Swimbaitstud

Easy. Fish swimbaits. And fish at night. I started bass fishing at 14 years old. Caught a 7lb 6oz fish at 18 and a 7-1 when I was 20. In my late 20s I went 100% swimbaits and started night fishing a ton. Within a couple years a caught two 7-0s, followed by a few more 7s in my early 30s, including a new PB after 14 years with a 7-9. Then another 7-9 the next year. Now I haven’t caught a 7 for about 6 years but the pressure has increased drastically. IMO, your best chance is within a month of ice out. If there’s open water, they’ll eat on top at night. I’ve caught night fishing on wakes in 36 degree water. During the day, big glides and hudds.

That’s weird. I almost never have an issue with my costas and always have my hood up. Idk what model you wear but I used the tuna alleys and permit and they both have vent holes that seem to actually work well.

Been loving the spro hunter 65

I think it went like Thursday. I haven’t had the energy to night fish lately but I know it’s on fire at night right now. My buddy fished a tourney this weekend and had second place with 26lbs for 5 fish. They’re chewin!

Got on the board this evening. Spent the day spooling all my setups, tinkering on a transom saver, and putting my new LiTime lithiums and charger in the boat, among other odds and ends. Finally got to go shore bang around 6:30. Two whacks on a jig. Hooked and landed both which went a respectable 4-4 and 4-13. Only fished an hour but better days are ahead. Hope to have the boat out next weekend. Just need to feel healthy and remove and grease a bearing

I don’t have the word swimbait in my name for nothing 😂 Let me tell you this, I have baits worth $400 and baits worth $10. There is a time and place for all. If you’re looking for inexpensive glide baits here’s some great baits. I will say this, don’t skimp on a rod. If you don’t have the gear to do this correctly, it will be miserable and uncomfortable. If it is, you won’t like it and you won’t stick with it. If you ever want rod/reel recommendations, just message me. River2sea Swaver…comes in several sizes and great colors. I like rainbow, powder and lite trout. Also like the 200 size best. Can be found for $40 and under. I’ve caught many 5 and 6lbers on it Savage gear glide swimmer 210. This is a very underrated bait! Around $30 Spro Chad shad is a great option. Not too heavy around 2.5oz. It’s a 7” bait and gets bit well. Easy to fish. You can find em used in good shape for $40-$50 Bullshad bucca trick shad. Comes in 6” and 8”. I didn’t love them but they get bit. I think they’re $30-$40 The 6th sense draw does well for people but I think they’re up around $60-$70 and they’re a bigger bait for a newbie. Another is the G-ratt sneaky Pete. That’s 8” and pretty light. Only about $25 If you get your heart set on something and want a deal or can’t find it let me know. I do a LOT of swimbait dealings. I’m honestly much more into wakes and cranks than glides, but here’s some little confidence boosters…

I’ll third the realprey baits

Bought a brand new one last fall and did this. I oiled all bearing and it still whined bad. I sent it back for a replacement. Hopefully the new one doesn’t. Seems to be very common on the 80

Shorter and softer for most topwater. Shorter helps you work a walking bait. Something 6’6” to 7’. Softer helps not put out small trebles and lets them suck it down better. A crankbait model is good for this. I use a Dobyns champ 685cb and 610-4 Kaden. For frogging, a 5 or 6 power rod. Length is kinda preference. I like a 7’3 to 7’6”. Longer gets better hookups and helps you get the fish up out of the slop and pad stems. Longer casts too. Dobyns 736 and 746 for me unless it’s light cover and lighter frogs it’s the champ 735 and Kaden 745. People are all over about what they prefer for bladed jig. I like a heavy crankbait rod. Flexes enough to let em suck it in a bit but solid enough to get a good hookset. For this I strictly use a champ 746cb

Yup we did too. But next week looks beautiful. Hopefully I feel well enough to go hang a few from shore. The jerkbaits are ready!

Frabil rubber mesh is money. I have two of them; one for the yak and one for the boat. Been using it for 7 years and no issues. Relatively cheap at Walmart. Like $30

Also hoping to go shore bang a while soon. Been going thru some health issues for 2.5 months but maybe can make some casts this weekend and try to get the new lithiums in the boat. Bite will be on fire by middle of next week

They’re just starting to go out over the last couple days the south and along the coast. My area will be another 5-8 days. Some will still be a good two weeks

Love the above Hudd story! And it’s all so true. People are only limited by their minds when it comes to big baits. A big bass doesn’t have a limit in that aspect. For me, it’s deep cranking. I struggle enough with fishing deep period. You can usually find me in 6’ or less. I prefer 3’ or less. When I started bass fishing I learned the jig, T-rig, senko stuff fast but could never get em cranking. Tried off and on for years. And then last year once I got back into conventional tackle after my 10+ year hiatus with swimbaits, I decided I’m going to force it until I could do it. And I did! Cranking 12-18’ really became one of my favorite ways to catch em in a few lakes and consistently caught 3-4lbers through the summer months. It was a good backup to the shallow bite and it’s always nice to get them multiple ways when you’re a tourney angler. This year I’ll have great dedicated cranking rods too. I can also say the frog bite clicked for me. Same story as above. But last year after really getting a dedicated frog rod and putting in the time I ended up slaying them on it all summer even caught my first ever 5+ on one. I’ve since upgraded to the goat frog rod, a Dobyns 736 and can’t wait to crack em on it.

