Best swimbaits

[jr231]

So I received a gift. I have 150 dollars to spend at a bass pro. I have a plethora of terminal tackle , soft plastics , top waters.  And crank/jerkbaits. And more than enough jigs to suite my needs. One area I'm not so stocked in. Is swimbaits. I only have a few. One is complete garbage IMO (storm wild eye bluegill) which I ended up giving away. And the other is like a 5 inch hollow body that I've done pretty decent with.

But I'm thinking of getting either the spro bbz1, Mattlures baby bass. Or jackal gantarel. Any reviews on the spro or jackall would be appreciated. I've heard nothing but good things from the Mattlures . But I think I want a hard bodied. With a wide motion. Also any suggestions on your favorite swimbait. Thanks. 

[timsford]

If you want a hard bodied bait I'd look at the river2sea s-waver, bull shad,  MS slammer, or the spro bbz or rat. Also no swimbait collection is complete without a hudd 68 and a few packs of keitech fat impacts and easy shiners. 

[jr231]

I've kind of gotten away from the river 2 sea.. because I feel like they ripped me off big time on their clackin crayfish. I mentioned the spro bbz.. but can't find any reviews of people's personal experience. Hudd 68. I'll check that out. Thanks. 

@timsford

[timsford]

I haven't fished the big bbz bait,  but the smaller shad baits are excellent,  especially when fish are feeding on shad schools like in the fall. A slow sink bbz shad would be a great buy and something that will give you confidence in swimbaits because it gets lots of bites. The hudd 68 is another bait that attracts both numbers and some monsters too. The Ms slammer and spro rat are both top water style baits that draw strikes and are very fun to fish. I haven't used the mattlures hard Gill or gantarel a ton, but I have caught some pond bass on them. Most of the ponds and places where bass mainly feed on sunfish and baby bass that I fish are full of cover,  so I use mostly soft baits like the mattlures,  huddleston,  savage gear,  and little creeper gills. I never bought into the clackin crayfish but I can understand getting burned. I feel the same about my livetarget sunfish,  but all companies have good and bad baits and the s-waver is a great glide type bait for the price. Good luck and I hope you catch some hawgs on your new swimbaits

[deaknh03]

I've used everything you mentioned. Personally, I would get a mattlures hardgill. If your new to swimbaits maybe start with the spro or river2sea, but if you wanna jump right in, go with the matts and/or the gantarel. 

[deaknh03]

Also depends on your gear..the hardgill and gantarel are around 2oz, the spro and r2s are 1 or under.

[j bab]

Gantarel and Gantarel Jr are excellent baits

[Raul]

If it were my money I would get a Hudd 68 and a Mattlures Hardgill.

[Airman4754]

The Gantarel is awesome. If you're getting Hudds get a 68 Weedless and a regular 8".

SPRO stuff is good. The 8" slow sink is a really solid bait. I would get a rat before I would get a floater. It's a really big bait for an 8".

Get one really good glide bait as well. I really like the ABT's, but there are some other good ones out there. The S-Wavers aren't bad, but they need a split ring on the front and the sides ground down so they swim way better. The 6" model isn't setup for big fish, but the 8" has serviceable hooks and split rings.

I would recommend getting a couple packs of 6" Speed Shads as well. They are really cheap and have a big profile with great action. 

[Bluebasser86]

Where is this magical BPS that carries swimbaits?? I've been to several and the closest thing to a swimbait I've seen is one of the BPS jointed swimbaits. A lot of the baits mentioned are hard to get direct from the maker, how is BPS getting them?

[deaknh03]

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Where is this magical BPS that carries swimbaits?? I've been to several and the closest thing to a swimbait I've seen is one of the BPS jointed swimbaits. A lot of the baits mentioned are hard to get direct from the maker, how is BPS getting them?

Good point..there's no matts at bps..

[d-camarena]

Basstrix 7 inch plastic swimbaits. Best swimbait ive ever used but its not a hardbait

[Jaw1]

The BPS locally only carries the s waver and some spro products along with kietech knock offs and the strike king version 

[jr231]

They can order me anything I want though. But yea. 

[Bluebasser86]

6 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

They can order me anything I want though. But yea. 

They're going to order you baits they don't normally carry? Searching the term "swimbaits" on their website turns up a very limited selection. I've never even thought to ask them if they'd order something they don't carry though. 

