I know that some say that they wouldn't throw a small swim bait, however I'm not from the land of 10-15 pound bass.  I know that a small bass will eat a big lure and that a big bass will eat a small lure, however I would like to know what type of swim bait you feel is the best "all-around":

1) California Tiny "E"

2) Basstrix

3) Huddleston Shad

4) Jackall Wake Jr.

Again, I need my swim bait to be under 1 oz. and relatively small.  I know most of you and I believe that I have even heard Fourbizz say that he wouldn't throw a small swim bait, however I would agree if I was from California and had the opportunity at a monster, however a 7-8 pound bass is about as big as I can expect and that is even vary rare.

I'm trying to decide how I'm going to board the swim bait band wagon.

Take care all,

Steve

Under 1 oz, really is an incredible limitation you are putting on yourself. But with those restrictions, these are the baits I would throw.

5" 3:16 Missionfish 1.1ounces. I have had 2lbers choke the 7" all day long.

Huddleston Shad. Tiny bait, will not improve your chances at a big fish IMO but will get you lots of action.

6" Big Hammer/Fish Trap with a 1/2OZ head.

Thats it.

Now let me give the schpeal. It doesn't matter if you live in the north! Granted a 12" bait might not be the best choice, but a 6 or 7 inch bait will get eaten by 2.5lb fish ALL THE TIME! If you have a flipping stick I really do encourage you to try some of the 2oz baits. When you jump up into that class, your options and chances at a big fish really go up! I mean that smallmouth I just put up in the outings section was caught on a bulky six inch bait and she had the whole thing in her mouth, just the nose poking out, and her mouth was the size of a beer can!

I will never say that these little baits won't catch fish, but I think it is pretty much a common conception that swimbaiting gets big fish, and that is why most people are interested in it. It is not because of the little paddtetail or whatever that they get big fish, it is because they are big baits! So if you are looking to just have fun with a different bait, then any of those will do. But if you are trying out swimbaits to get some bigger fish, I really do recomend that you throw some bigger baits.

I honestly think that a jig n pig will get you bigger fish on average than the baits that you listed, for a much lower cost!

IF you decide to move your weight limit up, there are a ton of great baits out there across the price scale that I could point you to.

her mouth was the size of a beer can!

Foster's, Guinness or Budweiser?

her mouth was the size of a beer can!

Foster's, Guinness or Budweiser?

Fosters 32 oz "OIL CAN". ;D

I honestly think that a jig n pig will get you bigger fish on average than the baits that you listed, for a much lower cost!

I concur absolutely !

Now if that don 't sound too good then rig a jig with a brush hog as a trailer, that thing is huge and you are not going to go bankrupt.

Remember what Fish Chris said about swimbaits ? small swimbaits are not even worth the trouble of fishing with them, go big or go home.

Remember what Fish Chris said about swimbaits ? small swimbaits are not even worth the trouble of fishing with them, go big or go home.

He must have been talking in a big-fish context, correct?  I love fishing the small ones for #s and hits.

Steve I wish I could take all of you guys who are sooo wrong about swimbait sizes and fish sizes and fish YOUR water while you all watched. I have heard your exact statements a thousand times and it bothers me every time! Not the statement itself but that guys actualy think that way. Please dont take this the wrong way. I am not attacking you in any way what so ever.

First the average swimbait fish caught out here is no where near 10lbs. The average is probably 4.5lbs. There are a lot of little 2.5-4 lb fish that would bring down the average. 10-15lbers are still rare. Only a handfull of guys actualy catch them with any regularity.

A 6in swimbait is practicaly made for 5lbers. The bait may look big to you but its nothing for a 1lber to eat a 6in shinner.