Unrealistically, SoCal where my buddies are catching 10-12lbers weekly right now. More realistically, NorCal or Washington for nicer weather and still giants. MOST realistically, I’m never leaving central Maine. I was born here and will die here. I don’t like crowds, people, or sitting in traffic. I like catching 30 fish a day. I like going to the lake and seeing another 2-3 boats. I like 3 of the 4 seasons

Not all the fish in the pond will be in one small hole. You’re gonna find a lot of bass stay all winter long in 4-6’ in the grass. You catch em there all winter ice fishing. Nothing wrong with sticking near the shore. If it’s a swamp/bog you’re fishing I’m guessing it’s pretty flat, but if you have a bank that’s steeper, that’s your ticket. Cruise the shore and cast a red 1/2oz trap out. Definitely a bonus to find some grass to rip it thru. Just slow roll it steady or let it fall to bottom and lift it up and fall again. They’ll eat it right off bottom

Cool thread! Two years ago in fall I was shore fishing and made a cast across a stream channel a little too far and hung my bullshad wake in some brush. Had to break it off which sucked cuz that was the first one I ever bought about 8 years ago. Caught many 5 and 6s on it. Took the boat back that weekend and got it back. Also found a googan squad bladed jig. Proceeded to slay on it the rest of the season including this 5-2 on my birthday in November

I set the second I feel anything out of the ordinary. If you feel a bite, he’s already had it a couple seconds. And better to set too soon and miss, which gives you the opportunity to cast back and catch it, than to set too late and either deep hook the fish or give them the opportunity to realize it’s not food and spit it back out. In the latter scenario they aren’t gonna eat it again. Many times I’ve swung on a fish 4-5 times and missed before finally hooking up

I don’t usually worry about the “why”. Sometimes spots are just always going to be small fish spots. In the end it doesn’t matter cuz it doesn’t get my attention anymore. But I will recommend this: before giving up on the spot, fish a bigger bait there! When I finally got good at swimbait fishing, I went to places like that that had sucked for years or just had small fish and realized the fish just didn’t wanna mess around with a small bait. You might have an area that is loaded with all sizes of fish but the small ones are getting to the bait first or the big fish are just focused on big bait. Some people get so hung on small finesse baits because “the fish are keyed in on it” yet they don’t realize it goes both ways. I’ve had lots of times they won’t touch a 5-7” wake bait but you’ll catch 20-30 fish on a 9-12” wake bait. Never forget, fish getting keyed in on different size baits goes to both ends of the spectrum. It goes for smallies too. I’ve caught lots of smallies on 7-10” baits

Whether it’s largemouth or smallmouth, heavy cover or open water, 40 degree water or 80 degree water, sunny or cloudy, spring, summer or fall, windy or calm, no matter how deep or shallow the fish are, tourney or fun fishing, regardless of whether or not I know I’m gonna slay on a different bait, I will ALWAYS have a jig and zoom super chunk tied on. My confidence with a jig is the same as my confidence that the government will still be crooked tomorrow. When I’m fishing a jig, I WILL catch numbers and size. If I went fishing and forgot my jigs, I’d go home to get them lol. I usually have two on at all times. A 5/8 black and blue and a 3/8 watermelon/gp

I’ll just bring this back up……still waiting. Looking to be record late ice out here in central Maine. My father said about 20” still on a lake just an hour north of me this week. I’m gonna guess we are looking around the 10th til we open up. Might be able to travel south a bit next weekend and hit a spot from shore

I’ll be flipping them this year. I’m really into the stuff that nobody throws anymore. People get so obsessed with all the newest baits and techniques. The old stuff never stopped working

I have caught dozens of fish between 1-2lbs on the 50 size. Further, I’ve caught HUNDREDS of fish on baits twice that size. Don’t be fooled by what you might think of preferred meal size of a bass. Typically, I don’t fish a spro 50 cuz it’s too small. I do much better on wakes much bigger. For size AND numbers!

7” senko has won me tourneys, caught hundreds of fish and still has my 5th biggest fish ever

Also like the red eye in 3/4oz. Rattle trap and super spot on red for spring and fall. Bait colors in summer