27 minutes ago, MDbassin said:

I think I may start with the Spro bbz1 shad 4 inch as I can throw that on my Dobyns I have now and if it seems to be catching them I will step up the bigger baits and get a dedicated set up for swimbaits 

Also for starters, take a look at the Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbaits in the 6.8" (1.4 ounces) and the 7.8" (2 ounces). Creeping those along the bottom on a weighted swimbait hook will give you the same type of presentation as some of the larger and heavier paddle tailed soft body swimbaits.

This is about a pound and a half bass that had another bass down its throat when i caught it. I weighed it after I pulled the little bass out. It looked like it swallowed a softball before I pulled it out. So smaller fish will eat bigger baits. You can see the small bass was getting digested but it had to be around 8" long. This is at my buddy's pond that is full of small bass. It's actually the fattest fish I've caught there in a few years. I threw it back to grow some more.

On 1/14/2018 at 1:02 PM, WRB said:

What tackle do plan to use?

Water less then 8' the bass are conditioned to look up for larger size prey. I would start with a rat or slammer wake baits.

Tom

What he said. I've caught a bunch of small fish on the size 40 SPRO Rat. So there's no need to worry about going without a bite.

48 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

Also for starters, take a look at the Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbaits in the 6.8" (1.4 ounces) and the 7.8" (2 ounces). Creeping those along the bottom on a weighted swimbait hook will give you the same type of presentation as some of the larger and heavier paddle tailed soft body swimbaits.

What hooks are you using for those plastics?  I just won an eBay auction for about a half dozen packs of weighted Beast hooks in 4/0 and 8/0 and want to find some plastics to use them with. 

4/0 is a good hook in the 4.8.  Think the largest is using a 10/0 so you 8/0 might work well in the second largest.  Yet to fish the new ones.

23 minutes ago, fishwizzard said:

What hooks are you using for those plastics?  I just won an eBay auction for about a half dozen packs of weighted Beast hooks in 4/0 and 8/0 and want to find some plastics to use them with. 

 

Keitech recommends a 10/0 for the 7.8" and a 6/0 for the 6.8" but it is not an exact science. I would bet those 8/0 would work on both baits. I like the Owner Weighted Beast and the Lazer Trokar Magnum Weighted. You just need to make sure you have a wide enough gap for these extra fat swimbaits.

 

https://www.keitechusa.com/keitech-swimbaits/keitech-swing-impact-fat/keitech-fat-swing-impact-7.8/keitech-fat-swing-impact-7.8-silver-flash-minnow-clone.html

 

Many years ago I took my friend, who fishes saltwater, to a friend's private tournament on Lake Gaston.

 

To my horror, he threw a very long, about 10-inches, silver spoon type bait.

 

The spoon was made for salt water.

 

So what happened?  He caught a bass a little larger than the 10-inch bait.  It was a one pounder that somehow thought he could eat that large spoon type presentation.

 

And there I was throwing a small crankbait!!!!

 

 

On 1/15/2018 at 11:33 AM, Munkin said:

Not sure where in Maryland you live but if you want some place to throw big lures try Piney Run Reservoir. There are a ton of 5+ bass in there along with stripers.

 

Allen 

I'm on the eastern shore of MD. I fish mostly in Kent and Queen Anne's counties

On 1/16/2018 at 2:14 PM, fishwizzard said:

If you're fishing the Eastern Shore ponds I think you're talking about, you are going to confront the ever present pickerel menace.  I am going to start with soft swimbaits like the Trashfish, Big Dipper, and Big Ez/Gz in heavy pickerel areas before I throw a hudd in there. 

Unicorn and urieville lakes is where I do most of my fishing

i catch swimbait fish in puddles.   caught this fish in an 11 acre pond on a 9 inch swimbait here in massachusetts! 
 big baits will work any where. i prefer shallow pond because i have most confidence in fishin topwater swimbaits near cover.  
most of my fishing  is in ponds less the 100 acres and less then 20 feet deep.

15 hours ago, MDbassin said:

I'm on the eastern shore of MD. I fish mostly in Kent and Queen Anne's counties

Unicorn and urieville lakes is where I do most of my fishing

I have never been to Urieville, but was thinking of Unicorn and Trap Pond.

 

 

I tried to get into bigger swimbaits in similar waters. I tried 6.5-7 inch lures around 2-3oz. All glidebaits. The fish are a bit smaller in my local ponds/lakes (3#-4# max). I caught a few but not much bigger than average and definitely didn’t catch as many as I could have been. 

 

This is year I going to downsize my hard body swimbaits to the 5 inch range. 

I've been throwing swimbaits in SW Michigan for a few years, some of my better lakes are less than 100 acres. Like any presentation they have their time to shine , that said swimbaits & jigs tend consistently  produce more 5 lb plus Bass which are big fish in my area . 

why I was throwing big swimbait in my lake for the past month and caught literally nothing. Last week a guy in my lake reported to catch 7.8 lbs with 1/16 Ned rig with zoom. I'm too start to downsize I will use either 8" or 2.5" swimbait go figure.