Rigged up a 3.5" Luck "E" Strike swimabait with one of those Owner #4 Beast hooks. Seems to run very shallow (1-2'). Is this how it is supposed to run?

Yes, all hollow-belly swimbaits run pretty shallow, unless you have a really heavy keel-weighted hook for them. If you want swimbaits for deep, look toward the ones with weight molded in (think Storm Wildeye series) or go old-school and rig a swimming plastic on a really heavy jighead. I really like the action of the Yamamoto saltwater sassy shad-type bait rigged on a 1/2 oz kalin's swimbait jighead. The slower you reel, the deeper it'll run.

Yes, all hollow-belly swimbaits run pretty shallow, unless you have a really heavy keel-weighted hook for them. If you want swimbaits for deep, look toward the ones with weight molded in (think Storm Wildeye series) or go old-school and rig a swimming plastic on a really heavy jighead. I really like the action of the Yamamoto saltwater sassy shad-type bait rigged on a 1/2 oz kalin's swimbait jighead. The slower you reel, the deeper it'll run.

Thanks. Thought I was doing it wrong. The hook I'm using is a weighted keel, but it doesn't seem heavy enough. I've been letting the bait fall some before I reel it in, but the water is so shallow where I'm fifhing that it doesn't seem to matter.

I throw hollow bellies on a weighted jig head about 90 percent of the time. I really like the Buckeye J-Will Swimbait jighead. I use both the 1/4 and 1/2 size a lot. I fish them as long as I'm not fishing them around heavy brush. I swim it through milfoil and hydrilla without any problems.