Hey all,

I had a question about soft swimbait rigging. Since I started to fish Skinny Dippers, I've always used a keel weighted hook. This gave the desired back and forth wobble and tail action. I wanted to get the bait up more in the water column and be able to fish it slower, so I decided to try just an EWG 4/0 hook on it. As I started to fish it, I noticed the action is totally wrong. It simply rolls in the water instead of swimming, even at the slowest speeds. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

not rigged completely straight.

There are a few swimbait jig style hooks out there that are angled and flat parallel to the water so that as it goes through the water, the water hitting the plane of the jig head causes it to rise to help stay higher in water column at slower speeds. I use them and they work, but cant recall name/brand.

You could also go to 1/16 or 1/32oz hook keel weight.

or sometimes it is easier to rig the bait through and out the side instead of the top with the hook you are using now. With some swimbaits this also adds increased plane of resistance causing the bait to stay higher, although not so much with the dippers.