Swim Baits

[Jason Essary]

Has anyone ever used swim baits on tablerock? picked up a pack of them in pearl color. talked to a guy that swears by them for quality fish. thought id send out a feeler to see where and when they might be productive.

Bill, if u have any good suggestions let me know and ill send u a check

[MOBass]

I bit on some Bass Magic and will be fishing them Sunday. I fished them a bit on Taney before the great flood and got short bit a few times. I was throwing one of the smaller sizes and it swims great. The tail has a good thump to it and I'll be using it in addition to the spinnerbait this weekend. I'll post my results or lack of.

[KC Trout Fan]

this is something i have wondered also, i read great things about swim baits in the clear lakes of california what is the feeling about these ????

[Bill Babler]

Swim baits were covered here in great depth last year. I am sure you can find material in our archives. They are a viable bait here, but remember instead of dealing with the largemouth that eat this size forage, you are dealing with threadfin, and crayfish eating Spotted Bass. That is why swimming a small bait like a 3 and 4 inch grub works so well.

Good catches can be made on SWB. Some of the guides are throwing them now, just to stay out of the way of their spinnerbaiting clients. Nothing too positive yet, but they are mainly a post spawn bait to begin with.

They may really have a place in the high water.

Another quick note. These baits are Illegal in the restricted area of Lake Taneycomo. You cannot fish soft-plastic swimbaits above Fall Creek.

Good Luck

[JoeSki]

Swimbaits are becoming very popular up here in the northeast. Its a shame that soft plastic swimbaits are illeagal on Tanney cause some of the best SWBs are trout imitators, such as the Huddleston. These baits do great in places where big bass go on trout feeding frenzies. There are good wooden trout options like the MS slammer. I wander if they have been/or are effective on Tanny. I may try to throw a jointed wooden rat on the rock when I come down in May. I'll post any results if I do decide to throw it.

[MOBass]

I ended up leaving the swim bait in the rod box yesterday. I just plain forgot about getting it out. With the color of the water I am not sure how well it would have done. I'll try to get it out this weekend and try to catch one.

[CMAC]

I'd like to see the water lower where you can parallel a bank and make long casts with that bait!