Now what Forbizz said is dead on on. little tiny swimbaits under 1oz are not big fish baits. They are numbers baits. There for tournament guys. I would consider my baby bass as the smallest big bass swimbait. Like 4bizz said once you get up to the 2oz baits you are actualy using big fish baits. There are a lot of good 6in baits on the market right now. When you hear guys talking about swimbaits, the ones they use to catch big bass, they arent talking about tiny 4in baits. I also agree that a 10-12 in bait wouldnt be your best choice but dont believe for 1 second that your small 7llbers wont engulf an 8in Hudd or a 9in Slammer. They do it all the time. Your just fooling yourself if you think your going to start catching big bass because you start using a 4in Basstrix. You will get bit but Your odds of it being big are poor.

Now as for your rod rating. Thats a whole other thing. Just because your rod is rated up to 1oz doesnt mean it cant handle 1 TINY EXTRA OUNCE!!!  An ounce isnt going to break your rod and the diference between 1oz and 2oz on a rod isnt much. You can throw the 6in baits on a xhvy flipping stick just fine. You can even throw them on a 7ft hvy rod. Its not ideal but it will work.

Your bass are NOT too small!

You probably have more big bass than you think you do. Just nobody is targeting them.

Dont be afraid to throw those GIANT 6in baits. (I am being sarcastic)

Dont take my post the wrong way! There are thousands of guys who share your opinions and I try and preach to them on a daily basis!  

If you are wanting to catch bigger bass then get some big fish catching swimbaits. The little tiny ones will just catch you more small fish.

If it has to be under an ounce,   Go buy some jigs!

If your trying to win tournaments then your on the right track. If your looking for some big bass then you need to expand a little

If you need any help just ask. There are a few guys on here who actualy KNOW what they are talking about. Dont listen to 100's of guys who act like they know. (not specificly talking about guys on this site. Just anybody in general)

Not only does Matt know how to make swim baits he knows how to fish em  

My two cents is that the biggest swimbaits are way overrated. Big baits are not always more preferable to big fish. By biggest I am saying over eight inches. Size to me doesn't always get you a bigger fish. The key is to match the bait that most of the larger fish are eating at the time and this changes and is not constant. Most times big fish are usually going to get the biggest meal that is easiest to catch and swallow. Now in some cases if there is a bunch of large easy to catch and swallow bait and the big ten to twelve inch baits will be the ticket but not every time. Personally I do better for big fish over ten pounds with five to eight inch swimbaits. If the big fish can get a better easy meal by eating crawfish than it can trying to catch and eat a bait fish then the jig will outfish a swimbait. My advice if you want to catch bigger fish is to understand your forage and it's relationship to the bigger bass then choose your swimbait.

Now after I have said all of that I still wouldn't suggest any of those baits. You can go over a rods rating a little since you can lob cast a swimbait and don't have to sling it the way you would another bait. The rating is a guideline that's all. Go to www.Mattlures.com and look at all of his baits. He has a bunch of different species of medium size baits and chances are he has a bait that matches a big bass forage where you live. Figure out what the big bass are eating and pick a bait that matches it. If the big bass are eating bigger baits then I would get a bigger bait. If you figure out they are eating smaller baits then get a smaller bait. If you want to stick to the list then I would say the Hudd Shad would be my choice.

Crap....now I get to learn how to fish a spoon and a swimbait this year.

Don't wanna hijack but I'm almost up north.What swimbaits would some of you swimbait guys recommend for the Mid West?I wouldn't be scared.I got a couple rods that could handle them.

edit: Sorry Randall,we were posting at the same time.

Mattlures Bluegill

3:16 Wake Jr.

3:16 Missionfish

Huddleston

I maybe was wrong, I would say that our mid-western average bass is 1.5 pounds, and a big bass is a 6 pound largemouth and a 5 pound small mouth.  Now keep in mind that one of the best tournaments my dad and I had was a 5 bass limit for a total of 19.64 pounds of all small mouth.  Now most tournaments are won with around 15 pounds of bass.  I just can not see throwing a 6"-9" swimbait and doing myself any good.  Keep in mind that not everyone that wants to fish a swimbait is fishing them to catch the biggest fish in the lake, I would however like to have a bigger than average profile to use once we have caught our decent limit.  I caught a 7 pound largemouth on a Spro frog last year, which is my biggest bass ever.  I typically catch our biggest bass of the season on frogs, and I'm sure that most guys do that consistantly fish them as well, however they are not a large bait, but they are thrown where the big fish are.  I have caught almost all of my 6 pound large mouths and 6 pound smallies on a 4 inch worm as well.

