First Follower & Strike on Swaver 168 - Thoughts?

[TotalNoob]

Has anyone downsized the trebles on a 168 or any glide bait? 

 

I picked up two 168s last year on ebay while they had those once weekly 10-20% off days. Picked up the bluegill and the lite trout. I messed around throwing them last summer, fall, and this Spring a little bit, trying to get a feel for the cadence & how to make it look as authentic as possible. 

 

The other morning right before sunrise I had my first (known) follower, a walleye. We have a reservoir that has all 3 black bass and tons of walleyes, lots of trophy walleyes at that. I'd be lying if I said I didn't also have big walleyes in mind when I picked up the 168s. 

 

A few casts later I had an eater, presumably a walleye, just a few feet out from shore. Either the fish wasn't real big and/or I got excited and pulled the bait away. Either way, between the follower and the one that struck I'm feeling the fever for these 168s and determined to develop these into a confidence bait rather than something I'm screwing around with just because I saw it in a youtube vid. 

 

Taking a look at this lure the first thing that jumps out at me is hook size. The largest bass population in the lake are Smallmouths (by a lot). Walleyes are quite abundant. These are the two fish most caught from this lake. With that in mind, and knowing that these fish have softer mouth tissue than LMBs, would it ever be reasonable to think about going with a less stout hook on an swaver 168? I just don't know that I need this kind of treble hook firepower for these species fish, yet I know I definitely want the size/profile of these lures to attract larger fish. 

 

What kinds of mods has anyone made to their 168s in terms of hooks and split rings? I was also thinking perhaps of adding an additional split ring to each hook to create more separation between the treble and the lure, with the idea of trying to minimize potential leverage a fish can get against the weight of the lure. I don't have enough experience to know if that's a good idea or not. Appreciate any/all feedback. 

[Big Swimbait]

On all of my S-Wavers, I double the split rings as you suggest with Owner Hyper-Wire. I also upgrade the hooks to the Owner Zo-wire. I would not downsize the hooks - especially if there are trophy walleye and I suspect some big bass also.

[JediAmoeba]

After seeing how well the feathered trebles look on the Gantarel's I have I put some slightly smaller feathered trebles on my s wavers so they stay up against the bait better when in the water.  I have only caught 3 fish with this setup but I haven't missed any...

[Shimano_1]

I got turned onto the s waiver last year. Using the I know it color. I caught a 3 lb bass on the first cast. I proceeded to fish it and got to noticing I was having several followers.  A cple of which were good fish.  So...I was left wondering what to do to get these fish to commit.  I was slow rolling it and started adding a few quick twitches then killing it. Had a 5lb fish follow it and I killed the bait a few feet from the boat. Fish had its nose right up against it. I let it sit for a second or 2, twitched it twice and killed it again and that fish absolutely annihilated it. Ended up catching 10 that day and 2 over 5 lbs. I'm convinced they were interested enough to follow it but the twitching and killing it was what triggered them to eat it. Good luck!

[Smalls]

I don’t have one in front of me, but I’m pretty sure the 168’s are size 2 hooks. That’s really not that big. Leave em be.