Quality Swimbaits For Under $25?

[songbirdofmygeneration]

Hi! I'm a rather young bass angler, only 16, and I've been buying some cheap storm swimbaits, and some other off brands, and i want to know if im wasting my money or not. Does anyone know of or have any quality and effective swimbaits that they would be willing to sell to me or tell me where to get them? Also, im working at a grocery store so i dont have enough income to be buying those $100 lots or anything. But anything under $25 i would be willing to buy.

[JeziHogg]

Koppers Live Target make nice swimbaits

[WRB]

Welcome to bass fishing young man.

You didn't indicate what region of the country you are fishing or what type of rod/reel/line you plan to use with a swimbait. Without knowing what tackle you have, then it's difficult to suggest a swimbait other than the 5" to 6" soft plastic type that weigh less then 1 oz rigged.

The highest quality in hollow bodies are Basstrix Paddletails or Little Cjripper Trash Fish. Berkely makes very similar swimbaits for less money, like the Sick Fish. This type of swimbait is rigged using a keel weighted hook. In 4/0 to 5/0 size, the weight depending on how deep you plan to fish.

The level up in soft swimbaits are Huddleston Delux and Matt Lures for medium price range and sizes. The Huddleston 68 ROF 12 runs about $20 on EBay or on the Huddleston site. Matt Lures makes a good soft swimmer in 5" Bluegill or Crappie and Baby Bass for less money. For the heavier 1 to 3 oz swimbaits you will need special tackle.

Colors are specific to where you fish, what type of prey fish the bass are eating.

Good luck!

Tom

[Dwight Hottle]

I picked up a package of five swim baits in the saltwater section at Bass Pro. They were 7" long with a large paddle tail. White in color with red eyes. I caught a 9.5lb largemouth on one last week. I think they were priced around 6-7 bucks for the package. So yes the generic stuff does work.

[ww2farmer]

For soft plastic I have used and liked a few. Berkley Havoc Grass Pig, Net Bait BK Swimmer, Zoom Swimming fluke, Yum Money Minnow, Berkley Hollow Belly, have all caught me decent fish. The Storm ones have all been poor IMHO. I have less experience with hard baits, they few I have tried and like are the Strike King King Shad in the full size, ( I didn't like the baby sized one) the Spro BBZ-1 4" bait, and the Strike King Sexy Swimmer. All of those hard baits are less than $20

[The Young Gun]

Hi! I'm a rather young bass angler, only 16, and I've been buying some cheap storm swimbaits, and some other off brands, and i want to know if im wasting my money or not. Does anyone know of or have any quality and effective swimbaits that they would be willing to sell to me or tell me where to get them? Also, im working at a grocery store so i dont have enough income to be buying those $100 lots or anything. But anything under $25 i would be willing to buy.

I'd probably go with Yum Money Minnows for soft plastic swimbaits.. And definitely some Spro BBZ swimbaits for hard ones. Just my .02

[songbirdofmygeneration]

Alright thanks for the replies! I'll try alot of those. And I live on a lake in central Wisconsin so I fish and ice fish daily, and I also travel around Wisconsin to fish many lakes, particularly up north. So do the colors and size of the baits have to do with the region I'm fishing in?

[ww2farmer]

Alright thanks for the replies! I'll try alot of those. And I live on a lake in central Wisconsin so I fish and ice fish daily, and I also travel around Wisconsin to fish many lakes, particularly up north. So do the colors and size of the baits have to do with the region I'm fishing in?

I imagine many of your Wisconsin lakes are pretty similar to the WNY lakes I fish, as far as forage, cover, water clarity etc....Probably a Bluegill/sunfish, perch, and assorted minnow forage base. I have always liked shades of greens for the soft bodied baits, like a watermelon candy, watermelon red, green pumpkin with white belly etc......And in the hard baits just natural looking colors. As for size, you'll have to play with it. I get lots of bites on the 4" soft baits, and have caught some really nice fish on the 5" versions. The 4"+5" hard baits have always seemed to attract a big bite, so I have not gone much bigger than that............yet. But I know guys who do. I am a swimbait noob myself. I have only been using them for a couple years, but each year I play with them is better than the last. They can be frustrating, you'll often throw one for along time with out a bite, and then all of a sudden have a couple good ones on it.

[WRB]

Alright thanks for the replies! I'll try alot of those. And I live on a lake in central Wisconsin so I fish and ice fish daily, and I also travel around Wisconsin to fish many lakes, particularly up north. So do the colors and size of the baits have to do with the region I'm fishing in?

Definitely!

You decided to leave out the tackle ?

Your region the lakes freeze and eliminates a lot of bait fish types.It also adds in smallmouth bass and walleyes, northern pike, musky toothy predators. The soft swimbaits that work good tend to get shredded by toothy fish. As far as colors are concerned the panfish colors, including perch and baby bass , plus Ayu/Aliwifes and herring would be good choices. Almost all the productive hard body swimbaits are over an 1 oz that the toothy fish can't destroy easily.

Tom

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Like Tom asked, need to know what you plan on throwing the baits with.

 

Rod and reel most importantly. Line could also depend on what you want to throw.

[Bluebasser86]

4" Huddleston weedless shad or Grass Minnow. 6" Hudd is a great little bit bigger bait. ABT Banshee is a really good segmented bait for cheap. The H20 4" baits are pretty decent for the money. The Optima Baby Line Thru, Mattlures trout, lots of good cheaper options. The Storm baits can work but far from the best option for bass in most situations. 

[OmegaDPW]

These folks know more than I do, but I wanted to chime in and say I was very impressed with the Storm swimbaits that I've used down here in Georgia. For around a buck a piece, they have worked extremely well for me. The 2.5 inch ones had excellent action and have caught both large crappie and large mouth bass. Are you catching fish with them up there? 

 

EricW.

[webertime]

4.8" Keitech Swing Impact Fat in "Pro Staff Special" & "Silver Flash".  A bottle of Mend-it (required IMHO).

Gammy 5/0 3/16oz hooks and some 1/2oz Biffle Heads.  This will get you going for most water depths and presentations, fish them slow regardless of the depth (to start).

 

Going a bit Cheaper I was surprised how nice the Zoom Swimming Fluke was as well.  Get the Houdini color (Very Perchy/Sunfishy).

 

Spro 4" and 6" are nice (Accademy makes cheaper versions)

a 6" Weedless Perch Huddleston is around $15-20 and in valuable for fishing shallow weedlines.

[wisconsin]

3:16 rising son

hudd 68

mattlures soft baits

 

All of these will be fished best with a swimbat rod,and heavier duty reel.

 

If you are talking about baits that you want to throw on regular bass gear,the skinny dipper,trash fish,and northland mimic minnow all get bit but you won't really be "swimbait" fishing.

[Sensei]

The Jackall Giron fits your price range and looks like a great bluegill imitator. It only weighs 3/4 oz. so you probably have the gear to throw it already.

 

Spro also makes some smaller swimbaits for under $25.

[bmlum415]

A few I love to throw are s-wavers, huddlestons, top shelf magnums and cal reservoir toad thrashers, all $25 or less

[bmlum415]

Btw what state are u from

[songbirdofmygeneration]

Wisconsin