I do not want to test a $300+ rod with a 2 oz. bait, however I would like to try smaller baits, and feel that a lot of the swimbait companies are missing a big share of the fisherman by not offering smaller versions for the guys not on the west coast.  No attach at you either here.

Thanks all,

Steve

Dude!

The Mattlure Baby Bass is the PERFECT size for about 45 states (Alaska doesn't have bass).

8-)

Great thread guys. Lots of good info.

It has been a very informative thread, I think there has been a lot of good dialog going on.

Mattlures - PM sent my friend.

Lets keep it going.

Steve

Guys, a 6" 3:16 Mission Fish isn't that big of a bait.  A 7' MH is plenty of rod.

Now as for your rod rating. Thats a whole other thing. Just because your rod is rated up to 1oz doesnt mean it cant handle 1 TINY EXTRA OUNCE!!! An ounce isnt going to break your rod and the diference between 1oz and 2oz on a rod isnt much. You can throw the 6in baits on a xhvy flipping stick just fine. You can even throw them on a 7ft hvy rod. Its not ideal but it will work.

Your bass are NOT too small!

Well said matt.  I have a BPS Extreme 7 MH rated for 1oz.  I've thrown some fairly heavy baits with this numerous times.  Including a 6" hudd, 9" Slammer (2.5oz), mattlures bluegill, etc, it handles the extra 1-1.5oz's like a champ.

Great thread guys. Lots of good info.

This exchange right here is EXACTLY WHY I JOINED this forum in the first place !

Thank you all so much for all of this great input. I think that there are a lot of guys that would love to start swimbaiting, but are intimidated by the (perceived) large tackle requirement and the large price tags of a lot of the popular lure options, and simply not really knowing where and how to get started.

I know that I am going to use all of this info to start my swimbaiting career this spring! In fact, I just placed my first order at Mattlures for the Ultimate Bluegill...so be looking for some pics in the next couple of months!

I am goint to list the biggest swimbaiting myths that I hear almost daily.

#1 our bass arent as big as your bass, will those big swimbaits still work? Do you make  any smaller ones?

Have you ever looked at the size of a bass's mouth? Trust me your bass are big enough. They are probably untargeted so you dont realize that you even have big bass(6-8lbs) The biggest oldest wisest bass dont go waisting their energy chasing down small meals. Give them a easy big meal and sell it to them properly and they will eat it.

#2 You should buy cheap baits first and see if you like them and then upgrade.

Wrong! buying the best proven baits will only shorten the learning curve. A lot of guys try this and end up giving up because those cheap baits didnt produce or MORE IMPORTANTLY they didnt produce big bass. Of corse not all cheap baits suck but most do.

#3 swimbaits are only good in clear water.

WHAT? No you just have to fish them slower and tighter to cover.

#4 when swimbaiting your only fishing for 1 bite

Wrong. I certainly do not stop fishing after I get my "1" bite. Yes there are times when its tough and you get skunked but the more time you spend on the water fishing them the easier it is to determine when to use them and when to just drag worms. Trust me Mike Long aint fishing for 1 bite. Maybe "1" giant fish but certainly more then 1 bite.

Matt Newman caught 28 bass over 8 lbs on consecutive casts throwing a Hudd.

#5 We dont have trout in our lake we shouldnt use a trout bait.

Now this one isnt that bad but its still wrong. What do you think would happen if they stocked "your non trout lake" with a bunch of 8in trout? every bass from 2.5 lbs up would gorge them selfs on them. Its been proven many times the trout baits work anyware there are bass. BUT that doesnt make them the best choice. If a trout bait was all I had I would throw it if not I would choose a diferent pattern in non trout waters.

