Swimbaits on the Rock, part 2

[Moswimb8slinger]

I do catch one over 5lbs on occasion, but usually I'll go out catch several fish from 2-4.5lbs on either 6 or 8 inch baits. Not so much about spending alot of time on the water, but just learn how to fish the bait (YouTube can help get you started) and fish your favorite areas. Most of the time, in this clear water, the bait only needs to be under the surface to 5 ft down and the fish come to the bait. They are great for sight fishing

[Moswimb8slinger]

By the way, what rod, reel, line is everyone using? I sense there maybe some ill fated equipment choices.

[dtrs5kprs]

Don't get me wrong, I'd definitely put in more work with them if I lived closer. Maybe not the $100 plus baits, but for sure the mid range baits.

I picked up a 7'8" Cabela's rod, IM7. Light enough to fish with. Throws the baits well, and also handles a-rigs. Stayed with my old Curado 300, 25# mono.

[abkeenan]

By the way, what rod, reel, line is everyone using? I sense there maybe some ill fated equipment choices.

Glad you mentioned that Richy. As of right now I don't have a dedicated swimbait rod setup. Have an all around rod I have been using for big flutter spoons, bigger soft swimbaits, bladed 3 arm A-Rigs and even the 1.5 to 2oz hard swimbaits. It's a 7' MH extra Fast Daiwa T rod with a Lew's 6.4:1 speed with 20lb fluoro. I know it's not the ideal setup by any means. Have been looking around at 7'6 MH moderate action rods or possibly fiberglass that can handle 1-3 or 4oz. What would you suggest?

[Moswimb8slinger]

My "small" rig is a 7ft mh UglyStick GX2 (for now), Abu Garcia 5600sx(5:4-1) with 15lbs Berkley big game mono clear.

With the s-waver 168, the heavier (20lbs test) sinking flouro will cause the bait to nose dive and roll, and not glide very well.

With the floating mono, it keeps the bait more level in the water column and the smaller diameter allows it to glide much further.

My "big" bait set-up, Shimano Calcutta 400 (5:2-1) TFO Magnum Heavy 7ft 11in swimbait rod and 20lbs Berkeley big game mono clear.

i haven't tried a 20lbs plus test flourocarbon with the bigger baits because i had too many break offs with the smaller 6inch baits and flourocarbon.

segmented baits like the BBZ1 baits, bull shads, etc are straight line retrieves (most of the time), the characteristics of the line hardly affect them other than depth control. The only reason I'd use flourocarbon was of i was using a fast sink in 40 ft of water with a medium speed retrieve.

i haven't found line visibility to be an issue with these big baits because if they see it, they're either going to eat it or curiously follow it. Then if you do catch them following it on a steady retrieve, a panicked jerk or pause/jerk maybe required to trigger a strike.

[Moswimb8slinger]

A Lew's custom speed stick model# LMHC, 7'6" heavy, fast tip. That would be a good starting point to gauge when looking for a "small" bait set-up(and maybe my next purchase or a similar TFO). I prefer the slower reels (as seen above), i find that even a 6:4 is painful to reel as slowly as i do. And a 5:4 can be reeled at comfortable pace without being annoying..

[Bluff-Bassin]

I throw the 168 waver with a 76mh 7.1 reel and 65 braid with a 20lb floro leader. Have a 711h for bigger bait

[abkeenan]

Good info Richy. Much appreciated. I am not even novice level when it comes to swimbaiting. I threw a 8" ABT Lures Banshee for about an hour or two last year but that's about it. This winter I got a R2S S-Waver 168 and also a 6" SPRO BBZ slow sink and plan on using them a lot more this year.

[evilcatfish]

You guys are all crazy. Big swimbaits don't work

[abkeenan]

Richy, Or anyone else for that matter that are big bait chuckers,

What are your thought's on throwing them on straight braid? Or perhaps braid to a mono leader. I believe Matt at tactical bassin' does the braid to leader combo.