SwimbaitsSoft body swimbaits There are nearly endless choices in soft swim bait styles and colors. Like soft plastics in general, they are very versatile and the cost is low. They are the easiest to make subtle color changes with and aren't so scary as the big hard body models. On top of that, you won't cry if you loose one.
As seen on , Bill Dance Outdoors the Yum Fat Money Minnow is another great lure. It has a hidden hook slot for quick sets as well. They offer 10 colors too. The big tail and soft sides work equally well with slow and fast retrieves. The big boys in tackle are onto the swim bait excitement with some great lures. Berkley Powerbait has it's line of Hollow Belly Swimbaits. With 10 colors it's easy to match the bait in your waters. The hollow center makes for a quick hook set and can be used weedless with a Texas rig, carolina rig or on an exposed jig head. One bag is a kit that comes with three 4, 5 or 6 inch baits, one wide gap hook and one treble hook and instructions.
What is a swim bait? Well, that is a pretty broad term. You've seen a few examples of the soft version. Swimbaits started out as fairly big hardbaits fished on heavy tackle though.
Hard body swimbaits The big hard body versions are the most expensive and intricate. These baits can be huge and intimidating to anglers that are constantly told to down size! Have you ever tied on a 9 or 10 inch jointed swimbait with 65lb braided line. You have to use a super heavy rod and reel and cast side arm like you're throwing an old tire! It is definitely a break from the norm in the bass fishing world. But sometimes that is what works. Bass become accustomed to repeated pounding by the same baits. Sometimes matching the hatch is best, other times go the opposite way. Instead of enticing the bass with little baits, you say “hey jackass, you dumb bass, I dare you to bite me, scum bag!”. Or something like that. Like mentioned, these baits can be very expensive, but their intricate crafting and detail make them look like a work of art. Some even have taxidermy eyes and every little detail has been reproduced. Your other choice is drilling hooks into your mounted fish and taking that to the lake. Not going to happen! Arguably the best buy for your money are the BBZ series from SPRO lures. They were developed by big bass expert and pro-staffer Bill Siemantel. The original was developed from Bill's years of experience fishing the deep clear reservoirs of California. Lake Casitas and Castaic Lake are the home to huge largemouth bass and 10 pounders can be had with every trip to the water. The BBZ-1 is a full 8 inches long, jointed, and has tremendous detail and realism. A smaller version, the BBZ-1 4 inch model is also available in many common bait fish colors.
The California wildlife department stocks rainbow trout of this size in the same water where these huge bass live. Florida largemouth were introduced to these California reservoirs and with the combination of mild weather, and abundant feed, it is quite possible that the next world record largemouth bass is swimming out there somewhere! There is a good chance it will be caught on a swim bait. Other hard swimbaits include:
Strike King's King Kong, Wake Shad and King Shad Daiwa's Dead or Alive Tru-Tungsten's Tru-life Get great deals on these soft swimbaits at
These baits are priced from 20 to 50 dollars each. That seems like a lot to us anglers who got used to 7 dollar Rapala lure . Swim baits are yet another tool the bass fisherman has. They are not guaranteed to catch bass where there are none. Once you do your homework though, these lures WILL catch the biggest bass swimming in the area you're fishing. They work anywhere bass swim, just match your colors to the local forage. It may be a common or gizzard shad. Maybe it's an alewife or dace. A good basic imitator pattern is silver side with a black back. Like the original floating Rapala, this color pattern generally represents common bait almost everywhere. So tie one on and give it a try. They are a lot of fun, and yes they really work!
Swimbaits like all other lures are the tools we use to catch bass. Simply chucking them in the water won't always catch bass. They are proven big bass lures, and must be fished in high probability areas. Observation and planning are even more important when you are going for the big boys! Some set ups like the
carolina rig
are known to catch great numbers of bass, but some tweaking is necessary to catch even one huge bass. You need to think of only one thing: if you were a huge bass and had the run of the structure, where would you live? The answer is wherever you want! That is going to be the best areas on that body of water. It is not about numbers, but quality of bass you catch, that makes swimbaits an awesome type of lure.
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