Paddletail Swimbaits

[BrianMDTX]

I have never had much success with paddletail swimbaits, but seeing (lately) how these pond bass are smashing baitfish up close against the bank, I’m thinking it’s likely something I’ve overlooked and underfished in the past. I caught a bass yesterday on a Keitech 2.8” with a 3/0 EWG and a 1/8 oz. bullet weight Texas rigged. What are some good, or better, options for casting right near the bank?

 

I say casting, and not pitching/flipping, as I cannot stand in my boat (they say you can, but I tried twice and both times I almost went into the drink lol). So casting is really the only option. 
 

And I had that rigged on a MHF baitcaster. I have baitcasters from MF, MHMF, MHF to HF, and spinning rigs from MLF, MF and MXF. If you have a preference, let me know, and why. 

[Pat Brown]

My favorite ways to fish paddle tail swimbaits are flashy swimmer style keel weighted hooks with little blades.  They make tiny ones and they make the giant ones for the big soft swimbaits and both are excellent options to try in a pond or lake.  In a pond that has bigger bass that key in on sunfish or perch or shiners or big gizzard shad, I'd definitely toss around a 7" zaldaingerous swimbait every so often in rotation with the smaller ones.

 

Another way I really like to fish them in on finesse jigs /football jigs/swim jigs etc 

 

I find they often get a bigger bite and more bites than a craw or grub trailer.

 

Last way I like to fish them (this is sneaky juice so enjoy!) is on a dropshot.

 

Just do it - nose hook open water and texsposed around cover.  Go with the lightest weight necessary to keep it down and work it slow on a semi tight line.  I like points or ditches or flats or ledges or really main structure that seems hard to fish or get bit on for this technique.  Try a fluke if they don't want the swimbait.   So so deadly in lakes or ponds with mucky/muddy bottoms.

[Catt]

Y'all need to try a paddletail weightless & fish em like a Fluke. Y'all be amazed at the action.

 

@BrianMDTX I switched to a taller pedestal but instead of a butt seat I use my regular seat. This is a lot more stable & I can sit of need be. Instead of casting, I roll cast a lot.

[Pat Brown]

Just now, Catt said:

Y'all need to try a paddletail weightless & fish em like a Fluke. Y'all be amazed at the action.

 

@BrianMDTX I switched to a taller pedestal but instead of a butt seat I use my regular seat. This is a lot more stable & I can sit of need be. Instead of casting, I roll cast a lot.

 

I do that also but 90% of the time do a fluke or a mag speed worm or craw - maybe next year I'll do the swimbait a hair more.

[A-Jay]

The paddle tail or boot tail swimbait can be a very effective deal for just about any kind of bass and in a super wide variety of applications. Not news.  At this point its common knowledge that sliding one on a jig head can and does get bites pretty much anywhere in the country.

Whether it be a solid or hollow belly bait, small, medium or even the larger versions, these baits seem to have some serious strike drawing power at times. 

 

 I’ll start off with ‘The when’; and this may be the easiest aspect of this one.

Seasonally, as soon as there is open water here and straight through to hard water, I almost always have a swimbait on a jig head rigged up & ready to throw.  This is the deal I’ll be discussing here and I’ll get to the where and how in a bit.  But yea, when the local brown bass population is on the feed, they almost always seem fairly eager to choke one of these things. 

 

  Now let me get into some of my more common ‘where’ scenarios.

Right off the bat, the versatility of these things does lend them to be effective in a wide vary of ‘wheres’.  So it can literally be one of those 3 feet to 30 feet deals.  However for me, up in this clear water, regardless of season, time of day or body of water, a swimbait on a jighead is an effective way to cover water and it’s usually ‘deeper’ stuff. 

I’ll quantify that by saying I’m throwing them up on to or off of mid lake humps, up & off points, as well as drop-offs and into saddle areas.  Usually targeting bass in 10-20 feet.

  Bottom composition and cover can vary but in super heavy soft cover (weeds) I am not probing them with this bait.  I might swim one over and around it, but IME, they don’t fish very effectively through the slop.  Great way to cover a big mid-lake flat though.  Slow rolling one over the weeds can help find biters (and a bunch of Pike, unfortunately).

 On a hard bottom, I like the lift & fall technique, on both a tight & slack line, as well as the cranking it along slow and letting it deflect; trigger deal.

On a sand bottom I am all about grinding the bait.  Reeling it along in such a manner, and at whatever speed I need, to maintain constant contact with the bottom.  This is one of my more productive approaches that also gets me a ton of by-catch; walleye mostly.  A Football head is a solid choice.

 

  Now for the gear, and it’s really nothing special.

I use spinning & casting gear, pretty much interchangeably.

Almost always using 7 ft Medium action in both blanks.

Spinning gear is done with 10-15 lb braid and an 8 – 10 lb FC leader.

And the casting gear is straight 10-12 lb FC.

