Swimbait help/advice

[glayne0930]

I am looking into swimbait rods, reels and etc. Want to fish a  6 inch huddleston swimbait. I live in California fishing on Clearlake not quite sure what to use I am also fishing out of a kayak. Any suggestions ?

[Bluebasser86]

Do you have a certain size/type you're wanting to fish? 

[glayne0930]

No not really 

[Bluebasser86]

What lakes are you fishing? There's quite a few California guys on this forum that might be able to give you real life experience on what you should be using. 

[glayne0930]

Clearlake

[Jrob78]

It's going to be impossible to give you good advice if you don't know what size or type of bait you want to fish.  The rod and reel that you would use for a 6" Hudd is quite different than the rod and reel you would fish a Mother on.

[camman]

I mainly fish the CA Delta but I get up to fish Clear Lake a couple times a year.  If you are looking to fish swimbaits at Clear Lake IMO you should start with the 6" Huddleston 68....I think they are one of the best baits in the market.  I would get both the ROF5 and ROF12...They don't have a true Hitch Color and the closest color is probably a green gizzard shad.  As for rod, you can get away with a Heavy Crankbait rod or a Flipping stick with the bait....It really depends on how much you want to spend on a rod will dictate what you should get.

[glayne0930]

Thanks ya I'm not wanting to spend a lot on rod and reel

[herbu]

I got into plastic swim baits this year.  Experimented w/ 3-6" lures from a bunch of different brands.  Used a Quantum Smoke real, (~$180), and a Quantum Smoke 6.5' Med rod, (~$140), for all of them.  The combo worked well casting all sizes, but found I had to really rear back to set the hook.  Perhaps a Med Hvy rod would have been better, but the Med was great for casting the lighter weight 3-4" baits.  And BTW, the smaller baits worked a lot better than the larger ones.

[glayne0930]

Is that because will the smaller swimbaits you will catch a wider variety of sizes ?

[WRB]

Okuma A series guide special heavy is perfect for the Hudd 68 or go up to Xheavy works for both 68 and 8" a better choice for more swimbait options.

The Irod gen II swimbait Jr. Is another good choice for 6" Hudds, the large  (heavy) works for both  however a little  over powered but works for 68".

Shimano Cardiff 300 series is a good reel at the price point, load it with 25 lb Sunline Armillo Nylon line, the 165 yd spool feels it! 

Colors; Clear Lake can be off color water and the solid colors tend to work there like green Shad, however both the phantom black-silver and Shasta can be good. Use a Sharpie pen to add high lites.

Tom

[glayne0930]

 Thanks 

[Dee Money 916]

6 hours ago, WRB said:

Okuma A series guide special heavy is perfect for the Hudd 68 or go up to Xheavy works for both 68 and 8" a better choice for more swimbait options.

The Irod gen II swimbait Jr. Is another good choice for 6" Hudds, the large  (heavy) works for both  however a little  over powered but works for 68".

Shimano Cardiff 300 series is a good reel at the price point, load it with 25 lb Sunline Armillo Nylon line, the 165 yd spool feels it! 

Colors; Clear Lake can be off color water and the solid colors tend to work there like green Shad, however both the phantom black-silver and Shasta can be good. Use a Sharpie pen to add high lites.

Tom

Tom summed it up. . .

 

Great response Tom. . .

[DesertBass]

I have the okuma guide select 7'11 xh and would highly suggest it,especially for the price point.

[glayne0930]

Thanks

[Big Bait Fishing]

another rod by Okuma is the Citrix 7'11'' xh , that rod will cover a lot of baits , to me it has better action than the Guide Select , as it is a faster action with better backbone than the more moderate action of the Guide Select , actually costs a little less , as far as reels , you could use a regular sized baitcasting reel i assume you already have . spool up some 20 lb. line and your'e good to go ..

[gulfcaptain]

Just a thought, but BPS has their Graphite Musky Series (new models for this year) and they have a 7' rod which would probably work better for you fishing out of a kayak....retails at $49.99.  I have two of the older models and use them to throw Hudds and Line Thru's on so that may be an option and a little shorter rod as well for your kayak fishing.

[glayne0930]

Thanks u guys

[stkbassn]

For the regular 6 inch Hudd and 68 Hudd you dont need an extra heavy rod. Thats just overkill. Ive fished 6 Hudds comfortably on MH rods. I fish mine on a Fenwick Elite Tech 7'9 H swimbait rod and its perfect.  As said above, a faster action will be better for Hudds. For trebles I would get the Irod Jr Swim or Okuma MH 7'6 , 1st gen. Or new A series 7'11 H . Had all of these rods and found these to be ideal. I bought the Dobyns Fury 795 but dont have it yet. Im planning to throw glides and wakes with it.

[glayne0930]

I was thinking about getting the Okuma Guide Select "a" Series Swimbait Casting Rod in 7'11 but I don't know if It will be a good size because I will be fishing from a kayak

 

[Big Bait Fishing]

10 hours ago, stkbassn said:

For the regular 6 inch Hudd and 68 Hudd you dont need an extra heavy rod. Thats just overkill. Ive fished 6 Hudds comfortably on MH rods. I fish mine on a Fenwick Elite Tech 7'9 H swimbait rod and its perfect.  As said above, a faster action will be better for Hudds. For trebles I would get the Irod Jr Swim or Okuma MH 7'6 , 1st gen. Or new A series 7'11 H . Had all of these rods and found these to be ideal. I bought the Dobyns Fury 795 but dont have it yet. Im planning to throw glides and wakes with it.

the reason for recommending an extra heavy rod is because Okuma swimbait rod are overated on their lure ratings , plus you can still throw the small hudd (the 6'') with it and be able to throw the 8'' hudd( or other swimbaits up to 5-6 oz.) without having to get another rod .

[glayne0930]

Thanks

 

[WRB]

On January 9, 2016 at 9:42 PM, pgersumky said:

another rod by Okuma is the Citrix 7'11'' xh , that rod will cover a lot of baits , to me it has better action than the Guide Select , as it is a faster action with better backbone than the more moderate action of the Guide Select , actually costs a little less , as far as reels , you could use a regular sized baitcasting reel i assume you already have . spool up some 20 lb. line and your'e good to go ..

The rod handle length is 13 1/2" vs 23" on the Guide Select A series. Shorter handle could be a problem with being tip heavy and difficult to cast sitting down or with 4+ oz swimbaits. The rod blank is more than likely the same for both series of Okuma rods.

Good suggestion, gives the OP a choice to consider.

Tom

[Big Bait Fishing]

13 hours ago, WRB said:

The rod handle length is 13 1/2" vs 23" on the Guide Select A series. Shorter handle could be a problem with being tip heavy and difficult to cast sitting down or with 4+ oz swimbaits. The rod blank is more than likely the same for both series of Okuma rods.

Good suggestion, gives the OP a choice to consider.

Tom

actually its not , the handle length you quoted is TW's measurement , they got that measurement by measuring from the front of the foregrip , so adding in the 4'' foregrip and 4'' for the reel seat , the handle length is actually 14'' . the handle on the Citrix is about 13'' (reel seat and small fore grip subtracted from the TW measurement) both are pretty much the same .............

------ Tack** Wareh**** measures its rod handle lengths from the butt of the rod to the top of the foregrip -----