this changes everything! a stunning field test.

[paul.]

"a good swimbait will outfish even live bait."  yeah right. :  when i read these fateful words several weeks ago, i had to chuckle just a little inside even though they came from a friend and a world class basser.   he sounded serious enough, but i had to believe he was joking.  either that or perhaps he just meant figuratively.  i have just turned 40, and i have fished since i was old enough to walk.  i have heard all the claims about live bait being outfished by this lure or that.  problem is, i've just never seen a bass pass up the real thing and then turn right around and eat an artificial bait of the same size and "type".  that sort of thing just doesn't happen in the real world.    

until today.

having just received the most incredible looking bluegill swimbait i have ever seen in the mail last night,  i took a few minutes today to put my friend's seemingly ridiculous and outrageous claim to the test.  if there was ever going to be a "good swimbait outfish live bait", this would be the one.  i had to admit that on realism, this bait had my beloved tru-tungsten gill and giron beat by a mile.  there was just no comparison.  believe it or not, the bait was on par with mattlures ultimate bluegill.  of course that's really saying something, especially for a hard swimbait.  this bait looked so real, i expected it to start flopping around in my hand and trying to get away. ;D   but looks are one thing.  performance is quite another - especially when the standard of comparison is the real thing.

even though it was not intentional at the time, i look back on my field test and realize that rather than being a "fair" test, the odds were actually stacked against the swimbait.  the testing ground was a super clear pond where fishing had been difficult lately.  to make matters worse, it was a bluebird day with only a small breeze and not a cloud in the sky.  that spells t-o-u-g-h for any type of swimbait.

first i cast out a bluegill, as close in size to my new swimbait as possible.  5 minutes of nothing ensued.  then, as i was about to reel in, i saw a nice keeper size bass of about 15" and 2 pounds behind the gill, following it.  so i just stopped it to see what would happen.  well the bass followed the gill around and circled it and even made some semi-aggressive "moves" to indicate it was halfway interested, but no dice.  this fish just wasn't going to commit.  so i reeled in the gill and the bass swam off just out of sight.

enter the new swimbait.  i cast it out in the same exact area where the gill had just been.  instantly a bass, almost certainly the one that had just turned up his nose at the live gill, started following the bait and closing in.  i gave the bait 2 sharp twitches and the bass absolutely came unglued and smacked the swimbait right in front of me.  i was almost too stunned from disbelief to react and set the hook, but somehow i managed, and battled the keeper size bass in for a few pictures before releasing it.  i had just witnessed my friend's words  unfold in dramatic fashion right before my eyes.  there was and is no denying that i have now seen something i thought to be previously impossible.  

one amazing revelation was enough for today, so i left to write this report while the details were still  fresh on my mind.  and i can promise you that every word i have said here is the absolute truth.  i can also promise you that i was not paid a single penny, or even asked to say a word about the bait.    

"yeah, but how special is a 2 pound bass?" you may ask.  my answer is simple.  special enough to  keep the dreaded skunk at bay.  special enough to be the difference between going home empty handed vs.  cashing a check on tournament day.  and special enough to change my fishing from now on.  what an incredible lure!      

oh, the bait?  Mattlures new hard bluegill swimbait.    

enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for more details.  hope y'all are catchin' some too.                

[paul.]

o.k., picture time!  here's the bait beside it's closest competitor.  

[paul.]

and here's the bait beside the tru-tungsten and giron bluegill baits.  if you were a bass, which one would you want? ;D

[paul.]

and finally, meet the 2 pounder that has caused me to re-think many years of fishing.  

[Jake.]

That thing looks awesome! Can you at least tell us when they are coming out?  ;D

[shutyrmouth]

good stuff paul. that bait is sweet.

greg

[BrianinMD]

Everyone seems to be so into swimbaits, they do look amazingly realistic. However I can't seem to justify the cost for a lure I may cast once, get hung up and lose. Are they really work it?

[Randall]

Today was my first day fishing Matt's new hard bait . I didn't fish it long since we were out looking for non swimbait fish. But, I can tell you this will be the new king of hard bluegill baits. It has no match. I caught a fish in my first few casts with it and then had to force myself to put it down to go look for some deeper fish.  Has great action at fast and very slow speeds,  perfect size, best paint job there is on a bluegill bait. Matt now makes both the best soft and hard bluegill swimbait.  

