Thinking About Trying Something New - Advice Desired

[Moswimb8slinger]

did someone forget about asking me?lol See "Weekend Report June 6-8" (upper bull shoals)," swimbaits on the rock" for my some of my referances.lol

the Spro BBZ1 Jr (6" floating and slow sink) and the River2Sea S-Waver 168 (6 3/4") are great starter baits. don't waste your money on the BassProShop hardbaits, they swim like crap. buy from Tacklewarehouse.com, they have the best prices on baits and great customer service.

generally slow and steady retrieves have worked great with these baits. Matt Allen with TacticalBassin just released a video showing what equipment he and his buddy use for the S-waver 168 and 200 and 4 different retrieves, great video on Youtube.

Then Bill Seimental of BBZ has a huge collection of instructional videos on his Youtube channel as well.

I use Berkley big game 15lbs mono for 7" and under, 20lbs for 7" and over , I started with Braid and mono leader but snapped off a couple of baits, so I went with straight mono and haven't lost a bait to a bad cast since.

my "big bait"(8plus inch) outfit is a TFO magnum heavy 7'11" swimbait rod ( I can get one for $115), Calcutta 400 (5:2-1 ratio) and the 20lbs Big Game mono. this is the combo I landed my 50lbs 4oz. striper with, and many black bass up to 6.5lbs (still hunting for the bigger ones).

My "smaller"(5-7inch) swimbait outfit is actually a 7'0" medium heavy UglyStick GX2, the one with the extra long butt. I'm currently using a Abu Garcia 5600sx round reel but I'm looking into a Lew BB2 wide, 5:4-1 ratio, spooled with the 15lbs Big Game.

Both rods are much like crankbait rods in that they are parabolic and bend clear down to the first eye or past it. the purpose of that is so when your fighting the fish, regardless how hard it tries to shake the lure it always has pressure on it as along as your on top of the fish keeping the rod loaded up.

I've been throwing these baits for a year now and have not gone home once sore from throwing them. proper casting technique is a must.

if you would like any more info please feel free to Pm me.

[kjackson]

I have a couple of rods you could play with to see if that would help your decision. But in my very limited experience with swimbaits, something like a flipping stick is a good one to play with. For actual use with heavier baits, I'd want a rod with a longer handle than you'll find on a rod intended for flipping.

I also like a slightly more moderate action with enough butt to launch a big bait.