Working Class Zero

[Vranes17]

Has anyone any experience with these baits? The Citizen swimbait is on my radar just wondering if any of y'all are customers and what your opinion/luck has been with these? 

[Fried Lemons]

I’ll bite.

 

I started fishing the 6” citizens this season and they have become a go to bait for me. It is by far the best weedless swimbait I’ve used, it comes through timber and weeds very well. Stick some tungsten nails into the bait and it can also be bottom bounced without worry of snagging. The best feature imo is the way the bait is molded around the owner beast hook so the hook stays perfectly seated even as the bait starts getting torn up.

 

The 6” is much smaller than the 7” citizen and the 7.5” battles shad. I’ve caught bass ranging from 1-6lbs on the small citizen so it’s a good all around bait for getting bites while still attracting larger size fish. 

 

Now the cons. First would be hook up ratio. There is a learning curve to setting the hook on this bait. You need to keep your rod pointed at the bait during the retrieve which is different from how you would fish a crank bait or spinnerbait. You need a very hard hookset for this bait so you need to be in position at all times. Fish will spit the citizen much quicker than a senko.

 

Second would be the durability. This bait is soft and will start to rip with a few fish. You need mend it if you are fishing this bait. Sticking a toothpick through the screw lock will help keep the nose from tearing out. My first citizen lasted me 20 fish this way before I finally lost it to a snag.

 

That’s my 10 cents. Hope that helps.

[BassCats]

Where do you get them because they are sold out on their website

[Fried Lemons]

If you subscribe to their mailing list you’ll get notifications. There’s a drop happening next week. It’s a one man operation so they sell out fast.

[Big Swimbait]

Absolutely great baits. Unfortunately, the action has a lot to do with the plastic and durability is an issue. Think the Senko of swimbaits. The tips Fried Lemons posted above are musts. One additional thing I do is after I screw in the Owner Beast hook, I unscrew it, squirt some Mend-it into the hole and then reinsert the screwlock. It molds the plastic around the screw making it a little bit tougher. Definitely get on the mailing list if you want one. Set your alarm five minutes before the drop and have your cursor on the bait you want. The drop last week was gone in 7 minutes lol, but I did get a couple of colors.

[ducksbuddy]

What rod for these baits?

[Big Swimbait]

13 hours ago, ducksbuddy said:

What rod for these baits?

Heavy action swimbait rod. You really need to be able to drive the hook home.