Large swimbait and/or glide bait preferences

[AClark888]

I just got into swimbait fishing. I fish a shallow lake with a bunch of cypress trees that make up the majority of the shoreline. The water is stained but not muddy. What are some good suggestions for swimbaits and/or glide baits that you would throw here? 

And btw gizzard shad are very abundant in this lake.

[Hammer 4]

Do you have a budget in mind ? Reason being you could spend well over 100.00 per bait and more for some. But there are swimbaits and glides that are pretty reasonable.

Also, do you know what the depth is on your lake ?

Good glide for under $20.00 River2Sea S-Waver Glide Bait - Tackle Warehouse

Storm Arashi glide for under $ 40.00 Storm Arashi Glide Glide Bait - Tackle Warehouse

Swimbaits Huddleston around $30.00 to 40.00 depending on the model. Huddleston Deluxe 68 Special Weedless Swimbaits - Tackle Warehouse.

[AClark888]

Budget is not TOO much of an issue but id like to save noney if possible. As for depth, 1-4 feet is about the range i will be fishing in. Pretty much just around cypress roots and your occasional lay down. I recently purchased savage gear's 8 inch pulse tail in dirty silver and kokanee. I also got the 8 inch hudd in ayu. 

[GreenPig]

1 to 4', I'd definitely have a Bull Shad Bull Wake and a Spro Rat 50 wakebait. Maybe a Bull Shad 4 x 4 Knocker to safely crank thru those Cypress knees.

[Born 2 fish]

6” Bill Shad &  bull gill in slow sink are a must along with a g2 shellcracker. Glide bait I would stick with the s waver or jointed claw. 

[webertime]

The new islide 178 is amazing too.

[WRB]

Any time a new member ask question about big swimbaits it begs what rod, reel, line do you have?

Big swimbaits are heavy requiring swimbait tackle!

You mention Cypress trees and Gizzard Shad, are you located in the South?

Berkely came out with Nessie Powerbait swimbait in several lengths plus Shad profile and colors.

Spro Chad Shad is another good consideration.

Tom

[AClark888]

26 minutes ago, WRB said:

Any time a new member ask question about big swimbaits it begs what rod, reel, line do you have?

Big swimbaits are heavy requiring swimbait tackle!

You mention Cypress trees and Gizzard Shad, are you located in the South?

Berkely came out with Nessie Powerbait swimbait in several lengths plus Shad profile and colors.

Spro Chad Shad is another good consideration.

Tom

Yes im in the south. Im in Arkansas actually. Ive been fishing a lake called Lake Atkins in west central Arkansas. In the early 2000's it was drained and restocked with florida strain LMB. Ive been kayak fishing it a lot lately. Have caught some good fish but nothing over 5 lbs. I finally committed to a big bait set up and bought the xh SLX swimbait rod. I have it paired with a 6.3:1 slx reel for now but plan on getting a more swimbait appropriate reel in the near future.

I also have it spooled up with 65 lb power pro and 20 lb cxx leader.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Just depends on the prey item you're trying to match, along with your budget.   

 

I spent a couple hundred on budget baits, found one or two that were winners, but then finally realized you get what you pay for with big baits for the most part imho.

 

My favorite Glides are KGB Swimbaits, made in Arkansas

[WRB]

Agree you need a different reel, Cardiff A 300 series with 25 lb Armilo is a good choice.

Tom

[JediAmoeba]

Swimbaits are addicting. Juat speaking on hardbaits: If you are fishing shallow you really only need a few styles - wakes mentioned above are good but I would recommend a resin rat over the ABS plastic ones (readily available ones would be a PB rat or a bull rat).

 

As far as glides go - you want some XS sinks. Many of the ones on the market sink entirely too fast IMO. Sure you can catch some good sized young fish but for the big old ones you want to be able to go slow and not sink fast. The milliken draw is decent in that regard. And don't discount the DEPS 250 - but that one is over 6 oz so you need a stout rod. The bullshad glide is decent but those are harder to get.

 

And if you really want to get fun, go the custom route - BGC, Pizz, Tater Hog, Rafa, Toxic, Hinkle, Matt Lures...

[AClark888]

On 9/17/2023 at 3:03 PM, GreenPig said:

1 to 4', I'd definitely have a Bull Shad Bull Wake and a Spro Rat 50 wakebait. Maybe a Bull Shad 4 x 4 Knocker to safely crank thru those Cypress knees.

