Swimbait newbie, need help.

[fishforlife]

I'm completely new to swimbaits; never used one.

I was browsing BassPro the other day and needless to say I was kind of overwhelmed. I have no idea were to start.

Hard bait or soft? Pre-rigged?

It was tempting to just buy one of those $25 deals but after researching them it sounds like the break after less then a dozen fish; and I can't afford to be replacing them at that rate.

So if I could get some help here it would be greatly appreciated.

[unageo09]

We caught a lot of bass and white bass (better known as stripe in these parts) on the Storm Wild Eye Swim Shad.

http://www.***.com/descpageSWMSTORM-SWE.html#pImage

[gobig]

BPS selection on swimbaits pretty much sucks. The other way you can get good baits is used. Especially if money is tight. Try ebay and forum buy and sell sections. I would rather have one good bait that has a few dings than 10 new ones that are crap.

If you do not have a swimbait specific rod and reel you will need to stick to the smaller/lighter baits. Okuma makes decent rods for around $110 new or you can pick them up used as low as $50 sometimes. As for a reel the shimanno cardiff (300 series is the smallest I would go) is probably the best bang for the buck. If you have enough to spring for it the calcutta is the way to go.

There are a ton of good baits out there. Breaking into swimbaiting is expensive and here is a short list of decent baits you can throw on standard gear that wont break the bank. If your fishing from shore I would probably stay away from fast sink baits.

Black dog- Injected punker, mini shell cracker

6in Huddleston

m.s.slammer

BBZ 1 JR 6in or shad

Bullshad

Mattlures hardgill

[Mattlures]

Buy quality. Bass pro is not the best place to look for swimbaits. Look at Tackle warehouse. Dont go crazy buying a bunch of differnt baits. buy a couple good ones. If you wanting to catch big bass then figure out what prey they are eating at your lake. Figure out what depth they are eating them at and then match that prey species with a bait that can be fished efectively at that depth. Get as good a match as you can. The bait should be realistic in aperance and action.

dont be afraid of the size. If the bass in your lake are eating 10 in trout then dont buy a 4in green and pink "swimbait" that looks nothing like a real trout.

[fishforlife]

We caught a lot of bass and white bass (better known as stripe in these parts) on the Storm Wild Eye Swim Shad.

I've seen those, I'll look at them thanks.

BPS selection on swimbaits pretty much sucks. Check out ***.com, swimbaitcity.com or basstackledepot.com. The other way you can get good baits is used. Especially if money is tight. Try ebay and forum buy and sell sections. I would rather have one good bait that has a few dings than 10 new ones that are crap.

If your fishing from shore I would probably stay away from fast sink baits.

I don't mind spending the money on a few swimbaits and I certainly don't mind used, I just don't want them to fall apart after half a dozen fish if I'm spending that kind of money on them.

Black dog- Injected punker, mini shell cracker

6in Huddleston

m.s.slammer

BBZ 1 JR 6in or shad

Bullshad

Mattlures hardgill

Thanks I will look into those.

dont be afraid of the size. If the bass in your lake are eating 10 in trout then dont buy a 4in green and pink "swimbait" that looks nothing like a real trout.

I hear that, big shad, bluegill and maybe carp are patterns are what I'm looking at.

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Awesome information so far, thanks guys.