swim baits

[gtalbert]

    Who do yall think makes the best swim baits that aren't too expensive?

[Captain Cali]

What is too expensive?

For $10-$20, Matt Lures are hard to beat.

[Mattlures]

There are a few good companies out there producing quality baits that arent too expensive. It just depends on your definition of too expensive. If I didnt make my own baits I wouldnt buy anything under $10. That seems to be where the the cheapest decent baits are at. I also wouldnt be spending hundreds on a bait either. Well maybe but I would realy have to KNOW it was going to catch me giants. I would stick to baits in the $10-$40 range ang pick brands that are from or originated out west. Huddleston, Rago, Mattlures, 3:16, etc. These guys are my competition but I do respect their work.

BTW gtalbert, what is that fish in your Avitar? It looks cool but the pic is to small. Salmon?

[fourbizz]

Looks like a striper to me.

Mattlures are pretty tough to beat, at any price, for a smaller bait!

[Randall]

When I throw swimbaits I am looking to imitate two types of forage on the lakes I fish most often. The first is sunfish (Crappie, Bluegill, Perch, etc.) and Mattlures baits are the best and the best for the money. The second type of forage is gizzard shad and for $3 to $6 dollars the Storm Kickin' Minnow does a good job although I feel it could be better designed.

[Cephkiller]

The Storm baits are hard to beat if you want to get into swimbaits on a budget.  I have had great success with the Kickin' Minnow and I really like the new Kickin' Slab.

[ww2farmer]

I don't mean to hi-jack this thread, but Matt what kind of feedback are you getting from guys in the northeast on your baits. I am seriously thinking about your perch, largemouth bass, bluegill, and pumpkinseed. I have tried and found the storm ones to be total junk, but I am worried that with the "toothies" we have here a $10+ dollar soft plastic swimbait might not last long.

[gtalbert]

Which one of those mattlures works the best for big largemouth? Its a 25lb striper we catch em in the creeks when they spawn, its crazy pullin a fish that big out of 1 to 2 foot water.

[fourbizz]

Pick your poison pretty much.

I know of 13+'s on the bluegill, 12's on the 6" trout, and I have seen a picture of an absolute monster with the baby bass hanging off her lip.

For me, I have the most big fish confidence in the bluegill, but if I wanted the highest number of better than average fish I would throw the 6" trout.

I have not used any of the east coast series, as I happen to live on the west coast, but I used to live where there were ton's of yellow perch, and when I go home to visit, I will be throwing one for bass and pike.

Awesome little baits.

[kicknbass]

Hey all,

Was breezing threw, and as a new member, thought it would be good to throw in my two cents in this thread. I have used storms new kickin slab and have found it to be a piece of junk. My greatest success comes from Tsunamis bluegill imitation; they cost about 4 buck a pop but are worth it if you dont want to spend the extra cash. I have found these to be the most consistant compared to the storm swimbait offerings.

[Raul]

I don't mean to hi-jack this thread, but Matt what kind of feedback are you getting from guys in the northeast on your baits. I am seriously thinking about your perch, largemouth bass, bluegill, and pumpkinseed. I have tried and found the storm ones to be total junk, but I am worried that with the "toothies" we have here a $10+ dollar soft plastic swimbait might not last long.

If teethy toothy critters are your concern, soft plastic baits won 't last long with teethy critters around, we do not have pike, muskie or pickerel down here, but we do have gar; so it 's a matter of what you want and how you feel about it, I don 't mind throwing a 10+ soft plastic bait where I know a gar can munch on it if I have the chance of connecting with a bigun. It has happened to me, 2 ruined baits by gar but that 's not going to stop me from using them.

If you think that it 's too much to loose a soft plastic swimbait every now and then to teethy toothy critters then they are not for you, go for something more durable like a hard swimbait, only problem is that hard swimbaits aren 't cheap.

[kicknbass]

Hey Raul,

You are right, softbaits do take a beating from toothly critters. However, I usually can catch about 10 to 12 bass on one swim bait before it starts deteriorating and these fish rather impressive and can push 5 to 10 pounds.

[Raul]

Hey Raul,

You are right, softbaits do take a beating from toothly critters. However, I usually can catch about 10 to 12 bass on one swim bait before it starts deteriorating and these fish rather impressive and can push 5 to 10 pounds.

That 's the point, you are willing to sacrifice the cost of the bait in order to get anywhere from 1 to like you said, 10-12 fish, to you and to me they are well worth the investment, to other people either because they don 't have dough to purchase them or that have the opinion that the cost is too high or both they are not worth the investment, it 's either their pocket or their mentality, if you are in that group then soft plastic swimbaits are not for you, get something more durable like a hard swimbait, it 's going to cost you but it 's going to last a lot more.

Don 't know about pike and fish like that, but gar, man those things are mean, they don 't puncture and rip the bait, they slice it in half, they 've got more and sharper teeth, pretty much like an electric knife with attitude.  :-X

[flyphisher #]

Only way I could find them,Google XPS swimbaits.The links you need to see will pop-up. Basspro did make them.I heard they stopped. But i did find some on clearance. The 4.5" are supposed to be good. Fred Roumbanis supposedly used them alot last year in his 2nd place at Lake Amistad in the BASS elite series. I just ordered some but they havent came in yet. they look like an osprey i think. I would try these before I tried the Storms.  Some of the first storms(3 or 4 years ago at least) were ok except for the thin tails. Tails got bite off alot of them by small fish.

[kicknbass]

Hey Raul,

You are right, softbaits do take a beating from toothly critters. However, I usually can catch about 10 to 12 bass on one swim bait before it starts deteriorating and these fish rather impressive and can push 5 to 10 pounds.

That 's the point, you are willing to sacrifice the cost of the bait in order to get anywhere from 1 to like you said, 10-12 fish, to you and to me they are well worth the investment, to other people either because they don 't have dough to purchase them or that have the opinion that the cost is too high or both they are not worth the investment, it 's either their pocket or their mentality, if you are in that group then soft plastic swimbaits are not for you, get something more durable like a hard swimbait, it 's going to cost you but it 's going to last a lot more.

Don 't know about pike and fish like that, but gar, man those things are mean, they don 't puncture and rip the bait, they slice it in half, they 've got more and sharper teeth, pretty much like an electric knife with attitude. :-X

I would have to agree, it depends on how much you're willing to spend. Man gar sounds like an awesome fight...I just came back from the Caribbean and had a barracuda tear up a top-water bait; the teeth on those fish are menacing.

[flyphisher #]

Some of the Bass Pro Shops XPS swimbaits I ordered came in today. They are well made with good hardware. Good plastic and pretty sturdy. Tail looks good in the water. Doesnt take muuch to throw or work it. Will post more when I fish them somewhere with fish big enough to eat it.  Great lure for $4.99