Randall's hollow swimbait mods and hooks

[Randall]

I had been fishing the Basstrix swimbaits for a few years. But after word got out about how they caught fish and the small local tackle shop I had been getting them from couldn't get them anymore ,due to Basstrix policy of only selling to one shop, I had to find a substitute. Then all the knockoffs started coming out but most were different in one way or another and didn't have the same action or catch fish the same since they were missing the hollow body, right size tail, appearance , etc.

So, I started looking at different modifications I could do to make use of these knockoff baits. Out of the knockoffs I found the Lucky Strike/Strike King bait was the only one that could get close in appearance and design at the time but they made some major mistakes when making the bait that caused problems. The tail was way too large to get the right swimming action and the body was way to thick for a good hookset. I soon started cutting on the tail to make it smaller and trying different hooks and rigs. I soon figured out the weighted hook makers didn't know what the baits needed to work and they were doing the same thing the swimbait knockoff companies were doing which was just getting something on the market fast and not doing anything new to make the baits better. They just took big hooks and added weight. I knew what I needed in a hook to work on these baits but nobody made it.

Then one day I went fishing with Tom Branch who is the Prostaff Manager of Fish Harder Companies (Picasso and Tru-Tungsten). Tom gave myself and my tournament partner Adam Stanton some baits to try one of which was the big Ish Tube which came with a Picasso 12/0 tube hook. I looked at the hook and thought I had something I could use but didn't have time to try it. Funny thing was we were discussing the mistakes companys were making trying to copy and make Basstrix type baits and then he handed me the tubes. I saw the hook and a little light bulb turned on in my head.

So, that afternoon I took the 12/0 hook added a 1/8 oz weight and put it in a the biggest Lucky Strike swimbait with a cut tail and it swam perfect. Now the problem was finding hooks for the smaller size baits. I went to Bass Pro Shop and looked around and found that my favorite hook company makes a hook with the same type design. So Now I had an 11/0 Owner oversize offset worm hook for the 5.5 inch size baits and a 7/0 for the next size bait down. The longer shank would give a better hook set and tighter action to the bait. I also had pinch on weights to add weight and could use heavier or lighter weights to adjust the speed and depth I wanted to fish.

Here are the photos of what the finished bait rigged should look like, the cut tail, and the hook. This is the 5.5 inch bait with an 11/0 Owner. I used super glue ,pliers and pinch on weights to add the weight. Just cut the tail like the one shown in the photo. You can experiment with how much tail you want to cut off since different amounts cut off will change the action. Notice how the hook comes out of the head with no bends in the way to catch grass. These are deadly over grass but it's a pain to fish most other swimbait hooks with weight added because they catch grass where the hook comes out of the head. See how when the hook point is farther back there is less plastic in the way for the hook to get through and past since the bait is thinner here. Its also father back when the fish overtakes the bait from behind or just gets the tail. My hook-up ratio is very high since I started using this hook. More than doubled the number of fish hooked. The longer shank hook and cut tail together get rid of most of the roll over which was a problem on many of these baits. It has a nice tight kick and allows for a lighter weight and slower retrieve to be used. I often just use 1/16 oz weight on larger baits and no weight sometimes on the small baits. I know Tackle Warehouse carries the hooks of both brands if you want to try them. There are a few companies that make the pinch on type weights. I got mine from a local shop.

This should help you catch more fish and stop wasting money on hype and things that don't work. I have caught five twentyfive pound plus five fish limits off of this setup this spring and summer so this works for me. Now the Basstrix are a little easier to get then they were a few months ago but I have decided I like these better with this setup.

[JR Howard]

To add to your post...on the large shadilicous (strike king) swimbaits i go ahead and cut out about a 4" slit in the belly with scissors and its a lot easier on hooksets.

JR

[=Matt 5.0=]

Awesome! I was thoroughly disappointed in the Strike King baits compared to the Berkleys. I was thinking about doing something similar to the tail, and maybe put it in boiling water to stretch the tail section out to make it thinner. I will try your method first.  

[Randall]

At the time I figured out how to make the Strike King/Lucky Strike  baits work better the Berkley baits were just getting ready to be released. Since the Strike King baits had different sizes including the big one I never tried the Berkley baits and we were killing them on the Strike King baits.  But, Looking at them in the store it looks like Berkley did the best job and made the baits much closer to a Basstrix.

[slomoe]

thanks for the tips Randall.

[MALTESE FALCON]

Very informative post Randall.  Thanks.

Falcon

[Chris at Tech]

That's a big hook  I'll have to pick them up and see what I can manage.  I've got 5 or so packs of these baits, and no fish (yet).

What kind of pinch-on weights are those?  I've never seen that style in BPS.

[Avalonjohn44]

Cool, I'm headed to Gander to pick up some hooks.  Maybe with the modifications and the right hooks these stupid things will get me a nibble.

[johnkook73]

Nice tip, thanks for sharing.