4Bizz, Randall care to add to my list

I am goint to list the biggest swimbaiting myths that I hear almost daily.

#1 our bass arent as big as your bass, will those big swimbaits still work? Do you make any smaller ones?

Have you ever looked at the size of a bass's mouth? Trust me your bass are big enough. They are probably untargeted so you dont realize that you even have big bass(6-8lbs) The biggest oldest wisest bass dont go waisting their energy chasing down small meals. Give them a easy big meal and sell it to them properly and they will eat it.

#2 You should buy cheap baits first and see if you like them and then upgrade.

Wrong! buying the best proven baits will only shorten the learning curve. A lot of guys try this and end up giving up because those cheap baits didnt produce or MORE IMPORTANTLY they didnt produce big bass. Of corse not all cheap baits suck but most do.

#3 swimbaits are only good in clear water.

WHAT? No you just have to fish them slower and tighter to cover.

#4 when swimbaiting your only fishing for 1 bite

Wrong. I certainly do not stop fishing after I get my "1" bite. Yes there are times when its tough and you get skunked but the more time you spend on the water fishing them the easier it is to determine when to use them and when to just drag worms. Trust me Mike Long aint fishing for 1 bite. Maybe "1" giant fish but certainly more then 1 bite.

Matt Newman caught 28 bass over 8 lbs on consecutive casts throwing a Hudd.

#5 We dont have trout in our lake we shouldnt use a trout bait.

Now this one isnt that bad but its still wrong. What do you think would happen if they stocked "your non trout lake" with a bunch of 8in trout? every bass from 2.5 lbs up would gorge them selfs on them. Its been proven many times the trout baits work anyware there are bass. BUT that doesnt make them the best choice. If a trout bait was all I had I would throw it if not I would choose a diferent pattern in non trout waters.

4Bizz, Randall care to add to my list

i will say Matt is dead on .... if i remember right i said all the things word for word matt has listed here the 1st time i ever emailed him .... alot has changed since then .... if fact when im swimbaiting i always feel ill get bit .... 99 percent of the time i fish the matt lure baby bass ,,, this bait is outstanding ....  so some of you guys still thinking about swimbaiting listen to what matt has to say ,,, he knows his stuff ...  

Thats it Matt.

I agree with all of your points.

If you guys throw these big baits on the right gear, and have a lure retriever, you lose very few baits. Even in 50feet of water with a rocky bottom, you can usually get a bait out. Hell, I still have the very first swimbait I ever bought, a 7" Osprey. It felt GIGANTIC at the time, feels norma, or even small now!

I had a day last year where I couldn't keep the 4lbers off of a big 7" bait. I think I caught 15 between 3.5 and 4.5 pounds that day.

If you guys are gonna do it, sack up and do it the right way! You'll thank us later!

This is the exact kind of thread I have been looking for a while now.Thanks guys! Good info.

I read the following in Doug Hannon's Big Bass Magic & believe it holds true in every instance where anglers complain about not being able to catch big bass.

There are three major human element pitfalls you must overcome.

1. Lack of knowledge about big bass

2. Basic misconceptions about big bass and fishing techniques for big bass

3. The human tendency to respond to failure and frustration by over-complication rather than simplification of technique and theory.

#3 is the hardest for most anglers to admit but is so true; people often respond to failure and frustration by over-complicating theory and technique. As much as it helps our egos to regard a difficult task as complex, this type of thinking is often the biggest obstacle between you and your fishing success.

This is the exact kind of thread I have been looking for a while now.Thanks guys! Good info.

x2  

Thanks again for the info.

He must have been talking in a big-fish context, correct? I love fishing the small ones for #s and hits.

No.

When will you people learn that a big bait is not that big at all ? if the fish thinks it can mouth it they will attack it.