Hard Body Swimbaits

[Owasco]

I'm interested in trying a few hard body swim-baits.  It is a lure that I have never been introduced to so I really have no idea what to look for or how to fish them. 

They just look absolutely delicious.

So what advice can you give me?  Brand? Style? Retrieve?

I'm sure some are better than others and I've seen ridiculous prices on some up to $115.00.  Does money really talk?  Can you grab some for a reasonable price or should I just spend a couple hundred on 3 or 4?

Do they perform as well as other bass baits like soft plastics or spinners?

Thanks for the help,

Marc

[Hammer 4]

Swimbaits will range in price from about 10.00 to 300.00, the 10.00 being the H20 from Academy.

Also, if you intend on throwing Big swimbaits, you pretty much need the equipment to use these baits, meaning a dedicated rod and reel, and of course heavier line. Prices will vary depending on quality.

As for the bait's..You could start with the BBZ 6" in various patterns, also the true tungsten's baits, and the Tylures, cost will vary from about 20.00 to 40.00 from those makers. Also as may know, you can chose from topwater, slow sink, and fast sink, the water you fish will, or should determine which types you want/need.

As for the spender swimbaits, makers like 3:16, and Mattlures offer some really nice baits, that do catch fish, there are a host of others that make great baits to.I would recommend doing a search on the interwebs for swimbaits.

Swimbaiting is about quality of fish, not about numbers. There will many times when you might get skunked, but when you hook into a Toad, it makes it all worth while. There are a variety of techniques in swimbaiting, again a search should help, there are sites dedicated to only swimbaiting. And yes, there are guys in NY that do throw swimbaits..lol

I would suggest buying a few of the less expensive, but good baits, give it a try, to make sure that's what you want to do..as it can get fairly spendy, both in terms of baits, and equipment, also look for used stuff, there are some Great deals out there IF you know where to look. Lastly, there is no guarantee that you'll catch big fish, but imho, your chances are greatly increased. Good luck.

[Raul]

Some of these shell for $400 and more.

Yup, when it comes to hard swimbaits money talks, doesn 't mean you have to shell out 100 bucks a piece, it means that you can have good quality, productive baits from around 20 and up. But still 20 bucks is 20 bucks. Theres are some brands that shine for being consistent producers like the MS Slammer, the Spro BBZ & AC Plug, there are others less known  that also produce fish, a little more expensive but still not bank breaking like a Fish Arrow Monster Jack.

About brand there you have, about style well there 's sinkers, floaters, fast sinking, slow sinking, jointed and you can find almsot as many styles of swimbaits as there are styles in other lures.

Retrieve: depends, like usual you have to try different ones until you find the one the fish like,  most of the times you cast and reel in steadily but that doesn 't always work so really there 's no rule of thumb.

[Hammer 4]

Some of these shell for $400 and more.

Yup, when it comes to hard swimbaits money talks, doesn 't mean you have to shell out 100 bucks a piece, it means that you can have good quality, productive baits from around 20 and up. But still 20 bucks is 20 bucks. Theres are some brands that shine for being consistent producers like the MS Slammer, the Spro BBZ & AC Plug, there are others less known that also produce fish, a little more expensive but still not bank breaking like a Fish Arrow Monster Jack.

About brand there you have, about style well there 's sinkers, floaters, fast sinking, slow sinking, jointed and you can find almsot as many styles of swimbaits as there are styles in other lures.

Retrieve: depends, like usual you have to try different ones until you find the one the fish like, most of the times you cast and reel in steadily but that doesn 't always work so really there 's no rule of thumb.

O.K...how do you "Shell" something..?   ;D

[Owasco]

Thanks for all the replies.

This is something I'm going to slowly look into.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

High Power Herring

www.fishatl.com/swimbait

Mattlures Hardgill

www.mattlures.com

Slow Sink models, one of each bait. Those will get you started for around $100 and will catch fish. Period.

You can get into pricier baits, but those two will catch fish wherever fish swim.

[Chris at Tech]

I'll also add the Sebile Magic swimmers to the discussion. 

[philsoreel]

I'll also add the Sebile Magic swimmers to the discussion.

I was just about to ask about the Sebile Magic Swimmer. I got a slow sink 125mm/5inch in gold shiner today. Should I throw this thing with my medium depth cranking rod or something a little heavier?

Not trying to jack your thread just thought you might could use the info to.

[J Francho]

I throw them with an Avid AVC70MHM, Daiwa Sol, and 10# CXX.

Even works for small fish.  See my avatar.

[philsoreel]

I throw them with an Avid AVC70MHM, Daiwa Sol, and 10# CXX.

Even works for small fish. See my avatar.

Not real familiar with Avid but my Cumara Reaction 70MH Med-fast should be fairly close to that.

What retrieve works the best for you with the Sebile?

[J Francho]

Slow and steady, unless you want to catch northern pike....then twitch away.

[philsoreel]

I'm impressed. The Sebile is the first hard-swimbait(haven't tried many) that's worked for me. I fished my private 10 acre lake with it today. When the bass were cornering the shad in the shallows, I would toss it in there hard sideways and make it skip. Then, burn it up top till it came out of all the action and slow down. Kind of making it look like it had escaped. The second I slowed down one would nail it.

I'll try slow and steady when I get on the big lake tomorrow.

[=Matt 5.0=]

My Magic Swimmer has no magic. Sitting here on the shelf somewhere. Pretty disappointed with it. The 6" Spro and 7" Slammer seem to be where it's at for me.

[Micro]

Here's a sample of the hard swimbaits I own.

Left column from top:

Sebile Magic Swimmers in three sizes.  Great baits.  The top on is great to use with spinnign tackle. 

Koppers Blue Back Herring.  Great action at any speed.  Sinks nose first.  Built like a tank with big Daiichi hooks.

Mikey Jr. and Mikey.  These are fantastic performers.  Swim just below the surface.    They are not topwater baits uless retrieved at a painfully slow rate.

Middle Column:

Spro BBZs, both sizes.  The small one works extremely well on spinning tackle.  It will catch anything, including bluegill.

Jackall Giron.  See the thread about that lure.  Not so great.

Strike King King Shad.  Actually pretty good.  Decent action and it doesn't roll like the Giron.  On a slow retrieve, it will make a decent wakebait.

River2Sea V-Joints.  Very good baits.  The top one behaves much like the Mikey.  It has about 90% of the Mikeys action at less than 1/2 the price.  They run about $8-$9.  Rock solid hardware.

Right Column

Jackall Dagored.  Not really a swimbait.  More of a wakebait.  Still a good bait.  Excellent over submerged weed beds.

Spro BBZ.  Haven't used it yet.

Reaction Strike California Classic.  Despite all the bad mouthing, actully swims very well.  Finish holding up well.  Rock solid components.  Not worthy of the negative reviews it receives on this board.