How to start Mastering Swimbaits: Fishing Swimbaits on a budget
Starting out Swimbait fishing in the Midwest
Swimbaiting or the self-defined act of only throwing large baits targeting a higher quality fish, is a fun conquest in Michigan. I spent most of 2022-23 focusing on throwing big baits including 17″ ribbon tail worms that worked really well. Throwing these swimbaits is more of a discipline than a technique in my view. I will discuss standard paddle tails and finesse swimbaits with jigheads in a different deep dive. For now, let’s go big or go home.
What swimbaits are we talking about?
The jury is out on this one but based on this relatively smaller but growing community, my gut feeling if I had to call it is anything over a 4.3″ paddle tail is a swimbaiter anglers’ starting point. We’re talking about that, the bigger ones and specifically the soft-plastic variety that are magically effective on your local largemouth waters. There is an endless expensive cyclone that is this newer swimbait wave. It includes a fun group of folks, really cool baits, some good smack talk, a bunch of cool gear and new learnings about our finned friends.
A new mindset….
Things started clicking for me when I came to resolution that I was fishing for one big fish. Fully committed. Sure you’re going to catch 2 pounders on these oversized baits. You’re going to get skunked. Sure you’re going to be tempted to get the old wacky out. That’s all normal. Here are a few mindset shifts that can help swimbaiting and fishing overall:
- Quality. Not numbers.
- Commit to the big baits. Leave the others at home.
- Ambush areas and haunts are the targets
- Wind can be best friend now
Really try to climb into a big bass’s little brain for a second. Where would you sit ready to pounce on a big bluegill? If you find yourself thinking, “Dang, there should have been one there”. You’re on the right path. Wind blown points, islands, humps or bluffs during most of the year are funnels for the full range of the food chain. Positioning yourself downwind, throwing into the wind and keep casting into that funnel.
What swimbaits should I start with?
As mentioned, this can get expensive quickly. I have some of the hard to find swimbaits that haven’t seen much action. On paper, they make sense but I find myself having a ton of success on soft plastic larger swimbaits in gill profiles. If I could go back and start over 5 years ago swimbaiting, I would fish these two baits first to understand this discipline better.
- Bull Shad X Burrito Baits – Bacca Burrito 6″ Fast Sink
- Savage Gear 5″ Pulse Tail BlueGill
That’s where I would start. Both of these can be thrown on a heavy jig rod or punching rod. I recommend 20# fluorocarbon and a larger reel if you have one. The Burrito can be burned shallow or dragged deep. Weed edges, points, docks and rocks. It doesn’t do as great in deep weeds but burned over them…it’s the 4 X 4 of softies. The Savage Gear Gill Pulse Tail shines on a slow role and is effective in current. I prefer the line-through personally. Cadence and differentiating retrieves is one of the larger learning curves for these and other big baits or glide baits. Try a bunch.
The obsession only grows from here. You will find yourself learning more about bass behavior and surprise yourself with plenty of better-than-average bass if you stick to it.
What gear do I need to use for swimbait fishing?
The beauty of the swimbaits we recommended above is they can be used in a variety of situations and with the same gear. Just to go a bit further in-depth on the rod first. We like a 7’6″ Heavy Rod with a fast tip. This will be a casting rod. The lure and line rating is important when throwing this larger than-usual soft-plastic swimbaits. If you have a rod that is rated up to 25# line and/or up to 3 oz for the lure, you’ve got the rod. If your rod is close to that, you’ll be just fine too.
As far as the swimbait reel goes, you want one with extra room for a heavier line, which is also accompanied by a larger gear and typically more drag, which you want. Listen, we’re targeting the biggest bass in the lake, it’s responsible to have the appropriate gear to safely catch that trophy bass. Being under-equipped is not safe for the fish, that’s the end of that. We are currently testing these reels out and are enjoying all of them.
Fishing Soft-Plastic Swimbaits
Shifting from mindset to actually fishing these rigs for big bass is a fun endeavor. The actual act of casting and retrieving these baits is different than conventional tackle. We recommend starting with a lob cast with a properly set reel, you should get plenty of distance. Both of the swimbaits above are effective at multiple levels of the water column. Most of the time we are fishing these baits, they are close to or on the bottom. Let the swimbait fall on a semi-slack line and watch your line for a strike on the descent. It happens.
This is where swimbait mindset comes into play. We imagine there is a bass lurking that feels that bait hit the bottom and is cautiously coming over to investigate. For that reason, we’ll let the swimbait sit for a minimum of 10 seconds before moving it. Trying multiple cadences or retrieval methods, all staying within touch of the bottom or structure, is where the magic happens.
Fishing Swimbaits – Fishing Techniques
Cadence has been discussed a few times now so let’s keep going. Here are a few situations and the cadences anglers will try while fishing these swimbaits for big bass. Each one is trying to test the attitude of the fish toward the baitfish that day. Do they want to chase, react, or just slam their meal into the ground or pin their food against the surface?
Hot Summer Bass Fishing – Deep Water on a drop
- Start with a slow steady crawl
- Next will be two drags and short hop
- I’ll try two larger lifts, keeping a semi-tight line
- A dead walk on the bottom. Very short twitches of real handle
Windblown Bank or Bass – Fish a Paddle Tail Swimbait
- Casts, 5 count, steady swim mid-water column
- Casts, 10 count, steady swim mid-deeper in column
- Sink to bottom, 2-3 fast reels and kill it
Tips and Tricks
- If anything feels out of the ordinary, reel down and set the hook
- Swimbaits will catch fish all year long
- Keep a hook sharpener in your box, a dull hook can ruin your day
- Always position your net nearby, vicious strikes happen boatside
- A solid hookset is important. Reel down until you feel the tension
- As always practice safe fish care and proper catch and release
Rig a Swimbait and try something new
I shifted from conventional fishing to swimbait fishing almost exclusively in the last two years when targeting bass. It’s been both challenging and rewarding with over two dozen fish landed this year over the five-pound mark. No doubt swimbaits work and catch big fish, but it’s also true that this technique has a steeper learning curve. One we think worthy of exploration.
