SK area last few days

[Pepe]

Have had good luck with a soft PT Swimbait (homemade bait & jig) over the top of sunken trees, topwater prop bait & wake bait. I was getting a lot more action on the WP but much better hook up percentages on the other baits.  

 

 

 

 

[Bill Babler]

Nice looking swim bait.  Beautiful fish Pepe.  tks.

[Mitch f]

Nice fish and swimbait Mike

[BassBlind]

Nice report! 

 

Anyone willing to offer up some advice on the basics of fishing swim baits. I have been reading a lot of reports on here about swimbaits and Keitechs, but I have never tied them on.

 

The picture above helps a bunch as I will know how to rig... I believe I saw some pictures last week of a Keitech rigged on an Ozark Finesse Head (Ned Rig) ?

 

Thanks! 

[dtrs5kprs]

4 minutes ago, BassBlind said:

Nice report! 

 

Anyone willing to offer up some advice on the basics of fishing swim baits. I have been reading a lot of reports on here about swimbaits and Keitechs, but I have never tied them on.

 

The picture above helps a bunch as I will know how to rig... I believe I saw some pictures last week of a Keitech rigged on an Ozark Finesse Head (Ned Rig) ?

 

Thanks! 

They're about like swimming a grub. Gear can be a little different if you are running the bigger baits. Location and depth are pretty much the same. 

Think you can catch more swimming a grub, and can certainly do it cheaper. Swimmers give you a little better shot at size.

[dtrs5kprs]

And yes, the little heads work on the smaller swimbaits- small keitechs, long John minnows, little Zman baits. I make some for myself that are a little bigger for swimbaits. 

Also like running the bigger ones with a small snap. Think it gives them more swing and wobble.

[BassBlind]

Appreciate the quick response Dave! I'll tie one on and give it a go. 

[Nitro 750]

Good fish, thanks for the report.

[96 CHAMP]

Nice fish Pepe!!

[Pepe]

I think the key is to present them a bait they will choke down. The fish I have been catching are spitting up 3" Shad. 

 The Keitech colors rainbow shad and bluegill flash in size 3.8" on a 3/8 oz VMC swim head is a good off-the-shelf solution suggested to me by the good folks at Lew's store in Springfield. That bait is salty and soft, so they hang onto it but it tears up pretty easy and is expensive. I throw that rig on a 7'10" medium action rod & 10 lb mono or 40lb Gliss with leader.  The combo allows for maximum casting distance. 

I make a very soft 3.5" swimbait (see picture) that tears up easier than the Keitech unless rigged on the (1/4 oz) safety-pin jig.  No salt but heavily infused with Shad scent. I throw that on a medium action spinning rod with 17lb Nanofil & flouro leader. 

Swimming at a medium retrieve it often just feels like I ticked a weed, other times they whack it.  Either way, the trick is to keep reeling until the rod loads up. 

As Bill advised, casting ahead of feeding fish works well. The 3/8 head works better for deeper fish.

Yesterday I caught 41 with 14 keepers between 6 and 11 am, all on the swimbait. Most were not surfacing.  This morning was slower but I caught 11 between 6 & 9 am.  

I hope this is of some help.  Unfortunately, it will be a couple weeks before I get back to the lake.