Swimbaits on a Budget, do I even bother?

[Angry John]

11 minutes ago, WRB said:

Suggesting soft swimbaits for use where pike and musky are present isn't doing the OP any favors. Back in the late 70's to early 80's I shipped my soft Worm King Dinosaur 10", 12" and 16" trout swimbaits to Ontario Canada to use for musky fishing, what was I thinking? Small to medium size 8 to 10 lb pike and musky shredded those swimbaits beyond repair, bad idea. They worked great but 1 fish per swimbait gets expensive fast!

The swimbait that worked very good in Canada was 22nd Century 8" Triple Trout, not an inexpensive lure but I have the same lure for over 15 years now, very durable lure.

Tom

You lost me TOM dont know where anyone was talking soft a lot of hard baits mentioned though...

[WRB]

On November 13, 2017 at 3:44 PM, Angry John said:

I am trying just what your talking.  I have swaivers, big keitecks, trash fish and huddlestons.  Toss in a bbz-1 and a BBZ rat and your in big business.  Stick to known baits that work.  Having a million baits is not better.  My buddy got a bunch of expensive baits and has quickly gone to  only fishing his hinkle shad.  Now that bait is good money but if your only buying one or two then its not that bad.  I don't know what your limits are but it can be done.  The costs associated with being bit off are unknown so i cant speak to that.  If your baits are big enough then that may limit the problem.

Keitecks, Trash Fish and Huddleston's are all soft swimbaits.

Tom

[Angry John]

Just now, WRB said:

Keitecks, Trash Fish and Huddleston's are all soft swimbaits.

Tom

They are supper cheap unless your talking large Huddlestons and it your getting bit off its not a huge loss.  I feel that 4.8 with hook is around 2 dollars and can be a great start.  Your right they are soft but the cost of a loss is no worse than any other lure, and maybe a lot less...  I guess everyones ideal of reasonable for a loss is different but if its zero then fishing might not be the right gig...  Is the devil in the details or are we looking at being realistic...  No conflict desired...

[WRB]

1 hour ago, Angry John said:

They are supper cheap unless your talking large Huddlestons and it your getting bit off its not a huge loss.  I feel that 4.8 with hook is around 2 dollars and can be a great start.  Your right they are soft but the cost of a loss is no worse than any other lure, and maybe a lot less...  I guess everyones ideal of reasonable for a loss is different but if its zero then fishing might not be the right gig...  Is the devil in the details or are we looking at being realistic...  No conflict desired...

Little Creepers Trash Fish, 8" is $20, agree Kietechs are inexpensive.

Tom

[BassB8Caster]

There are a lot of great options at all budget levels. A bag of yum pulse 4.5" swimbaits are a great deal. The side to side wobble with great tail kick action is a great producer for me. Either on a jig head or even texas rigged on a twist lock hook. Keitechs are a great value for the action they have. And they produce. period. Savage gear line thru trout and 3d trout are good prices (10 and 13). The spro bbz 40 rat is 25 but has lasted me 2 seasons and caught me a ton of good fish. So imo a great value. I just picked up 2 savage gear 4play lipped swimbaits (buy one get one 50% off at dicks) for $15. So lime i said, more options than one needs to catch fish. Dont need to get into the expensive baits unless you want to and have the budget for it. But dont cheap out on your rod and reel for pricier baits. Need a stout rod for the bigger baits! 

[TnRiver46]

I catch a lot of angry fish on the h20 express jointed hardbaits. They are $5.99 regular price, sometimes on sale cheaper. I get my soft swimabits handpoured by a retired bass catching machine 

[Cgolf]

3 hours ago, Angry John said:

They are supper cheap unless your talking large Huddlestons and it your getting bit off its not a huge loss.  I feel that 4.8 with hook is around 2 dollars and can be a great start.  Your right they are soft but the cost of a loss is no worse than any other lure, and maybe a lot less...  I guess everyones ideal of reasonable for a loss is different but if its zero then fishing might not be the right gig...  Is the devil in the details or are we looking at being realistic...  No conflict desired...

 

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Little Creepers Trash Fish, 8" is $20, agree Kietechs are inexpensive.

Tom

 

I guess I really didn't specify, but I was thinking the harbodied fish imitating swim baits not wanting to mess with the larger plastic swimbaits which like Tom said would get trashed by pike and musky. Saying that though Musky guys love their bull dawgs. 

 

I hadn't thought of Keitech like baits as swim baits which I have a few of that I haven't tossed much either. I will likely be tossing those more too and if they get bit off who cares. Too many baits and so little time. 

 

Later I will get a pick of what I already have. 

[Cgolf]

Alright I have 3 savage gear, Strike King King Shad, 2 Cabela's generic swimbaits, a big old creek chub, and not sure if it counts, bug a Lucky Craft LL Pointer. 

 

I do really have my eyes on a Jackall Mikey wake bait, they have an incredible perch imitation and the reviews on TW sound good. Plus some others you all have mentioned. 

 

If you think I have a good enough starter set, please save me some money and I will work with these next year. 

 

In hindsight I should have started with this picture.

 

[Cgolf]

Thanks all for the advice. I am glad it is only 8 days away from when I place my Black Friday order, as my list is shifting daily. I might even shock myself and get a Megabass Popmax. 

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

 Megabass Popmax. 

Get a River2Sea Bubble Walker 80 instead. I can't tell the difference except the price tag. 

[Angry John]

I have both and they both work.  If your looking at the bait the mb is way more detailed and has wayyyyy nicer paint.  Do the fish care most likely not.