I'm not talking your little plastic swimbaits, I'm talkin MattLures swimbaits.  Is this realistic or would it be a waste of money on the rod, reel, and lures?

I'm trying to get well-versed in every technique this season, and want to jump on this bandwagon if it seems logical.

Yeah, the Mattlures Ultimate Bluegills are great baits.

Absolutely not! I had some pretty good success using a 2oz, 7.5" MS Slammer this summer. I didn't catch anything huge but I definitely had a few outings where it caught me a bunch of fish.

Dan, any recommendations on a sb rod sub 150?

I wouldnt waste money on a swimbait specific setup if thats what ur askin. Seems like its more a west coast thing. I know they work in some places in va but its not gonna be one of ur most productive techniques. I'm sure what Dan says is true tho, u can def catch fish with them around here. You would def need the proper setup tho gear wise to effectively use a huge swimbait.

I've caught fish on baby wakes, mission fish, slammer, Matts hard gill, and my personal best last season was on Mike's Bull Shad.

I would go with an Okuma. I have the MH but its a little lighter than I would like. I would go with a heavy or extra heavy.

ain't no joke, they will catch bass wherever they swim. If'n you just want to "play" with the technique, you don't have to throw them quarter pounders. They make some nice sb's in the smaller weights, around 1.5 oz. +/-. You can get away with throwin them on a flippin stick with a decent reel.That way if you don't have any success with the technique, you haven't spent any $ on specialized gear. If'n by chance you snag a toad on it & feel it's something you want to take further, then you can buy dedicated gear.

Personally, I use them and have never caught any huge bass on them yet, but I'm statistically due for one . Most of the fish you catch on a sb, you could catch with a jerkbait with the right combination of lure weight (s) & line size. Plus, you can throw the jerkbait all day without it wearin you out. Some will disagree.

Part of the sucess of the sb is that as of yet, there a lot of fish in the NE that just haven't seen them before. A lot of guys have probably experimented with them before, but very few put in the time to really learn the lure & where to throw it. I would take the time to really learn it myself, but I'm too busy cathing fish on jerk baits & jigs. 

I throw sb's on a 7.5' Fenwick fiberglass flippin stick with a Ambassaduer 6001- 15- 20. lb Trilene big game. It's my go to outfit for sb's, Muskys, Stripers & shiner fishin.

good luck with them

I can't say that I know many people fishing big swimbaits on the Potomac, but that doesn't mean that it can't be done and that you can't be successful doing it.  I thought about getting a stick last year to throw them, but it's such a big financial committment (for me at least) to get the setup and swimbaits and not be certain that it's going to be productive for me.  If I heard of others having a lot of success with them, I would probably bite the bullet and do it, otherwise I'm going to continue to  do what seems to work.  With that said, I may treat myself to a Mattlures Hardgill before the season starts.  Though not ideal, I have a 7'11" Shimano Crucial flipping stick that would probably get the job done.

I have a few larger sized swim baits but have not really given them a try yet. I will this year. A buddy of mine does very well with the Mattlures bass.

The technique originated in the west but that definitely doesn't mean it won't work here. People around here are just too scared to go big. I've had 1lbers hit my slammer...You'll catch fish on them, even if they aren't huge. I'm glad slomoe posted as I know he's had success with some swimbaits in the past year or so. I've had days when my buddies got skunked while I was crushing fish on swimbaits. I just don't think the fish see them very often around here.

Josh, the rod that Thai posted has received rave reviews from lots of the swimbait guys. I've heard only good things about them. You can get away with going cheap on a swimbait rod. They don't need to be super sensitive like a jig or worm rod because you'll either see the fish hit it (if it's a topwater) or you will have no doubt when you get a bite because they hit them so hard.

If you have a flipping stick try that with some of the lighter swimbaits. If you really want to start throwing the big stuff (2 oz+), check out the Okuma rods.

I've got a Spro shad bait that is small for swimbaits but it's yours if you want it to get you started.

I have a few larger sized swim baits but have not really given them a try yet. I will this year. A buddy of mine does very well with the Mattlures bass.

The soft baby bass or the hard bass?

I know slomoe has caught some nice fish on the hard 'gill

soft bass.

What about a reel?  Ice sewn a lot of Calcuttaaa on sb. Setups, is a high end reel necessary. ? I think I'm all in on swimbaits. Fellas, meet the potomac pioneer of swimbaiting.

what's your price range for a reel Josh?

Check out the Cardiff 300 or 400

I'm  there w/ who. I have two goals this year...swim baits and punching mats.

I think you should use what you have for now (if you have a h action). I can throw up to 2oz on my H setups.

Man, you are all about the danger arn't ya!!

I mean... my price range can vary, but id say no more than 2 bills. But I have no h rods, just a bps MH rod that's almost out the door. Cardiff looks legit.

If youre gonna be fishing the potomac more so this year then spend the money on a nice setup for punchin mats instead. I bought a powell 766 for that purpose and plan on punchin/flippin alot of heavy matted stuff this summer. Most of the money that was won on the potomac last year was done so punchin mats, alot on frogs too but the majority of the 5-7 pounders were pullled out of the thick stuff punchin. I had a conversation with Teri Olinger who owns warbirds. Since he organizes alot of tourneys he should know where the money is being won. He told me to focus on punchin if I wanted the 5 plus pounders. Thats where I would put that swimbait money instead. Just my 2 cents.

Cardiffs are great for heavier baits. IMO, the 200 also has enough line capacity for what you want to do, so don't rule it out (its also a bit lighter than the 300/400).  They can be had used on the bay for ~ 50. 

Or you could get a combo that does both! Some of the Okumas would probably be pretty good at pulling double duty for SBs and Punching

St Croix has a Mojo model that would probably work for both as well.

I tend to agree with my bro Steve on this one.  If you don't have a flipping setup you should definetly focus on that first.  You could throw some swimbaits on it until you're sure you want to go that route.

Quote

Cardiffs are great for heavier baits. IMO, the 200 also has enough line capacity for what you want to do, so don't rule it out (its also a bit lighter than the 300/400). They can be had used on the bay for ~ 50.

120yds of 14lb test? Big swimbaits usually involve ~20lb test so that's not gonna give you a lot of line on 200 size. I would go with at least a 300. It's only .3 oz heavier.

Quote

Quote

Cardiffs are great for heavier baits. IMO, the 200 also has enough line capacity for what you want to do, so don't rule it out (its also a bit lighter than the 300/400). They can be had used on the bay for ~ 50.

120yds of 14lb test? Big swimbaits usually involve ~20lb test so that's not gonna give you a lot of line on 200 size. I would go with at least a 300. It's only .3 oz heavier.

Big swimbaits yes, although i have no first hand experience w/ anything over 3 oz.  He's talking more along the lines of small to medium. The 200 I use w/ 17# pline holds plenty (prob ~ 100yds) to through the matt lures, both hard and soft.  YMMV, IMO, etc.

Oh I thought we were talking about the big boys when the Okuma stick got involved. I'd agree that a 200 would probably be fine with the smaller baits but I'd want a little more line capacity for bigger baits, especially considering the 300 is only a tad heavier. Most of the Cardiff swimbaiters I've read about chose the 300 for the real swimbaits.