Is a swimbait rod worth it?

[J Francho]

I know you're looking for rod recommendations, but you might want to rethink your line choice.  I use 20# CXX.  There's many other that go this route.  You can get away with lighter line, or the braid, but as your bait collection grows, you want to use an extremely tough line.  Speaking of growing your collection of baits.  Go slow.  I made the mistake of buying everything I could afford.  I now use just a handful of baits that suit my fishing and my waters.

[EGbassing]

27 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I know you're looking for rod recommendations, but you might want to rethink your line choice.  I use 20# CXX.  There's many other that go this route.  You can get away with lighter line, or the braid, but as your bait collection grows, you want to use an extremely tough line.  Speaking of growing your collection of baits.  Go slow.  I made the mistake of buying everything I could afford.  I now use just a handful of baits that suit my fishing and my waters.

Thanks. Yeah, what do you think of braid to leader? I go through expensive flourocarbon insanely fast but a spool of braid lasts me for months. 

[J Francho]

I don't like the leader idea at all for swimbaits.  CXX is pretty economical.  600 yd. spool is less than $15.

[Jcj90]

Berkeley big game $8 a spool. I use 20lb for my swimbaitS

[EGbassing]

Just now, J Francho said:

I don't like the leader idea at all for swimbaits.  CXX is pretty economical.  600 yd. spool is less than $15.

Ok, I may try CXX but I should probably never buy something like Tatsu because I would probably end up spending around ~$1000 a year on it ?

[J Francho]

I don't recommend any fluorocarbon for swimbaits.

[WRB]

14 hours ago, EGbassing said:

My Fuego CT holds ~140 yards of 12 lb. line. (50 lb. braid is 12 lb. diameter) Do swimbaits ever cast that far?

Reel mfr's rate line capacity at full spool, most anglers fill spools to about 1/8" under full spool level and that reduces yardage. Swimbait rods are long for the purpose of casting longer distances with heavy lures, 50 yard casts are normal. A 50 yard cast with small diameter spool is about 1/2 the line and that reduces the spooled line diameter significantly. Do the math; circumference ( length of line around the spool ) = Pi times diameter (3.14 X diameter). If the spooled line dia starts at 1.375 and ends at .75  the circumference changes from 4.3 to 2.3 dropping the reels IPT by 50%, you must reel twice as fast to move the lure the same distance. The problem is you can't get a good hook set or control the bass if a strike occurs within the first 10 yards of a long cast, the high % zone.

Tom

[blckshirt98]

One more thing before you get into swimbaits, it's a rabbit hole that can go pretty deep on your wallet very quickly, and the money might be better spent learning other techniques/presentations first at a fraction of the cost.

[WRB]

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

I don't recommend any fluorocarbon for swimbaits.

Butch Brown uses 20 lb AbrazX FC line for his swimbaits. Butch also buys in big bulk spools, changes it often, is a expert knot tier and caster.

I'am in your camp preferring mono or copolymer line,I use 25 lb Sunline Armillo Defier Nylon for swimbaits. 

If you ever back lashed braid making a long cast with a heavy swimbait it will become obvious why braid with leaders is a bad choice.

Tom

 

[fishwizzard]

I wanted to use 50lb PP to throw 68Specials and decided to test it with some equlivent weight Big GZs on weighted hooks and boy am I glad I did.  After littering the pond bottom with three of them in a single day I gave up using braid.  

 

After the first one I was really trying to be mindfull of dig-in but it’s so easy to get a single loose loop that ends up in a cast-off.  I didn’t really believe it would be such an issue until it happed.  

[J Francho]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Butch Brown uses 20 lb AbrazX FC line for his swimbaits.

Butch is on another level.  We're talking about a beginner swimbaiter.  I want the margin of error to be high.

[Mr. Bassin II]

I would throw that bait all day long on a Kistler KLX X-heavy Grass Puncher Stump Grinder, especially if the reel is spooled up with 50# or 65# smackdown braid.  This is the rod I use for large jointed swimbaits, heavy slop frogging, small A-rigs, and big jigs in a pinch.  Whether I am fishing from a bank, dock, or deck of my boat this is the rod I am using for these techniques.  It will handle all the duties you are mentioning.  

 

Well, it is the rod would use if I was not sidelined with a broken elbow.

[GreenPig]

Really depends on which S-Waver. The 168 is 1 & 5/8oz the 200 is 3.5 oz. Many Mh & H bass will handle the 168, but that's not gonna work with 200 S Waver.

[Fishes in trees]

The original question, "Is a swim bait rod worth it?"

 

Short answer - YES.  All fishing rods are "worth it".   Some are more "worth it" than others.  You get to decide.  You can't own too many fishing rods.

[blckshirt98]

3 hours ago, Fishes in trees said:

 You can't own too many fishing rods.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhh you might be surprised at what some people can amass over time.

[Big Swimbait]

I have a Spiralite Maverick 8' HF. I use it for swimbaits up to 3.5 oz, it's a great flipping/pitching/punching rod for big jigs/weights and is awesome with A-rigs which is something I would consider for your lake. And it's only $120.00.