Want to try swimbaits- need a new rod...

[Ads7633]

Recently I've been dying to try out swimbaits- specifically glide baits. Problem is the biggest rod I've got is a 7 ft MH rated 3/8-3/4 oz, not going to cut it I think.

 

I've got 2 rods I'm toying with because they are on sale (St. Croix Mojo)

7'4 H 3/8-1 1/2 oz, Fast action(Slop & Frog)

7'10 H 1-4 oz Fast Action (Swimbait)

 

I realize the bigger rod would be a better choice for swimbaits, but I also feel that is really all I could use it for, so I would prefer the lighter setup. My question is this- will the limited nature of only being able to use smaller swimbaits greatly affect my success? Or can I do pretty well with the lighter stuff?

 

Some lighter options I've found:

River2Sea S Waver 120: 4 3/4 in- 15/16oz

Savage Gear 3D Shine: 5 1/4 in- 1oz

 

 

[JediAmoeba]

9 hours ago, Ads7633 said:

Recently I've been dying to try out swimbaits- specifically glide baits. Problem is the biggest rod I've got is a 7 ft MH rated 3/8-3/4 oz, not going to cut it I think.

 

I've got 2 rods I'm toying with because they are on sale (St. Croix Mojo)

7'4 H 3/8-1 1/2 oz, Fast action(Slop & Frog)

7'10 H 1-4 oz Fast Action (Swimbait)

 

I realize the bigger rod would be a better choice for swimbaits, but I also feel that is really all I could use it for, so I would prefer the lighter setup. My question is this- will the limited nature of only being able to use smaller swimbaits greatly affect my success? Or can I do pretty well with the lighter stuff?

 

Some lighter options I've found:

River2Sea S Waver 120: 4 3/4 in- 15/16oz

Savage Gear 3D Shine: 5 1/4 in- 1oz

 

 

Go bigger - the swaver 120 I barely consider a glidebait - it's more like a twitch bait that you fish sort of like a jerkbait. The best small glides are in that 2-4 oz range imo.

 

I have 4 rods dedicated to swimbait fishing, none of them too expensive. 

[Hammer 4]

Have a look at the Irod swimbait rods, the Gen II or gen III rods are very reasonably priced.

If I were you, I'd look at the rod rated up to 6 oz. It will throw lighter baits easily. I know cuz I own 4 of them.

[GreenPig]

I agree with JediAmoeba on the bigger rod and the smaller glides not really gliding. I'd suggest looking at a 1 - 6 or 2 - 8 oz rod. 

 

[Big Hands]

I found "Swimbait" rods and their ratings are . . . . not as accurately rated as one would hope, generally speaking. 

 

The S-Waver 120 is not really quite into the real swimbait category IMHO with regard to needing a true swimbait rod to throw them. For example I would use my Phenix X13 or X14, or my Daiwa TAEL741MHRB before using my lightest action swimbait rod (Dobyns Fury FR806HSB).

 

Honestly even though the FR806HSB is rated for 2-8 ounce baits and supposedly has a fast action, in actual use, I would say it's useful bait weight range is more like 1-4 ounces. It's line rating is 20-40 lbs line and I would say it's true sweet spot would be 17-25 lbs mono or fluoro. Furthermore, it supposedly a heavy/fast rod and while it would be considered a heavy power rod for general bass fishing, it is nowhere near what I would describe as a heavy power 'swimbait' rod. And to characterize the action as being in any way 'fast' is IMHO . . . laughable quite honestly. I think it's action (moderate or mod/fast at most) is far better suited to treble hook swimbaits or relatively light single hook baits. I would throw the bigger S-Wavers (168 and above) with it, but use a little lighter rods for the 120 S-Waver.

 

I also have a Daiwa Kage 'Swimbait' rod that is rated as heavy/regular that is a complete stud stick compared to the Dobyns with significantly more power and I would also describe it as fast action-wise, and not even close to a 'regular' action. 

 

I am going to somewhat self-censor here and keep it brief, LOL

 

There is a big difference between a 1.5 ounce swimbait and a 4 ounce swimbait. If you want to dabble in the swimbait world, I suggest picking a seemingly narrow-ish range of weights to throw and if you only want one rod, decide on either a rod that's best suited for treble hooks or bigger single hooks.

 

Since you mentioned 120 S-Wavers, that's a treble hook bait that weighs very close to 1 ounce. The Daiwa Elite I mentioned earlier, the Phenix X13 or X14, the iRod mentioned earlier by another poster are a good choices to huck 1 ounce treble hook baits. The St. Croix Legend Glass LGC711HM is another very nice rod for that niche, but goes up in price. 

Those are the ones that have 'caught' my attention and I am sure there are several others. I suggest you definitely put hands on any rod you're considering for swimbaits though as the ratings are anything but consistent/accurate in my experience.

 

As for reels, I thinkthe smallest I would opt for would be a Curado 200, next up in size would be a Tatula 200, and then a Curado 300. Those would be the reels I suggest for 1 ounce treble hook baits. The Tatula 300 is bigger that needed for those baits IMHO.

 

Watch out for the bait monkey, he can be rough on swimbait anglers. Don't ask how I know that.

[txchaser]

The Irod 1-4oz rated Bama Rig special is worth consideration. I bought it to throw A-rigs, and trying out some smaller swimbaits on it too. It's got enough mod in it work well with smaller a-rig hooks, so does fine with treble baits. It requires a bit more hookset on stuff like an owner beast hook. 

 

IMO the real range on it is 1-2 ounce. A bigger a-rig with eight blades running keitechs is too heavy for it. But what that means is it is useful for other stuff too. Heavy chatterbait, big spoons, smallish swimbaits (deps 210 is starting to get to the real upper end) , probably work great punching but I haven't tried it. Said another way it feels like an XH (non swimbait) rod, in terms of the progression from MH/H/XH, but it's got an action built for smaller hooks. 

 

I'm pointing all this out because you will get use out of the rod even if you ultimately don't like throwing swimbaits.

 

I ended up buying a true heavy swimbait rod and a better mid-weight big hook rod, so this has mostly gone back to a-rig duty.

[txchaser]

I made a point of throwing the bama rig rod this weekend with a 6" boom boom/optimum swim bait. It's a big hunk of plastic, and was using an 8/0 owner beast flashy swimmer. Approaching but not quite two oz. Had to make sure.

 

Anyway I could cast it further than I really wanted to set that big hook. It was a great fit. Little floppy for a long-distance hookset.

 

Will be just about right for an s-waver, tippy enough for a 6.5 draw. 100% would not cast 4oz on it unless it was just lob-casting.