[j bab]

4 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

They're going to order you baits they don't normally carry? Searching the term "swimbaits" on their website turns up a very limited selection. I've never even thought to ask them if they'd order something they don't carry though. 

No they won't. You're right, I assumed they carried gantarels because cabela's does, but turns out they sure don't!

[jr231]

Oh. I guess I just figured they could order me anything.. even if they don't carry it in the store..  I always liked cabelas more. But I have the card to bass pro. Im not sure. I will work something out..

Bummer

[j bab]

2 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

Oh. I guess I just figured they could order me anything.. even if they don't carry it in the store..  I always liked cabelas more. But I have the card to bass pro. Im not sure. I will work something out..

Bummer

They can order anything they carry online, and they don't carry gantarels, nobody carries matt lures

[jr231]

Yea that makes sense... well thats not good. Looks like I'm getting more soft plastics with it. Cuz you know. I need them so desperately. 

[primetime]

I went through the Swim Bait spree a few years ago and tried most of the glide baits and swim baits that were priced reasonably or on sale, I have found that after several years I rarely use the hard swimbaits unless I want to fish the S-Waver Or BBZ as a big Topwater or Wake bait, but to be completely honest, I have used the Sebile Magic Swimmers, Savage Glides, Strike KIng/ABT Swimbaits and the Wake shad from SK is one of my favorites. I do much better with the 4"BBZ in Saltwater but I found that the Cabela's brand for $5 ended up fishing just as good if not the same, for some reason Spro Lures have been arriving at Overstock Shops, Liquidators so BBZ's have been under $10 for a year now. I would by the Slow Sink even if you plan on waking it as I never really do well with the floater.

I honestly think that the Bigger S-Waver is good for the money, but strikes are few and far between, and I just catch more fish and the same quality swimming a 4-6" Soft Swimbait. I would skip on any of the Magic swimmer style lures, they work but I would rather fish a Lake Fork magic Minnow Soft bait with boot tail or without, or the new Yum Pulse, Keitech Fats, and I recently was just introduced to the Creme Screamer Swimbait which is really good, super soft & flexible, Kind of similar to a Swim Senko but it has a design where you can texpose your hook and it is still weedless, great colors,and the body has "Fins" which make it swim and fall with such a fluid motion. 

I like fishing Glide Baits for Stripers, but for me I just feel it is tough to fish them around weeds, and with the new Soft Swimbaits and hooks, Jig Heads, you can get more bang for the buck out of soft baits since a soft swimbait looks more natural at least too me & Fish tend to agree. I had the Jackall Gyron which catches fish but I just feel I can buy a knock off Academy Brand for $5 and get the same results since it is really too small to glide. You can make a Soft Swimbait glide by adding nail weights to shift the balance, but I would go slowly into the Swimbait Buying, I spent alot of Money to fill up a box since I go though compulsive buying if I have a good day with a new lure without realizing it was just "A really good day and not the lure"....If you plan on casting and reeling or "Chucking and Winding, Check out the Academy segmented Swimbaits  which are big like the BBZ, and they work just as well imo. 

Hard Swimbaits and Glidebaits are much more fun for Stripers or for big Gamefish, but for Largemouth, If they get a good look at it, they usually will not strike. Put a good quality Soft Swimbait in the same situation and I would take those odds any day.

Creme Screamer, the 5" is a good size and has a great action for a lift and drop or slow roll. Fatter than a Swim Senko, All terrain, and it may replace most of my other branded swimbaits, it is a good bait that is starting to get a reputation which is good, I forgot Creme still existed except for the cheap Mad Dad Minnows which are a nice Lipless alternative in Hydrilla.

Hope that Helps. I love how my Swimbait Boxes look however, Only issue is 90% of the baits look brand new and most have been in the water so that is not good. I want to see paint chipped, only on Wake Shads which are really good from Strike King....Bluegills hammer the lure and it is a good sized lure.

[fishballer06]

Gantarel (and Jr) are great baits.

S Waver is a great bait, and you're only hurting yourself if you refuse to buy this bait because it's made by R2S.

Keitech Swing Impact Fat, LF Magic Shad, or BPS Speed Shad if you don't already have some of these are another staple that BPS should carry.