How well does the bull wake skip? I have to fish under a lot of branches. Ive been thinking about buying one but if it doesnt skip well then i probably wont buy one.

[WRB]

Skip a heavy expensive treble hook lure...skip buying it.

Tom

[GreenPig]

36 minutes ago, AClark888 said:

How well does the bull wake skip? I have to fish under a lot of branches. Ive been thinking about buying one but if it doesnt skip well then i probably wont buy one.

I've never attempted to skip the Bull Wake. I would imagine with it being a multi joint bait with a large lip, it's not going to skip well. You might want to check out a Magdraft or Burrito for skipping.

[Hammer 4]

Also try a 6 or 8" Huddelston..?

[Zcoker]

Look into the 6th Sense Trace (no affiliation). They have a variety of offerings from color to weight, floating, slow sinking and fast sinking. Great for whatever water that you are fishing. They're top notch detailed baits at an affordable price, around $30. They catch monster fish! 

 

[AClark888]

17 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

Also try a 6 or 8" Huddelston..?

I actually did try the hudd 8. Was surprised at how good it skipped....like a big flat rock! Did not get any bites though. 

[Fried Lemons]

For shallow shaggy areas with not great clarity I recommend wakebaits and softbaits over glides. Working class zero citizens/battleshads are the best on the market for your application. For wakebaits pick your poison, they all work. MS slammers are relatively inexpensive and easily obtainable.

[WRB]

You can skip a treble hook lure but the hooks will snag line a % of the time. Soft top hook lures skip better but not designed to be slammed against the water surface and will tear.

I my opinion skipping a big swimbait is a poor choice too load and will spook any bass nearby. Better off imo to cast beyond the tree if possible and swim the lure as close as possible to trigger a feeding response.

I am out of the swim bait game today and haven’t kept up with the lures availed and BR doesn’t have a lot of dedicated big swimbait member anglers, a few.

Tom

[928JLH]

Check out the Cheater by Billy Skinner. Down by Yuma they skip the cheaters with owner beast hooks back into cover and winch out hogs. Would definitely work for your conditions.

[Mr. Aquarium]

Ds customs makes great baits. I bought one on a whim, cuz he had something I thought might be could. It led to having the best season I’ve ever had. With a new personal best now I own a lot of his baits. It started with a floating glide. Caught  an

8-2 7-5 7-1 on it in a month with plenty of other fish. . But he makes other great baits!

 

other baits I use. 
 

real preys are my favorite soft bait! Caught a ton of good fish on them! 

[fishingtx]

I'd go with a few of the new sixth sense whales for those cypress. You definitely want to have a keel weighted texas rigged. Other good options include, sixth sense sweeps, megabass magdraft freestyles, and daingerous swimmers by bass mafia. If you want some very unique and high quality for cheap ones go check out 3:16 fishing. I throw their mission fish in all sizes. If there are lots of gizzards I' also definitely pick up a few spro swimbaits

[Smirak]

On 9/26/2023 at 12:39 PM, Zcoker said:

Look into the 6th Sense Trace (no affiliation). They have a variety of offerings from color to weight, floating, slow sinking and fast sinking. Great for whatever water that you are fishing. They're top notch detailed baits at an affordable price, around $30. They catch monster fish! 

 

I actually just bought 6 of those from Dicks. They were buy 3 get three free. I think I got 3 fast sink, 2 slow and 1 floating…floating only because of the available options for color. Also picked up some speed wakes and speed glides.

 

I threw a trace (fast sink) around today. It has great action. 

[Zcoker]

9 hours ago, Smirak said:

I actually just bought 6 of those from Dicks. They were buy 3 get three free. I think I got 3 fast sink, 2 slow and 1 floating…floating only because of the available options for color. Also picked up some speed wakes and speed glides.

 

I threw a trace (fast sink) around today. It has great action. 

 

I found these bluegill swimbaits on sale for $4 at Fish Lab. They come in 4” or 5” and, just like the Trace, come in floating, wake, slow sinking. I’m actually using them more than the Trace baits and liking them a lot! They seem to get annihilated by the bass. The action and quality is surprisingly good, especially for four bucks!