Big Swimbaits For Bass

   I took a bit of a break from writing, but I think I'll get back into the swing of things here pretty soon... Anyways, I have taken up a new hobby, and that hobby is known as "swimbaiting". To most fishermen, it is ridiculous, and I agree that it is kind of ridiculous, but it's a lot of fun too. A 5" paddle tail swimbait is what most people view as a swimbait, but the ones I'm talking about can be up to 15" long, and many are ultra-realistic. Big swimbaits originated on the west coast in clear water lakes that get stocked with trout (which is why most are shaped like trout), and also contain florida strain largemouths. Those conditions add up to producing bass up to and over 20lbs that chow down on the stocked rainbows, making big swimbaits a perfect match. However, a bass that has never seen a trout in his life still views one as a food source, and I have no hesitation in throwing these baits where trout have never been and never will be (how many times does a bass see something that an 8" black plastic worm resembles?). Now these big baits are very common on the west coast, but there aren't many anglers taking advantage of them in the rest of the country, which hopefully means when I fish with one of these baits, I am throwing something that the bass have never seen before. I expect to see some of these baits become the norm in tackle shops all across the country in the near future, Bass Pro Shops already has a line of inexpensive swimbaits called the z9r series. These baits do come with quite the price tag, for example, the extreme upper end of swimbaits is a lure known as the Roman Made Mother http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Roman_Made_Mother_Swimbait/descpage-RMMSB.html, it retails for around $400, is 12" long, and weighs 10 ounces, however, most higher end swimbaits are in the $50-$100 range, and I only own one bait that isn't considered to be "inexpensive", the Bull Shad, which cost me $55.

Far left: River2Sea S-waver 168 http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/River2Sea_S-Waver/descpage-R2SW.html ; 2nd to left: Mike Bucca Bull Shad 6" http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Triton_Mike_Bucca_Bull_Shad_Slow_SInking_Swimbait/descpage-TMBBS.html ; top to bottom: Huddleston 68 Special http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Huddleston_Deluxe_68_Special/descpage-HD68.html , 5" Decoy Hydra Tail http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Decoy_5_Hydra_Tail_Swimbait/descpage-DHT.html, Spro BBZ Jr. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Spro_BBZ-1_Swimbait_6/descpage-SBBZ16.html, and the original Spro BBZ-1 http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Spro_BBZ-1_Swimbait_8_Slow_Sink/descpage-SPBBZS.html. (I'm not making a sales pitch, I just can't give a description of each of these baits in one post, so links can give some extra info)

I just got the bull shad a couple days ago so I haven't caught any on it yet, and I haven't caught one on the big BBZ either, but I haven't fished it much. However, the S-Waver has caught a few, the decoy has caught piles of fish, I have caught a couple on the huddleston, and have absolutely destroyed the fish on the 6" BBZ Jr, including my personal best largemouth @24". 

At first, I was intimidated by these baits, thinking that they were so big that I would miss out on catching those 1-2lb fish that I caught a bunch of on normal bass gear. Boy was I wrong...It is incredible to see how small of a bass will try to eat one of those huge baits, and I catch plenty of little ones with them. Something about watching a bass follow and attack or completely ambush one of these big baits with the full intent of killing and eating it is just too cool, the strikes can make your heart just about jump out of your chest, and then you realize it's just a 2lber. I am still in the market for a swimbait rod and reel, but for now I throw them on a flipping stick with 17-20lb mono. With this I can handle all of the baits very comfortably with the exception of the 8" BBZ. 

And now, time for some swimbait fish photos!

 Here is the giant 24"er that smashed the 6" bbz in early summer

 Here is a decent largemouth that I caught on the bbz after dark

 Fallfish love swimbaits too!

 I even got this nice fat smallmouth to chomp on a trout

 I think this is the smallest one I have caught on a swimbait thus far

 The S-Waver may actually be a better bait for fallfish than it is for bass, they absolutely can't stand the thing and will hunt it down like their life depends on it!

 

Here is another decent sized fish I picked up on the bbz jr. 

       Hopefully with fall approaching I can get into some nicer fish on these baits, or maybe even something in saltwater when I head to the Outer Banks in October, I plan on catching an amberjack with the 8" BBZ if the opportunity presents itself. Thanks for reading!