Hey Rob - or anyone else who knows how to fish swimbaits - How do you fish swimbaits? What type of tackle are you using? Do you just cast and retrieve or vary it a little?

I have a couple but have not really tried much. I would really love to get into it and with the success you had this past weekend I'm more than willing to try at the TOC for the SCBBBC.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance to all!

Samurai TI

i like to do just a steady retrieve, an always experiment every now an then they will want a crank an drop retrieve. an most swimbaits are fairly heavy so i like to use about 16lb test an about a M/H rod round abouts that area. good luck. ~Angler Andy

Todd --

Our webmaster (and fellow club member), Rob Belloni, just had a great article in Gary Yamamoto's 'Inside Line' magazine, about choosing & using swimbaits (right on, Rob!!!). You might want to see if you can get ahold of a copy (sorry, I'm keeping mine ;-)!)

I personally have yet to catch a fish on one, but I most often hear that a straight, steady retrieve is probably the most effective. Naturally, when you're not getting bit, you're probably going to mix it up a little with a drop or two (or maybe a quick 'burn' retrieve) in the process. A big key is to be sure you rig 'em straight!

Experiment, try 'em out, & let us know what you come up with!


Later! -- j

Todd
First off sometimes there is some confusion between swimbaits and trout plugs. I generally consider trout plugs to be lures with a bill or a lip of some sort. Anything that's all one piece of rubber I call a swimbait. Among swimbaits there are two main kinds, those that look like trout (basstrix,optimum etc) and the more saltwater style swimbaits (fishtrap,bighammer, etc). Whatever ones you are fishing I always use a steady retrieve. Use a crankbait type rod for the saltwater swimbaits and xx heavy rod for the trout plugs and trout type swimbaits.
You might be able to find the article I did on swimbaits online pretty soon at
http://www.insideline.net (although it isn't up yet)

My trout plug article is at
http://www.calfishing.com/freshwater/troutplug01.html

My hat's off to you, Rob! That trout plug article on your Calfishing site is incredible! Hadn't seen that before you brought it up here. I love that "stupid trout, stupid trout" bit (LOLOL!!!). Great insights, great flow of information (nice pic's, too!).

I might mention, you **did** misspell "SUGOI" when you discussed using Yamamoto's fluorocarbon line -- you might want to fix that before your **sponsor** finds out! ;-)

(Sorry, I'm SO anal about that kind of stuff!)

Anyways, great job. I'm happy to say that I've caught my first (though **only**) trout plug fish, thanks to you & your 'MS Slammer' promotion (I'm referring to that big 15-lb., 12-oz advertising slogan of yours)! No surprise, it was the biggest one I caught during the Clear Lake tourney (forget the fact that he got loose & swam away with my culling bouy when I was trying to get him into my livewell!) :-(

Hope we can get out & toss some of these bad boys together sometime -- let me know when you've got an open seat in the back of your boat! Meanwhile, I'll keep chucking away.


We'll be seeing you on Sunday, right? -- j

Thanks Jeff
If only I were sponsored by Yamamoto! They are a great site sponsor but I am not a pro staff member or anything like that.
The thing with using florocarbon leaders does seem to be working out very nicely. After making a few hundred casts on Saturday around docks and wood and rocks at clear lake there was not one single nick or fray in the 30lb Sugoi (did I still spell that wrong?) line I was using as leader material.

...

Since we're discussing it, I've begun to wonder, since this plug really is heavy, and you chuck it out as far as you can: after repeated casts, have you, in your experience, had any cases of the line getting stressed (or simply breaking off!) from the sheer load of casting it out there, time after time -- with or without a fish on the end?

I don't know what I'd be more afraid of -- the line itself breaking down, or the blood knot to a fluorocarbon leader slipping out? Your thoughts?


p.s. Sorry you won't be out there with us on Sunday. I guess your wife'll be happy to have you around for a weekend or two??? See you soon! -- j

This is a good question. A few years ago when I was stupidly throwing my 7" AC Plug on 16lb I had it snap off on the cast 3 times (got it back every time too). 16lb is just way to light for these plugs. As far as breaking fish off, I have broken off one fish. I was using 20lb and had just tied the plug on. When I cinched the knot the line slipped a tiny bit. I was in a hurry and like a fool did not re-tie. A few casts later a 4 pounder ate my plug with not more than 6 or 7 feet of line out. Pow see ya later. I blame that one on the knot but the fish bashing it so close to the boat probably contributed also.
Now with the 9 and 12 inch plugs I use only 25 and 30lb test. I was fishing 30 at Clear. It's a little springy on a small reel but a Corsair 300 holds it ok. There is just no reason in hell to use lighter line especially in a lake like Clear Lake.
My 15 pounder I caught on 25lb Triple Fish. The fish dind't put up that much of a fight but I was still glad I had the right tackle including the line and the 9 foot rod. It allowed me to steer the fish out of the trees and into open water very easily.

Thanks all for the great advice! I'll try in SCBBBC's TOC. I'm thinking I'll use my salmon rod and 25lb.

If it were up to you guys would you opt for the castaic soft swimbait (whole thing is soft and only a single hook) or an AC Plug? I have both and thought the castaic's would be great but didn't like the fact it only had one hook. Does have a hook keeper on bottom where I could put a treble but am afraid of hanging up on the rocks. Suggestions (again!)???

I have more confidence already! Thanks again!

Samurai TI

Dude,
If you use the castaic trout don't say I didn't warn you. Fish can come up and eat that thing whole and not get hooked....

Have you ever tried to put a treble on the bottom of the lure? Would that make any difference?

Samurai TI

Yeah
you can try it. What tends to happen is that when you cast the treble sticks itself somewhere else in the plastic every 10th cast or so which means you have to reel it all the way back in and unhook it. Maybe someone else has some better tips, I am just kind of down on the whole castaic soft trout thing.

Which ones would YOU recommend. Personal favorites? Modifications I should make on them? Thanks again for the advice!

Samurai TI

I recommend and spend 90% of my time fishing MS Slammers.
http://www.msslammer.com
The new ones are really great. They run down to maybe 4 feet, they are very realistic and also very durable, and when you get bit you tend to hook 4 out of every 5 fish or so which is better than I have been able to do on any of the other big lures. I also throw a lot of smaller swimbaits like 5" and 5.5" big hammers and fish traps but I have not had a lot of sucess nn the big swimbaits like optimums and basstrix.
I would also recommend the 7" stocker trout. It really gets bit good and has great action. However it has been my experience that you hook maybe half the fish that bite it.

Rob,
What is the "big hammers" and where could you get them? Also, same question about the "stocker trout."

BTW - great article about the trout plugs! You should see if a major publication will pick up the article.

Samurai TI

Big hammers are saltwater swimbaits. The link below has pictures and colors
http://fishcomfg.com/bighammer.html
Stocker trout are pretty much a So. Cal thing. They are made by the Thigpen brothers I believe, there is a picture on my site here
http://www.calfishing.com/freshwater/big_wood/troutplug04.html
at the bottom of the page. They are pretty cool in the water.

Todd,
I've still got a fairly wide selection of them in my salt box from my days in SoCal. Drop by the next time you're in town.

Chris