Swim Baits

I wanted to start another thread here about swim bait fishing. I recently bought 2 MS Slammers. After catching a few fish on them I bought 3 more and can't stop throwing them. Swim bait fishing has become my new addiction. Then I bought a Matt Lures hard gill and most recently I scored 2 Jerry Rago Hard Tool's on Ebay. Just wanted start this thread for what works and hasn't. Some of these baits get pretty pricey the more you look around and I don't want to be throwing my money away.

All I know is that I catch an awful lot of fish on good old Rebel and Rapala minnows, both jointed and solid. When my arm gets tired of casting I just troll them from the kayak. Sometimes wish they were weedless though.

Personally I like the hard swimbait has lips. The first picture lures look like Rapala Joined, a sub-surface lure(wake baits). I like Strike King Soft Swimbait。 Use a weighted and hitch hook, I have caught at least 6 bass without problem. I use a lighter to melt the ripped plastic on the back.

Those swimbaits look incredible but dam they are expensive. From what I can tell the Jerry Rago's go for $50 a pop.

The MS Slammers just look too good to pass up though. I'm going to have to pick up a few of those.

Tunameltdown, I saw a NETC hat in one of your pics. My buddy Dan who fishes out of Chatham is a member as well. He's not a freshwater fisherman so he's been a ball of stress waiting for the tuna to hit. I'm just waiting for him to bring home another Big Eye from the Canyons so we can have a sushi feast.

I've been throwing the 7" bluegill pattern slammer and just ordered the 7" Hitch (like the one on the right in your pic) and the MS mini slammer black beauty. I just got my new okuma guide select swimbait rod today to match up with an abu garcia ambassadeur reel. I had the rago rat in my cart and then took it out. I just couldn't afford it all at once. You're right man, swimbaits are an addiction within an addiction

Becomes an expensive habit Not just the baits, but you need the proper rod, reel and line. It's a pretty good investment to be able to do that type of fishing My reels don't cost much more than some of those swimbaits

What is your guys rod/reel/line setups? I imagine you need a big rod, like a 7'6" heavy with a 6:4:1 or something like that. As for line, I would want something pretty strong too. The worst is when you wind up and make a big cast and the lure just keeps going, not connected to the line anymore!

What is your guys rod/reel/line setups? I imagine you need a big rod, like a 7'6" heavy with a 6:4:1 or something like that. As for line, I would want something pretty strong too. The worst is when you wind up and make a big cast and the lure just keeps going, not connected to the line anymore!

I have 2 swimbait set ups, one for BIG baits and one for smaller baits.
My big bait set up is a Shimano Cardiff reel on a Shimano Crucial 7'11" Heavy,fast action swimbait rod. I have it spooled up with 65lb Sufix performance lo vis green braid and depending on conditions I either use a 4' 20lb floro leader or not. I use this to throw 8" hudds, 8" spros, 9" slammers and woodtails ect. Basically any baits over 3 oz.
For smaller baits like the Muits Mouse, 7" slammer, 6" spro and 3:16 baits I use a Shimano Curado 7:1 and a 7' Shimano Crucial heavy fast . Same line set up. Each set up Retails for around $250- $275
For baits, they are expensive and I see guys spend CRAZY money on lots of different baits I'm talking THOU$AND$ of dollar$. I don't have that luxury so I try to simplify.
I get 2-3 different baits in contrasting colors that do the same thing. For example there are 3 types of swimbaits: Floaters/wakers, slow sink, and fast sink. So I have 2 to 3 different baits that float/wake, slow sink and fast sink. I can cover the entire water column that way.

My baits range in price from a $20 spro to a $40 slammer, all the way up to a $90 3:16 bait that I am too afraid to lose to a pickeral so I have yet to throw it. Here is my collection. I have added a few that are not in this picture including the 3:16bait

Last edited by stratos1966 on Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:03 am; edited 2 times in total

After all this talk last year about swimbaits i just ordered my swimbait set-up.
7'11 mh 3/4-3 oz Okuma Guide select swim bait rod
okuma round Akena reel 5:1-1 reel
I wanted one version better reel but couldn't pull the trigger being so new to this. That set-up would cost about 225.00 but thankfully i get a good discount
I'm going to spool with what Rich says, lol
or some heavy mono/flouro mix line (investigating)

My friend owns real-prey swim bait company and i told him i was heading to Maine and wanted to try this swim bait stuff out.

I also sell ar lures on my website www.boaghogbaits.com (next week or so) and he makes a couple nice products i am going to try as well.

Hopefully i will have a couple pics to show sometime

Rich, You have a solid arsenal there...can you recommend a good starting spot as far as lures go? I could see this getting pretty pricy for me, since I'd want to buy them all at once, so I'd like to start small and go from there... I have a BPS Pro Qualifier reel that needs to get fixed, its a 7:1 and I might try to use that, and then I would just have to buy a longer rod and some thick braid.

Rich, You have a solid arsenal there...can you recommend a good starting spot as far as lures go? I could see this getting pretty pricy for me, since I'd want to buy them all at once, so I'd like to start small and go from there... I have a BPS Pro Qualifier reel that needs to get fixed, its a 7:1 and I might try to use that, and then I would just have to buy a longer rod and some thick braid.

Sure Ted. I started with a 7" 2x ( 2 joints) slammer. Thats as good a place to start as any. I think they are around $40. That bait can be thrown on a 7' med heavy to heavy baitcaster. If you want a slow sink bait the 6" spro is in the $20 range. The Muit Mouse is a great bait that can be fished several different ways to generate strikes. I think that bait is around $50. The fast sink baits are really heavy and need a swimbait rod to throw them.
Go to Tacklewarehouse.com and look over all the different swimbaits. Pm me or ask questions here if you like before buying.

I just got the 7'11" Okuma guide select rod with the telescopic handle (it fits in the car nice). I have an abu garcia ambassaduer reel with 50 pound power pro. (I plan on upping that to the suffix think) I was using a flipping stick with the 7" slammer but it was pushing the rods limits

Excuse my ignorance, but why do they cost so much, especially those Romans from TW?
I mean, they don't have any precious metals in them, and the technology (for lack of better terms) is known by many many people, I'm sure.I understand the cost of materials, and supply and demand. Though by now, how isn't there a company that can get these around with affordability?
Is this bait style that young that these prices are what they are?

Thanks.

my only real experience is with the MS Slammer. They are hand made and have a rep of catching big fish. I believe that's probably the case with the other baits too

Excuse my ignorance, but why do they cost so much, especially those Romans from TW?
I mean, they don't have any precious metals in them, and the technology (for lack of better terms) is known by many many people, I'm sure.I understand the cost of materials, and supply and demand. Though by now, how isn't there a company that can get these around with affordability?
Is this bait style that young that these prices are what they are?

Thanks.

The main reason I see for high prices is that the producers of the high end baits only release small quantities at a time. Swim bait makers such as 3:16, Rago, MattLures, Nates Baits, and others alike are all for the most part small companies with a few employees working in a garage. Each lure is hand poured, cured, hand tuned, hand painted, swam and again tuned before being sold. Any one of the above manufacturers may only release 100 or so baits in a single release, which drive the prices of their baits sky high.