ok so ive been reading and hearign that beat up swimbaits that have for example paint scraped off and after they have been dragged on the bottom and what not, seem to be better. why is that so? could it be becasue people are saying they catch fish is because they actually fish them like they should be? like not just throw in open water but drag them up the flat or a bank or w/e the case might be

Thank you for any input

Theres two camps. One camp believes beat up ones work better, others believe the not beat up ones work better. I dont think it really matters. If you put the right bait in the right spot at the right time with the right presentation you are going to catch fish.

Some believe the beat up ones more closely resemble the beat up hatchery fish that are stocked. My thoughts on why a beat up one may work is this. Its just like crank baits. You can have 10 identical crank baits but one seems to really stick the fish. That one crank bait just has something that we cant detect but the fish apparently can. Same with swimbaits. There is variation in the manufacturing of swimbaits. Take Hudds. Feel the plastic, look at the body shape. They all arent the same. Nor are their swimming actions. Maybe the beat up ones work better because they just have something about them that the fish can detect. And of course the reason they are beat up is because those are the ones that get bit. Just my opinion.

It probably doesn't matter much, I think it's just a confidence thing. I know sometimes I'll be using a beat up one and wont get bit for a while so I'll take it off and put on a new one. Then after a while with no hits on the new one I will want to put the old one back on. For the most part they all get bit, you just need to be on the right spot at the right time and the fish will eat.

I've also heard of guys talking about smell as well. Sence the swimbait is in the water longer that it will lose that manufactor smell and the fish will not smell it then. I don't know. just one more of those things we all hear. Just through it and have be confident.

dz

Confidence.... chances are you are going to pick the bait out of the box that has been bit before. I sure do. Why throw a new bait when the chewed up one has the Juju.

I like the Juju baits :-)

Don.

I agree with Urban. There's just something about some baits. It's just like fishing the surface iron in the saltwater if any of you guys have experience with that. The best jigs I have lost most of their paint a long time ago. Not only that, but with some baits, just like with the surface iron, you can learn to pick good ones. Slammers come to mind.

Thanks guys, yeah i see what you are saying.

Thank you all for the feedback