Xzone swammers 4” and under have been my go-to swimbait. They work, are affordable and durable. Usually on a screw lock underspin.

I’d like to get some larger ones in the 5” plus range, and then I see the 5” & 6” Magdraft freestyles and man do they look cool and of course the monkey tells me they are in fact what I need, not the boring old swammer. so I’m just about to plunk down over twice the cost of a pack of mega swammers for half as many Magdrafts and I think stop, wait can these really be that much better? Sure the drafts look much more like a real prey fish, but can that really make a big difference underwater on a underspin?

Just curious on others experience here am I being sucked in thinking I need the JDM fancy version vs my old reliable ? It’s late winter here and the analysis paralysis is taking over on the tackle purchases.

That said if the Magdraft me are awesome I’ll spend the money and try em but I wonder if I’m being caught by them vs the fish

The magdraft and the swammer have a very different swim.

The swammer has a very wide swinging tail motion and a lot of body roll. It has so much roll that I’m not a big fan of it on a 30 degree jighead ( I think it looks much better on a belly weighted swimbait hook/flashy swimmer or even a 90 degree ballhead jig). The magdraft has a strong tail kick, but its swim is more of a tight vibration and it stays more upright.

Another thing to keep in mind is the amount of plastic. Even though the 5.5 mega swammer is only a 1/2 inch shorter than the 6” magdraft, it’s probably half as much plastic overall.

I guess that’s the long way to say that I think you should try them both because they serve a different purpose in my opinion.

2 hours ago, 10,000 lakes Bassin said:

The magdraft and the swammer have a very different swim.

The swammer has a very wide swinging tail motion and a lot of body roll. It has so much roll that I’m not a big fan of it on a 30 degree jighead ( I think it looks much better on a belly weighted swimbait hook/flashy swimmer or even a 90 degree ballhead jig). The magdraft has a strong tail kick, but its swim is more of a tight vibration and it stays more upright.

Another thing to keep in mind is the amount of plastic. Even though the 5.5 mega swammer is only a 1/2 inch shorter than the 6” magdraft, it’s probably half as much plastic overall.

I guess that’s the long way to say that I think you should try them both because they serve a different purpose in my opinion.

Great info thanks! Swimbaits have been more of a finesse approach for me historically, so I am learning about the larger ones and going to give them a try. Hopefully make a good crossover pike and trophy walleye bait too

49 minutes ago, Jaybert said:

Great info thanks! Swimbaits have been more of a finesse approach for me historically, so I am learning about the larger ones and going to give them a try. Hopefully make a good crossover pike and trophy walleye bait too

can confirm swimbaits are "trophy pike" baits. I would invest in some mend-it if you're serious about soft plastics and toothy critters.

59 minutes ago, Jaybert said:

Great info thanks! Swimbaits have been more of a finesse approach for me historically, so I am learning about the larger ones and going to give them a try. Hopefully make a good crossover pike and trophy walleye bait too

For a baitfish profile paddletails are hard to beat. From 3” to 6” are a key part of my fishing and I’m going to experiment with baits up to 8” this year. Don’t limit yourself with rigging options either. There are about a million ways to rig them and almost all can be a money depending on the conditions.

You ever check out the R2S D walker? I used them on my swim jigs prior to the Swammer coming out. The tail doesn't kick quite as hard, but the D walker has a good amount of head roll. They look more realistic than a swammer and are really tough. With some Mend It, you can paste them back together a half dozen times after they finally blow out.

8 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

You ever check out the R2S D walker? I used them on my swim jigs prior to the Swammer coming out. The tail doesn't kick quite as hard, but the D walker has a good amount of head roll. They look more realistic than a swammer and are really tough. With some Mend It, you can paste them back together a half dozen times after they finally blow out.

Have not seen those but I’ll check them out thanks! Have had good luck with other R2S hard baits but need to try the soft ones maybe

19 hours ago, Jaybert said:

That said if the Magdraft me are awesome I’ll spend the money and try em but I wonder if I’m being caught by them vs the fish

Don’t get the freestyle, get the treble hook harness version. I can only speak to the 6”, but it’s a special bait that catches big ones. It excels in cold water from pre spawn to post spawn and after the post spawn bite ends I won’t pick it back up until fall.

It needs to be retrieved at a certain pace to work properly, I would say about medium pace to where the head rocks back and forth and the tail kicks. Any faster than a medium retrieve and it will blow out. I wouldn’t think twice about buying a few or more - definitely worth the price. I’ve caught both big largemouth and smallmouth on the 6” treble hook version.

43 minutes ago, Jerkbait22 said:

Don’t get the freestyle, get the treble hook harness version. I can only speak to the 6”, but it’s a special bait that catches big ones. It excels in cold water from pre spawn to post spawn and after the post spawn bite ends I won’t pick it back up until fall.

It needs to be retrieved at a certain pace to work properly, I would say about medium pace to where the head rocks back and forth and the tail kicks. Any faster than a medium retrieve and it will blow out. I wouldn’t think twice about buying a few or more - definitely worth the price. I’ve caught both big largemouth and smallmouth on the 6” treble hook version.

Thanks ! Rigged version does look good too. Great info there, Magdraft just looks like a fun bait to fish. We don’t have a pre spawn bass season in my area of Ontario but I can see it as a fall bait for sure

7 minutes ago, Jaybert said:

Thanks ! Rigged version does look good too. Great info there, Magdraft just looks like a fun bait to fish. We don’t have a pre spawn bass season in my area of Ontario but I can see it as a fall bait for sure

No pre spawn meaning you can’t fish for bass in the pre spawn? If so that sucks. It’s still good in post spawn while those fish are looking to recover with a big meal and are typically feeding up.

2 hours ago, Jerkbait22 said:

Don’t get the freestyle, get the treble hook harness version. I can only speak to the 6”, but it’s a special bait that catches big ones. It excels in cold water from pre spawn to post spawn and after the post spawn bite ends I won’t pick it back up until fall.

It needs to be retrieved at a certain pace to work properly, I would say about medium pace to where the head rocks back and forth and the tail kicks. Any faster than a medium retrieve and it will blow out. I wouldn’t think twice about buying a few or more - definitely worth the price. I’ve caught both big largemouth and smallmouth on the 6” treble hook version.

I agree that the rigged version is better for purely open water fishing but if @Jaybert wants to fish them on an Underspin I’d definitely go with the freestyle. Also it’s half the price per bait if he’s concerned about cost.