as i headed to the lake this morning, i really didn't have anything in mind other than relaxing, catching a few, and having a good time.  but a couple of hours later, driving back home, i realized that it had been a very unique outing indeed.  reflecting on the trip and what i had learned, i realized that in this one single outing, i had debunked 4 pretty commonly held fishing myths.  

myth #1 - bigger swimbaits are unlikely to catch "regular size" bass.  

aside from cost, this might be the single biggest reason some anglers will not use swimbaits.  they are afraid their catches of nice "tournament size" fish will go down dramatically.  within 15 minutes a nice "regular size" bass of about 3 pounds (pictured below) bit my pet swimbait.  i also had another couple of 2 pounders miss the bait that i could not get to come back for seconds.

myth #2 - big swimbaits will not work in super shallow water.  

the 3 pounder i caught was in about a foot of water.  i should have seen this fish the water was so shallow, but i didn't.  as my bait swam parallel to shore, a nice size wake shot out to meet the bait from the side with a vicious strike.

myth #3 - swimbaits are "specialty baits" only good for limited situations and applications.  

this is what i used to believe and it really kept me away from swimbaits for a while.  i coulda caught the fish below on anything, a jerkbait, a crank, a spinnerbait, a topwater, etc.  but that's my point.  i am quickly learning that swimbaits will work anywhere these "tired and true" baits will work, probably even better where fish have seen tons of these old standards.

here's the fish.  hope y'all are catchin' some too.      

but wait, i said there were 4 myths debunked, right?

well, here's the 4th.

myth #4- big baits will always produce better quality fish.

sound surprising?  well among several other nice 1 and 2 pound fish i caught on this bait, the fish of the day, a fat 5-14, came on this small finesse worm rigged "flick shake" style on a small jighead.  the key to consistency with nice fish is not big baits, even though it helps sometimes.  if there is a key, it's versatility.

here's the bait that got the fish of the day.  sorry for no pics of her, but it was getting hot and i was in a big hurry to get her back in the water to make sure she survived after a long, epic battle on fairly light spinning tackle.

good luck to y'all out there.  

   

Good stuff Paul.

I've yet to dive into the mega-swimbait world. One-a these days....

Yeah, the price of swimbatis has always turned me off. But i might pick one up soon. Any suggestion?

Yeah, the price of swimbatis has always turned me off. But i might pick one up soon. Any suggestion?

i'm really not the one to ask swimbait questions to since i've only been using 'em about 2 months now.  if you tell what you are looking for in a bait and what kind of equipment you are using, there will be guys on here that can help you.  

Very good story Paul. I too recently jumped onto the swimbait wagon.  I find these baits very exiting use.   Baits like worms, flukes and cranks become somewhat redundant, especially if you fish several days a week.  This is when I like to mix it up with a swimbait and see what can be enticed into hitting it.  

I have engraved into my head that a monster bass is going to smash my swimbait on any particular cast and at any given time.  I picture in my mind the action of the swimbait as I crank it in, waiting for the strike.  I then paint a picture of it swimming towards or past a HAWG and getting smashed.  Realistically though, I know any of my regular baits (worm and cranks) will produce quality bass, if not better than the swimbait.  I think it's the assumption of using a BIG bait that I'm going to catch a BIG bass that keeps it interesting for me, even though it's not always the case.

A number of years back I decided to up-size my tackle (musky-sized plugs and spinnerbaits), and although I didn't increase my take of 18" fish, I did break two water body PBs. I attribute these fish to the large baits. Fishing this way decreased my take of bass in general -far fewer bass under 18".

Good rethinking and enjoyed the post...

               As Ever,

                skillet

"within 15 minutes a nice "regular size" bass of about 3 pounds (pictured below) bit my pet swimbait"

Nice fish! What type of swimbait is that? I want to try one out but I'm not sure which one to start with and I also have to worry about the price. The one you have does look nice though!

"within 15 minutes a nice "regular size" bass of about 3 pounds (pictured below) bit my pet swimbait"

Nice fish! What type of swimbait is that? I want to try one out but I'm not sure which one to start with and I also have to worry about the price. The one you have does look nice though!

tru-tungsten bluegill.  and make no mistake, this bait ROCKS!!!  

a bit costly, but keep in mind you are really buying 3 baits in one because of the versatile weighting system.  check out the video of ish monroe talking about the bait.  

http://www.***.com/descpageSWIMTRUTUNG-TTSB.html

Cool! I'm going to check them out. See if I can scrounge up some cash and pick one up. It definelty looks awesome and judging from your pics it works awesome too. Hopefully I can post a few pics in the coming weeks. Thanks

Nice post Paul. Is that a custom paint job on the TT bait? Looks like a bass pattern. I just hacked the tail off a little shorter on mine. Tail just looks too long on the bait and it bothered me a little so I started hacking on my $50 bait. Works great with the shorter tail and looks more like a real bluegill.

thanks randall.  nope, no custom paint job.  well not really anyway.  i tell you what i have done though.  i have made a real effort to keep this bait looking new and fresh.  i went and got a pack of permanent markers at walmart.  you can even get metallic ones.  i use brown, purple, silver, gold, green, and black in the appropriate spots any time even a tiny chip  of paint comes off.  this bait still looks brand new after catching several fish.  

that's cool about what you did to the tail on your bait.  makes a lot of sense.  did you round off the "points" on the tail too?  this kinda bothered  me a little about the tail of the bait since bluegill have roundish tails rather than pointed.  i might tinker a little with the tail on mine too.  what tool did you use, a dremmel?  

thanks for the great tip randall.        

I'm with you Paul,...these larger baits still catch ALL size fish, it's just that they also are very attractive to the largest ones.  Often.

That's awesome Paul! How much does the Tru Tungsten Swimbait weigh?

unweighted it weighs 2.6 oz.

LBH! Holy smokes, i didnt know you could catch a fish with a bait of its own size, just more to show how aggresive bass are.