[paul.]

brian that is a very fair question, and one that is quite commonly asked.  i was skeptically asking myself the same thing a few months ago.  of course everyone has to decide for themselves what is reasonable.  even though i am a complete swimbait novice, i have come to view the price of swimbaits as in investment in better quality, or even lunker class fish.  think of how much money we spend on "regular" lures in a week or month that may not produce lunker class fish.  yet for considerably less money, you can buy one bait that could dramatically increase your odds of catching a BIG bass.  when i first tried swimbaits a few months back, i caught a 7 pounder and one over 8 in fairly short order.  having seen them cruising around, i had known that both these fish were in that particular lake for a while, but my efforts to get them with other "traditional" lures had been a complete failure.  i would say that the swimbaits i used paid for themselves the minute i lipped those fish.  that's 2 fish over 7 pounds that i may never have gotten were it not for the swimbaits.    

as far as losing these baits goes,  there are plenty of great swimbaits that float - including the one above - making them very difficult to lose.

as far as details about matt's bait go.  i'll let him provide those.  i will say a little more about the bait to try to give folks an idea of how cool i think it is.    i will probably post it in the tackle section since that's where stuff about lures goes.    

[Bassn Blvd]

Good story Paul.  I take much of your advice to heart because I know you catch big fish.  Several of the different lures recommended to me by you have produced decent fish.   I also know you enjoy using live bait (gills) with awesome results so if you say this new lure is the BOMB then I'm hooked.

[Eddie Munster]

Great writeup Paul as always.

Question if you don't mind: I'm definitely going to pull the trigger and buy one but which one would you recommend? In other words, if you had just one, which one would you choose and which type; male bluegill or female?

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Great writeup Paul as always.

Question if you don't mind: I'm definitely going to pull the trigger and buy one but which one would you recommend? In other words, if you had just one, which one would you choose and which type; male bluegill or female?

I think the hard baits are all the same color, you are looking at the sift baits (assuming you are checking Matts site) in which case, flip a coin, the bass don't have a gender preference.

[George Welcome]

I have witnessed many times the discarding of $22.00 per dozen wild shiners into the lake, as the use of artificial baits far exceeded in performance. For this reason my page's service info states: artificial baits preferred.

Reactionary opportunistic periods of feeding are what we find most often with bass, and at this time artificials can rule.

[Mrs. Matstone]

Great report and I really enjoyed the read. Thanks for sharing. I have always liked the looks of Matts swimbaits since I first saw them. I have always wanted to give them a try but I do not think my rod and reel set up would allow it.  ;D I know if I had the right stuff Matts stuff would be the first thing I would buy. Again great report.  

[paul.]

no worries mrs. matstone.  you do not need specialized gear at all.  it will work just fine with your every day rod and reel.  you may want to use heavier line though because of the size fish you are likely to catch.

[BassinAssassin171]

nice. leave it to paul to give us another discourse on the finer points of fishing  ;D

I WANT ONE OF THOSE!

[Mattlures]

Wow Paul what a great review, I think I am blushing!!

I dont remember if I told you a swimbaiy "WILL" out fish live bait but it certainly can and does outfish bait at times. I think I said it can out fish bait but I might have said does Either way it certainly did for you!!!!!!!!

Aslo thank you to everybody else for the compliments on the bait.

[Branuss04]

Another side note about loosing swimbaits -  I don't know about the rest of you guys, but in my 1 1/2 - 2 years swimbaiting, i've lost one 8" hudd.  It wasn't from getting stuck in rocks, or a tree, etc, but from a stupid mistake of not checking for knicks in the line.  Luckily I found it after the water dropped a bit a month or two later.  It seems to me that when fishing with non-swimbaits, I tend to loose $10-$15 a trip.  A pack of worms, maybe a jig or two, a couple hooks here and there, some weights, maybe a rattle or two.  If you think about it, it can really add up.  When fishing the big baits, your obviously using heavier, more stout equipment, thus giving you an advantage over regular tackle to getting unstuck.  Even when your stuck, it seems to me that the bigger bait, and bigger hooks have a harder time getting stuck enough to the point you won't get them back.  Those 8" baits have so much leverage to them, I find it easy sometimes to get them out of rocks if you just change your angle a bit.  Even if it comes down to it, they invented bait knockers for a reason.  You should never leave for the lake without one or two.  They are cheap as well.  On the list of "Things not to forget on a fishing trip", I would put a bait knocker right under a scale and camera. Especially for the big bait guys... it's a no brainer.  But for those who are willing to shell out the $$$$, the rewards are without a doubt worth every penny.

Oh and paul, thanks for the great reviews.  You did a awesome job.

Matt, great looking bait, can't wait to get my hands on one and stick some toads.

[Big-O]

Paul, haven't got that model yet but it won't be long and I'll have it. Good and informative post.

Big O