I can't decide which swimbait to get next.  Which swimbait do you suggest?  Hudd, S Waver, or something completly different, and what color?

What rod-reel-line do you have for swimbaits?

Tom

What swimbaits do you already have?

I'm in the same boat. The two that I'm getting are the Shellcracker G2 bluegill and savage gear line thru swimbait. Both weigh around 1 ounce so I don't have to buy a true swimbait rod yet, and can use them on my MH to H rods rated for lures up to 1.5 ounces.

As for colors all I need is one dark and one light belly. For floating swimbaits, fish only see the bottom of the lure so the colors on top don't really matter.

Take a look at hollow body frogs for example. You'll notice there's only 2 different colors on the bottom of the frogs. While there's like 20 different colors on top of the frog (intended to catch fishermen) that the fish never see.

Hudds and S-wavers and totally different baits. If you have neither I would recommend both really.

What rod-reel-line do you have for swimbaits?

Tom

 

I have a 5600 Ambassadeur on a 7'6" Heavy Carrot Stick spooled with 25lb mono. 

 

What swimbaits do you already have?

 

I don't have much.  For that combo, I have a Spro rat, River2Sea  Wide Glide, and a Castaic boot tail swimbait.

 

I'm just looking for something that will catch fish somewhat regularly.

What depth are you targeting? Topwater? Very deep?? Cover an issue?

So nondescript, OP. You're going to have to describe what you're working with a little better to hone responses! There's no shortage of options, but without the right info you could be throwing big money in the wrong direction.

my mistake I just reread my first post, super vague.  What I'm looking for is something 8"+, I can fish all summer.  I want something that sinks that I can fish along points, and cast perpendicular to weed beds and lily pads, so it doesn't have to be weedless.  My max budget is $50.  I'm open to just about anything.

Get a Hudd then. 

Your rod is rated for lures 5/8-2 1/2 oz, not familiar with Carrot Stix so can't suggest using lures that exceed the recommended max weight. This rod may be better suited as a frog rod.

Most 8" swimbaits exceed 4 oz, so those are not a good choice. The swimbaits that run on or near the surface are called wake baits by most swimbait anglers. A class of swimbaits that run just below the surface and are slow sinkers are called glide baits. The swimbaits that are retrieved with a steady slow and stop and go retreive are the boot tails and multi jointed lures that sink at variuos rates.

The lure companies I use are;

ABT

Black Dog

Huddleston Deluxe

22nd Century Triple Trout

Matt lures

Jerry Rago

Spro BBZ

DEPS

River 2sea

If we use 3 oz as a max lure weight, go to the above lure companies and look for lures in the 2 to 3 oz range or get a rod rated for 5-6 oz lures.

Hudd 68 ROF 5 is my suggestion, every swimbait angler should have this.

Tom

That rod is only rated for max 2 1/2 ounces, but it's so stiff it can comfortably handle lures twice that size. In fact it usually takes 4 ounces to properly load the rod. 

Stiff isn't a good quality for a swimbait rod and the reason most musky and flipping rods don't work well. You want a rod with enough lower end power coupled with upper end flexibility to easily cast a heavy lure long distance without wearing you out and be able to get good hook sets. Swimbaits rods are specific application.

Your rod may be OK, don't know anything about Carrot Stix, never see them out west.

The 8" Triple Trout slow sink is 2.75 oz

ABT DD2 Donkey II is 3 oz, top water.

Rago 7" BV3d pro slow sink is 3 oz

Hudd 8" ROF 5 is 4 1/4 oz.

Tom

IMHO you need a Topwater water like a Lunker Punker, MS Slammer or a similar Wakebait, Something like an S-Waver/Glide for middle of water column, and a Hudd, Savage or Osprey for middle to bottom since they have different ROF's. In fact I've done well with a 8" Floating Savage Line Thru also. If you get the 3 that cover the water column you have a good starting point. What  you get depends on what you have confidence in and can afford since a lot of them work well. Learn those well before you buy more IMHO. Good Luck!!

Thanks for the help guys.  Leaning towards the Hudd.