H20 Express Swimbaits

[Diggy]

Took the plunge on a few which made me split a nice order of them and a few other items from Academy...1st time dealing with them.

 

 

$2.88 each on clearance. 

 

few different styles 

 

 

 

 

 

Any experience with these...trying to seduce some hogs

[Jrob78]

I don't think you will be disappointed.  They are really nice baits and a steal at that price.  I would consider them a slow sink swimbait.  I like them better than the little Spro 4" baits and the now discontinued Tru Tungsten small swimbaits, especially considering the price.

[gripnrip]

I purchased the 5 or 6 pack they had boxed together this last summer.  I never tried them.  I also purchased some Sebile jointed swimmers.  I haven't tried those either.  Keep us posted and let us know what you think!

[Diggy]

Thanks, will do. Ill try assaulting a spot where I know big fish are and possibly some peacock bass areas as well. Show them something different.

[Bluebasser86]

I've caught a lot of fish on the 4" minnow shaped one and quite a few on the 3" bluegill version. I changed the hooks out though, the stock ones seemed pretty flimsy. They're a really nice little bait for the price. 

[Diggy]

Got the order in, what line do you recc...50lb/65lb braid...other than that I have 12lb mono and 12lb fluoro

 

They are about 1oz 

 

 

[tbone1993]

Got the order in, what line do you recc...50lb/65lb braid...other than that I have 12lb mono and 12lb fluoro

 

They are about 1oz 

 

 

Throw braid with your swim baits or they will be gone after a few casts/catches. 

[Diggy]

Throw braid with your swim baits or they will be gone after a few casts/catches. 

Thats what I figured. Thanks

[slowpoke274]

i use 17lb maxima mono for my 4-6 inch swimbaits i tried braid when i first started fishing them but had a tendency to pull the bait away from the fish the stretch helps me get a better hook-up jmho

[Bluebasser86]

Throw braid with your swim baits or they will be gone after a few casts/catches. 

I'm the opposite, I hate braid with swimbaits. 25lb P-line CXXtra strong crystal clear gets the job done for me. If you've ever tried to make a long cast with a heavy bait with braid and had it blow up in your face and watched a 20-50 dollar bait hit the end of that no stretch line hard and sale into the lake you'll understand why. Plus the extra stretch is nice to keep from ripping the hooks loose when you're fighting a big, hard pulling fish. Only time I'd use braid is around heavy weeds.

Those Express baits aren't too heavy though. I normally fish them on a 7' MH rod with 14-20lb copoly and have never lost one. 

[Diggy]

Thanks again....I have some 15lb big game also I can spool up besides the 14lb suffix elite...I may buy some heavier mono also just to test out

[tbone1993]

I'm the opposite, I hate braid with swimbaits. 25lb P-line CXXtra strong crystal clear gets the job done for me. If you've ever tried to make a long cast with a heavy bait with braid and had it blow up in your face and watched a 20-50 dollar bait hit the end of that no stretch line hard and sale into the lake you'll understand why. Plus the extra stretch is nice to keep from ripping the hooks loose when you're fighting a big, hard pulling fish. Only time I'd use braid is around heavy weeds.

Those Express baits aren't too heavy though. I normally fish them on a 7' MH rod with 14-20lb copoly and have never lost one. 

 Tie on a double improved clinch knot with braid and you wont have to worry about it breaking off. I would have to re tie a lot if i threw them on copoly . It would be something I would do with a smaller light swimbait but not a big heavy bait.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

With a 1oz swimbait, you can use just about anything. With stuff that small, I typically throw it on 15lb big game. When I get up over 2oz, I go to 20lb green CXX and anything over 5oz gets 25lb.

 

Braid is no bueno with the big stuff for me. I dont like tying leaders (just another point of potential failure) and I personally think braid is too visible for MOST swimbait applications. I will pitch/flip a mission fish with braid, but that's a different story.

[slowpoke274]

in Bill Siemantel's book the Big Bass Zone he states that he uses mono in most cases however he also says that braid would be considered for trolling or long lining or other non-casting presentations his new site thebbz.com is under construction right now but when its back up and running you should check it out very informative he is one of the big bait gurus also he uses a large snap swivel on his big baits which i do as well ive tried it tied direct but with the swivel you get a better swimming/hunting action out of the bait and the swivel doesnt seem to discourage the fish from eating those baits

[TNBassin']

Not sure how some say the hooks are flimsy. They come with some nice VMC hooks that are SHARP and sturdy. Never lost a fish on them, nor have I ever bent any. The H20 Xpress baits are very good quality.

[Jrob78]

I guess punctuation and sentence structure are optional   

 

With those swimbaits, a regular MH-H rod with 14-20lb mono/fluro/copoly will be fine.  Those natural shad colored sq bills you got are awesome, I really like that color.

 

With bigger, heavier swimbaits I prefer 20-25lb Pline CXX.  I know a lot of people use braid but I don't like it.  I've had cast offs using 50lb braid and I like a bit of stretch.  CXX is plenty strong and abrasion resistant in my experience.  You do have to retie fairly often but I would do that with braid too.