I will say that the spinning gear is usually selected when I’m looking to keep the baits deeper, say below 10 – 15 feet and the casting gear often gets the nod in anything shallower. Incidentally, this is the same tackle I fish a tube with.

 

The Jig heads & Baits ~

There is a plethora of good quality swim baits and matching jig heads to choose from now.  On line vendors literally list what seems like hundreds.  I’ve fished a dozen or so types & brands.  To keep it simple, I’ve pretty much settled on two; listed below.

  I do prefer softer baits in the 3 to 5 inch size range, with something close to 4 inch being a big player.  While clearly less durable, I seem to get more bites.  Along with that, having the right action, especially on the fall, is a must for me.  

 When it comes to jighead shape, design and the all-important hook, again I like to keep it simple but here I am fairly particular.  Brand Name is my desired direction but will go with a Lesser-known deal when there’s merit.  I am eternally looking for jigheads with a quality medium and medium light wire hook that is also The Right Length.  Too stout here can be tricky to sink on the medium gear I use; especially on a long cast or very deep running bait. Additionally, too long of a hook seems to ‘mute’ and can even over power a bait.  I seem to get the best action when the bend is coming out the top of the bait no more than half way back of the baits overall length.  More than that is No Bueno.

My favorite heads match up to baits when they only go in about a third of the way (if that makes sense).

   Colors I keep close to the bait color and my default is just a plain lead, black or tungsten. Head shape & design includes where the line tie placement is located on the head itself. The right local will allow the bait to swim nicely, especially along the bottom and on the glide without forcing the bait to pick up unwanted & bite killing debris.  A decent keeper helps; a couple of different ones work for me.  In a pinch (meaning I ran out of a certain weight size) I’ve even used my tube jigheads with decent success.

Jighead weights range from 1/8 oz for the smallest and shallowest presentations up to ½ oz for the other end of the spectrum  I’d say I use ¼ oz and 3/8 oz the most though.

 

  Before I wrap this one up, I have two final thoughts.

First, a bait type that has been deliberately omitted here,

are the ‘pre-rigged’ deals.  Not because they don’t get bites or that I don’t use them, because they can be killer at times and I do throw them.

Storm Wild Eye Shad and the Megabass Dark Sleeper are two of my favorites. The Dark Sleeper sees local action and the Storm bait is an international Rock Star performer for me.   While I fish them in much the same way, I didn’t include them here because comparatively, I only recently started using them.  For me they seem like a separate deal, one that I may cover in a future Brown Bass Tools installment; especially that Dark Sleeper.

 

 And second, and I sort of hate to add this but it is relevant. 

Virtually every bait I have covered in this thread, has accounted for at least a handful, if not more, 5 lb plus Brown Bass; except this one.

There are few things I enjoy more than adding a too close to the lens pic of a brown fatty to the end of one of these write ups.  But alas, I cannot do that, because despite my best efforts, it hasn’t happened.  Instead, what I will say and where I find myself throwing these swim baits the most, is to cover water & find biters.  Done it a ton of times; plenty of 3’s & 4’s.

Can be especially helpful on new water.  This style of swimbait is as close to a ‘confidence bait’ for me as I have.  Pretty sure this approach has indirectly led to a few tanks, by showing me areas that the bass are using.

 

Strike King Rage Swimmer ~ Keitech Swing Impact FAT

 

Owner Ultrahead Football Jig Head ~ Owner Ultrahead Round Jig Head

Gamakatsu Round Jig Head ~ Dirty Jigs Tactical Bassin' Finesse Swimbait Jig Head

 

 

Fish Hard

A-Jay 

[bowhunter63]

Swim jig trailer works really good

[BrianMDTX]

@Catt How do you rig them weightless? Texas rig worm hook, or nose hooked?

 

@A-Jay I fish mostly muddy, muck bottoms. Which of your presentations would you suggest for that? 

[A-Jay]

13 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

 

@A-Jay I fish mostly muddy, muck bottoms. Which of your presentations would you suggest for that? 

1/8 oz jig head and fish it slow,

but keep it moving & out of the muck.

A-Jay

[Catt]

24 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

 How do you rig them weightless? Texas rig worm hook, or nose hooked?

 

EWG 😉

I ain't necessarily "swimming" it; twitch it, jerk it, pause it, everything you would do with a Fluke. 

[BrianMDTX]

All good replies. And thanks. Always looking for new methods or improvements to existing ones. 

[Peacedivision]

I'll add the xzone swammer on a ball head. That combo will roll 180 degrees on a straight retrieve and thump like a tiny chatter bait. It's caught me a ton of fish this year.

[Reel]

I fish them right near the bank, sometimes in less than a foot of water for largemouth.  I use Rhythm Waves or Keitech in always the same size, the 4.8 and I mount  them on a twist lock weighed hook 5/0 (Mustad) 1/8 oz.  The small (movable) weight helps with the action.  I want the bait horizontal.  I use a Conquest reel (slow retrieve) on a 7 foot 4 Moderate Fast rod made for swimbaits.