Why creep swimbaits on bottom?

[Zachary M]

I’ve been fishing swimbaits for a while and I love them. I particularly love glide baits, simply because they are a ton of fun to fish, and it just makes sense why a bass wants to eat one. A lot of my friends enjoy huddleston’s and other more “realistic” swimbaits. I personally can’t find any joy in throwing them, simply because 99% of the time when fishing one of these baits they are just creeped along the bottom...I would much rather just fish a jig. But if you watch trout or Kokanee, they are never moving at a snails pace on the bottom, they are schooled or moving about the water column. Whiskeytown Lake and Shasta Lake are my home waters, and I’ve seen both Spotted and Largemouth bass ambush and attack trout and Kokanee, coming from the beneath them. I can smash these fish on glides, but never on anything else. I want to start fishing more realistic baits just to expand my horizon, but I just want to better understand how to fish them and why I should fish these baits on the bottom, when the fish they are imitating are not swimming on the bottom??

[Hammer 4]

By fishing swimbaits slow on the bottom, not necessarily dragging them, they mimic baitfish feeding on things that can found there. Also, you can slow roll them right off the bottom, or anywhere in the water column. What you are trying to do, is give the bass, specifically the big girls, who don't like to Chase bait if at all possible, a chance to see that your bait is either an injured, or just dumb bait fish, this presents a good opportunity for them.

 

If your fishing clear, or semi clear, even some stained water, and you see bass just following your bait, but not committing,  give it a good twitch, or burn it a short distance.

Butch Brown has caught some BIG bass, up to 19 lbs fishing a 8 and 10 " hudd fairly slow. I believe there is video of him on youtube still. I'v watched him in person, and tried to copy his retrieve, it works. Hope this makes sense. BTW, welcome to the forums.  

[Bluebasser86]

Healthy trout don't sulk along the bottom. Injured or sick ones however, they will limp slowly along the bottom shortly before they go belly up. You don't see those trout/baitfish because they don't last long.

 

I'm right there with you though, they're not a fun bait to fish but they do tend to produce the very largest fish.

[Cgolf]

While I am newer to the swimbait game, I have found some lakes the bass are just bottom oriented and they rarely will take a moving bait up in the water column, but will follow one dragged on bottom. It is fun catching but frustrating fishing. I wish I knew why it was, but I just roll with it.

[WRB]

Fishing Hudds isn't any different then any other lure for big bass you must change the pace to learn what is triggering strikes. Trout spend a lot of time feeding off the bottom looking for snails, nymphs and critters hiding in the rocks. Mimicking a trout bottom feeding works.

Hudds come in ROF5, 12 &16, 5's can be fished in the upper water column at a slower pace then 16's require a faster pace to stay up in the water column....you have choices.

Tom