I picked up a few h2o express 4 1/2" swimbaits this weekend. I have reaearched on here they are ok but not great, but its a start. I am planning to change out the hooks to kvd's. I am weighing them tonite on my wifes food scale to know the weight to see whaick rod will handle them best. 

 Here is my actual question. What is the best way to retreive them? Is it more of a steady retreive or a popping motion like a jerkbait? 

I use them occasionally. 

I use a stop and go retrieve most of the time. give a few turns of the reel then let it sit a few seconds.

you can also use as a steady retrieve like a crankbait.

for the price they have a decent swimming action.

I have the 3.5 inch size. They cast well on a medium action spinning rod.

I don't use a fast action rod with these baits.

if a bass jumps, they can spit it pretty easy with a stiff rod.

I weighed them earlier. About 1.5oz each. So i will probably be throwing them on my deep crank rod i use for 10xd's. 

Use a straight retrieve, usually a pretty fast one. They're a decent bait for the money but there's a lot of much better options to be had without breaking the bank.