I'm talking about the bigger swimbaits( hardgill, hudd, etc)

They aren't finesse such as shakey head or drop shot, but they aren't a swim jig or square bill either... What do you think?

Big swim baits are not the typical search bait. The understood definition of a search bait is a bait that facilitates catching fish. If you are throwing a big swimbait and catch a fish it becomes a search bait. And the chances are it will be a good size fish. So I guess you could say that big swimbaits are a search bait for bigger fish.

The only time I ever cast big swimbaits is when I'm looking for a quality fish. The quality of the catch has to exceed the pain of throwing the bigger baits.

The term search bait is fairly new and most use it to describe fast moving lures like crankbaits it spinnerbaits. the lures fished fast to cover a lot of water using a trolling motor to keep the boat moving searching for active bass.

Swimbaits are fished slower, not fast. However swimbaits do cover a lot of water because they can be cast over 50 yards and in clear water bass can see them from a long distance and swim up to take a look or give the lure a bump. It's similar to musky fishing, you raise a fish to know where it lives. Swimbaits are more of a hunting bait than a search bait.

Tom

In one word, no.

Not to me. i throw swimbaits in high percentage areas or structure not for alot of bites but for a big bite. i position the boat differently when fishing sswimbaits often working them uphill. instead of chucking and winding i pick my shots. so in my opinion no it isnt.

I use them to search for structure, does that count?

 

Just like using a carolina rig to feel the bottom.

Not in a traditional sense....But big swimbaits have revealed the location of many big bass for me.  Often the fish will follow, and I seal the deal with something else.  Big, floating, or super slow sink baits are good for this.

In my book every lure is a search bait & every lure is a reaction bait.

If you're "fishing" with a T-Rig you're searching for a bite.

If a bass sees your "search" bait you're fishing with, it reacts.

That's why it's called fishing & not catching

They will often find the fish for you because they'll follow them quite often, so in that sense, yes I would consider them a search bait. 

Not the big ones, but the smaller ones can be, especially during the spawn.

I say no simply because I've seen bass follow swimbaits for a very long time before veering off or hitting them. This makes it difficult to coin them as a search bait because you may be pulling the bass away from a specific spot in the process of retrieval.

IN THEORY, a search bait or locator bait is a far-casting, fast-moving lure used to locate bass (the buzzword is 'coverage')

IN THEORY, after bass are located, a 'finesse' lure is used to mop-up the school  (sounds pretty easy right?)

 

As often as not, the so-called search bait will be the only lure to induce a strike,

        where switching to a finesse lure would sound the death knell. 

As often as not, we locate bass using finesse lures, not locator lures.

 

As for mopping up the school, I haven't done that since I sold my saltwater rig 

 

Roger

If I have my definition correct, about any bait that covers a lot of water to seduce actively feeding fish into biting could be considered a search-bait.  if a bait is so big it precludes the possibility of getting bites from smaller fish then it probably eliminates itself from that classification. 

Big swim baits are not the typical search bait. The understood definition of a search bait is a bait that facilitates catching fish. If you are throwing a big swimbait and catch a fish it becomes a search bait. And the chances are it will be a good size fish. So I guess you could say that big swimbaits are a search bait for bigger fish.

The only time I ever cast big swimbaits is when I'm looking for a quality fish. The quality of the catch has to exceed the pain of throwing the bigger baits.

 

You beat me to the punch Dwight.

 

So I'd say that swim baits could be a search bait - you just have to search quite a bit slower.

 

A-Jay

Not big swimbaits but I like to use a hollow belly swimbait on a 3/4 oz jighead as a search bait.  You can fish it at any depth and use any retrieve, so it's very versatile.