I have been having alot of luck latley w/ 4-6" swimbait big hammer and optimum internal heads I have been using a jig rod 7' MH fast tip and I definatley miss more than I catch. What is the best action for fishing these type of baits?

Poll result (10 votes) Heavy Fast Tip (7 votes) Vote Medium Heavy Fast Tip (1 votes) Vote Heavy Moderate action (2 votes) Vote Medium Heavy Moderate Action (0 votes) Vote

On 4" swim baits that I use for Stripers in the fall I like my heavy composit cranking rod (it is a Shimano so I know it wont meet your standards ;) )

Not sure if it would work for the 6" baits but I have noticed that I have started loosing less fish when I started using cranking rods (I was using a glass rod before I bought the composit rod)

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

John isnt a cranking rod concider a moderate action? That is also what I was thinking probably using a cranking rod but all the ones I have are M action so I will have to get something else.

Hey let that Bass go I wanna catch her some day
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the one I have is a heavy action cranking rod. Loomis makes several model of cranking rods with different actions. I usally use the rod for big cranks like a Norman DD-22

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

I like the Calcutta 815XFA, I have not fished the 715XFA, but it might be great too.

--John

Hey Sacto John,
I was also thinking that the H loomis crank rod would be good but the back handles are real short. I decided to use my 8' M and it works great for 4" baits basicly a crankbait rod. Anyhow I only missed a few and got a 7.14 and a 6.1 on it yesterday so it will handle a good fish.
Thanks for the imupt.

Hey let that Bass go I wanna catch her some day
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/tmcustoms/

Hey Talor,
I use those style of swimbaits in the bays here in San Diego and catch a ton of bay bass. I always use a 7ft hvy rod because I fish real deep and have a lot of line out. The fish wont hold the bait long so you have to stick them fast. Thats were the stiff rod helps. Fresh water bass maybe diferent but if you find your self missing hookstes try a low stretch line(fluoro) and a fast rod. You will hook alot more fish.

www.mattlures.com

Hey Matt,
I was having great luck w/ my 8' M for bigger fish that just gulp the bait and loosing alot of smaller fish I am not really fishing in water deeper than 6'. I have 2 set ups right now for my smaller swimbaits

4" swimbaits 8' M 17lb floro
5-6" 7'8" H 20lb floro

My problem right now is that I cant hook fish that are not engulfing that bait consistantly on either rod if I just wack it I end up pulling the baits away from them? What do you think.

Hey let that Bass go I wanna catch her some day
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/tmcustoms/

I fish 6” storm wild eyes on an Okuma GS-C-761MH. I have taken many largemouth on this set up. It might not be your rod. I run through times when the fish are not taking the storm well, they are just bumping it. The Okuma GS-C-761MH also works well on wood baits.

Henry

My experience is only with salty bass but they arent that diferent, plus they are usualy small. It sounds like you are pulling the bait out of their mouths. I have seen it a couple times in the shallows where a spottie will engulf the whole bait and I set the hook and the fish is on for a few seconds and then just spits it out. I think that that style swimbait is easy for them to grab ahold of and not get hooked. Just like with the big swimbaits some lube should help if that is the problem. I like megastrike because it lasts a long time. I know you know this but your hooks need to be sticky sharp. A lot of cheap leadheads dont have real sharp hooks and espesialy with that type of bait dull hooks will cost you fish. Henry also makes a good point. if they are just slapping it then you might want to downsize a little.

www.mattlures.com

In saltwater, like Matt is saying, you are fishing deep and you need a firm hookset. Any of the Shimano 812, 815, 820 rods are great for big hammers. The Okuma swimbait rods have the right actions also. The thing in saltwater is that the fish don't jump, well at least most don't.

If largemouth bass didn't jump, or if I was fishing mostly 25lb test and could fully horse the fish in, I'd use the same stiff rods like above. The problem is that they do jump, and I fish mostly 16lb test with big hammers, and consequently the bass have a bad habit of spitting the bait with 3/4 or 1oz leadheads. That's why for largemouth I throw the Rainshadow SW976 which is an 8' composite action. It has the power to move the fish but it is not a stiff rod by any means. The basic idea for me is to stick them as hard as possible, reel as fast as possible, and if they are heading up to jump, use all 8 feet of the rod to try to hold them down. Where you lose a lot of fish is when they eat it in shallow water and they jump immediately. Its just a tough situation when that happens.

This is the time of year when the big hammer bite gets going for me on grass lakes especially. All the bluegill and shad up shallow make that bite really turn on :) I need to go fishing...