I've started a couple times to pull the trigger on some of the hard swimbaits. Most are about $20. Hate to put some more wasted money in the old tackle box. I'm looking at the Strike King King Shad or Spo's BBZ-1 shad. What do you like in a hard swimbait and why?

Here's a couple I like that have caught me some fish:

Sebile Magic Swimmer -  slow sinker runs just under the surface on a steady retrieve.  Has a great action.  They have Owner Hooks.

Jackall Giron - small sunfish shaped, single jointed bait has a good action.  It sinks slowly and will rest upright on its hooks on the bottom.  Great finishes and great hooks.

Strike King King Shad - I've had moderate luck with these.  The shad colored ones have worked best for me.  Good actions.  The ones I have run just under the surface.  Good hooks.  Some people have complained about them breaking but I've yet to have one break.

I also have some Jackall Mikey Jrs.  I haven't used these yet but they look great and I'm looking forward to using them this year.  

Spro BBZ-1 Shad's

Tru Tungsten 4" Swimbaits

Strike King King Shad

Spro BBZ-1 Shad's

Tru Tungsten 4" Swimbaits

Strike King King Shad

Tru Tungsten's are great.

My #1 hard swimbait for the past several years has been Strike King's King Shad. Great bait and all the new ones have a steel pin in the hinge to help with a problem they had early on with them breaking. Wide variety of colors available from Strike King and also from ABT Lure Co. the original inventor of these lures. Retrieve these slowly along and over the tops of weeds beds or burn them early in the AM along shorelines or points where you would throw a spinner bait. Great bait for covering lots of water on flats too.  This has been a BIG fish lure for me in the Spring and Fall, but I have one tied on all year long and usually throw it first when fishing points and shallow structure in the Summer time.

The Sebile is another inexpensive hard bait. I does work, but requires more imparted action then the King Shads. With the Sebile a stop and twitch action seems to work the best. However, on days when the fish are really active you cannot crank this bait too fast.   I like twitching them around open water docks, weed patches, or isolated cover.