.

And that bait pitured of mine is a deadstick bait. It does not swim. It floats and can be popped and it will dart and even walk a little but it has no action of its own.

[Rich Tehan]

COol thanks