It
should come as no surprise to bass addicts that swimbaits catch
fish. They catch a lot of fish and big fish. That's a tournament
anglers dream. But for bass anglers in the northern regions that
dream can turn to an expensive nightmare in the form of muskies,
Northern pike or walleyes; toothy critters have a tremendous affinity
for swimbaits. So I wanted to find a soft swimbait that was reliable
when targeting largemouth bass and was still cheap enough to use
in waters infested with Northern pike. I also wanted to find a bait
that was so simple to use that my clients on guide trips could learn
to use it quickly.
Now don't get me wrong, I would gladly sacrifice a $30.00
swimbait to catch a 50-inch musky, but that's a rarity. You
generally catch those 2 to 4-pound northern pike, the occasional
20-plus-inch walleye and the 30-inch musky. And with some soft swimbaits
running from $24.99 up to $49.99 they get too expensive to use if
toothy critters are just going to keep destroying them. So I switched
to a more economical soft swimbait.
Like a lot of upper Midwest bass anglers I started to experiment
with soft-bodied swimbaits about 3 years ago, thanks in part to
information made available to us by publications such as In-Fisherman
and Bassmaster magazine. Hoping to get an edge on the tournament
field, I've invested considerable time playing with soft swimbaits.
Developing confidence in the soft swimbait should be pretty simple
for most anglers, as fishing a swimbait is just like swimming a
jig or grub/jig combination, which are both age-old presentations
in most places. Ease of use is probably the hallmark of soft swimbaits
and when I talk about soft swimbaits I mean soft plastic bodies
rigged on a jig head. The most effective retrieve is also the simplest.
Just cast it out, count it down and reel it in. The equipment used
to fish these swimbaits is just as simple.
The Rod
Both casting and spinning combinations work for fishing this bait.
Because I'm generally looking for casting distance as opposed
to accuracy when using a swimbait, I've settled on a spinning
rod/reel combination. This is not a finesse technique; a moderately
priced rod works just fine for this technique. So if you have to
purchase a new rod for soft swimbaits you can save a little money
by buying a rod priced in that mid-range. My favorite rod for this
presentation is a Quantum Tour Edition rod (model TES704F), which
is a 7-foot, medium action rod, with a fast taper, built on a HSX54
hi-strain graphite blank. Unfortunately, it is no longer in production,
but the new Quantum Energy PT spinning rod in 7-foot or 7.5-foot
looks like it will also work great for soft swimbaits. A medium
action rod with a fast taper seems to give me more casting distance.
And when fighting a good fish at boat side on a short line, a medium
action rod acts as a shock absorber, making it more forgiving of
any mistakes you may make. Fished with a braided line a medium action
rod has more than enough power to make good hook sets and control
a fish.
The Reel
No cost savings here. You need to use the best reel you can afford.
This technique requires a high quality reel, as it's going
to get a hard workout. Substantial performance demands can be placed
on a reel when you consider the long casts, heavy hook-sets, use
of braided line and lots of reeling. I like a large reel for this
presentation, mainly for the additional line capacity a large spooled
reel has to offer. The reel I've been using is the Energy
PT, made by Quantum, in size 30. One of the things I learned early
on, after losing a number of fish, is that you have to tighten down
your drag as tight as you can get it, so tight that there is absolutely
no slippage. This will allow you to make powerful hook-sets even
if you get bit at the end of a long cast. And powerful hook-sets
are necessary to drive home the large 3/0 and 5/0 hooks that these
jig heads have. But one of the consequences of a tight drag is that
you need to back-reel when fighting a fish. So whichever reel you
choose, make sure it has a reliable and strategically located anti-reverse
switch, which will allow you to back reel when fighting a fish.
The Line
I've found that braided super lines in the 10 to 15-pound
range work best for me when using this technique. Monofilament lines
have too much stretch and fluorocarbon lines in the10 to 15-pound
range are hard to manage when used on a spinning reel. Any of the
major braided line brands (Sufix, Power Pro or FireLine) will work
just fine.
The Bait
Let's talk about the jig heads first. The way you control
the depth the swimbaits run at is by the speed of your retrieve
and the weight of the jig head. I've found that I use 1/2
oz. and 3/4 oz. jig heads most of the time. Even when using a 3/4
oz. jig head it's amazing how high a large swimbait will rise
in the water column as your retrieval speeds increase. I've
settled on 3 different brands of jig heads. The first is Owner's
saltwater Bullet Jig head in 1/2 oz. with a 3/0 hook and a 3/4 oz.
with a 5/0 hook. The second style is the Lunker City saltwater Fin-S
Head in 1/2 oz. with a 2/0 hook and 1/2 oz. and 3/4 oz. with 4/0
hooks. The Owner and Lunker City jig heads are unpainted. For a
painted head I've started using the Northland Fishing Tackle
Mimic Minnow jig head in 3/4 oz. I've found it necessary to
have a good selection of jig heads available, as the different brands
of plastic bodies work better when matched with a certain style
and weight of jig heads.
Of all the jig bodies I've tried it seems the pogy style
body in 4-inch and 6-inch is the most productive. I'm sure
it has something to do with that big flat oversized tail vibrating
back there that triggers such aggressive strikes. For shear numbers
of fish the most productive brand has been the 4-inch Cotee Cracker
Shad (it has a foil imbedded in the body that adds sound and flash).
The other bodies I use quite often are the 4-inch and 6-inch Shaker
by Lunker City and two baits by Berkley. Both Berkley baits are
out of the saltwater line, the 4-inch Gulp Pogy and the 5-inch Power
Bait Swim Shad. Each of the above companies have baits in a wide
range of colors; I've tried to stay with the more natural
colors. I'm beginning to think that the action is more important
than the color.
Pre-rigged Pogy's
There are a number of pre-rigged swimbaits on the market today.
The only ones I've used are the WildEye Swim Shad by Storm
Lures, in the 3-inch and 4-inch lengths. They worked well and are
priced at around $2.99 for 6 baits. These pre-rigged baits seem
to work better when fishing in shallow water, as they are not weighted
as heavy as I would like and tend to rise in the water column when
retrieved.
There is really no trick to fishing any of the soft swimbaits;
it's a lot like fishing a rattle-trap, cast and reel, cast
and reel. The only tip I can add is to use fishing glue when putting
the plastic body on the jig head. This will keep the body in place
through all types of abuse. Once glued to the jig head you can rip
the bait through almost anything and the body will stay in place.
It will also let you catch a couple of toothy critters without having
to change the soft body each time.
As always, stay safe and we hope to see you on the water.
Wayne Ek is a fishing guide, tournament angler and writer in Alexandria
Minnesota.
You can reach Wayne Ek at Agape Fishing Guides, www.agapefishingguides.com
