Found Some Swimbaits, Don't Know How To Use Them Though!

[Rhino68W]

I recently found a few swimbaits on the bank of a pond I fish regularly. They are about 4" long and have a flapping tail, and the hook is coming out of the top of the lure. They are natural colored and weigh about 3/4-1oz. Maybe a strike king live shad style. I honestly don't know where to begin using them though. I haven't gotten hung up on any structure while using crankbaits, or spinnerbaits yet in the past. It's about 10-15 feet deep and leads up to a rocky edge. 

 

What method should I use here?

 

Old school chuck and retrieve?

[Bluebasser86]

I would guess they're probably Storm Wildeye swimbaits from your description. Weight built inside the head of the bait? If they are there's a few different retrieves that I've found effective with them. A straight cast and retrieve can work well, either start reeling as soon as the bait touches down or let it sink to the desired depth. You can cast them out and let them fall to the bottom and rip it off the bottom and let it sink back down on a semi slack line. You can also let them sink to the bottom, crank them up several turns of the handle, then stop and let the bait swing back towards you until it hits bottom again, then repeat. I fish the Storm swimbaits a lot in the winter for wipers and bass because they're cheap so it isn't a big deal when I lose a bunch of them, which I often do. 

[hatrix]

I tried those once and they sucked for me. They would never run straight no matter what I did even though I had heard people say they catch fish on them. They even come on the packaging so the tails dont get all bent. The only way I ever caught anything was lightly jigging it along the bottom. I was the only way I could even try to use them though since they didn't run true.