If someone came up to you and asked you what the term "swim bait" or "swimbait" meant or stood for what would you say?

A soft plastic lure resembling a shad that has a tail which kicks side to side. Some people classify trout plugs as swimbaits, but that's just cause they don't know what a real swimbait is (big hammer/fish trap).
-Brian

I agree with brian. To me a swimbait is a big hammer / fishtrap / worm king / AA type bait. Basstrix and Optimum are swimbaits too but bigger. An AC Plug or MS Slammer is not a swimbait. It's a trout plug.

But what swimbait really means to me, is my name ... bad joke ... sorry going away now ....

Of course Brian and Swimbait nailed the definition.

One would have to be a lure historian to understand my definition: a swimbait is the modern soft plastic version of the old rubber French Viv Vif lure.

I acquired a Viv Vif years ago, used it once off the coast of New Jersey and caught Atlantic bluefish with it. In the classic movie "The Graduate" Mrs. Robinson's husband tells Dustin Hoffman's character to go into the plastics industry for a great future. I should have taken that advice and started making plastic Viv Vifs before anyone else.

"Swimbait" taken from Keensters Collegiate Dictionary:

1. A soft plastic lure in the shape of a fish that incorporates a kicking style tail. Typically will be fished/rigged with a lead jighead/hook combo. Not to be confused with any of the other soft plastic lures like a single or double curly tail grub.
2. The owner of this website.

Dave(Outrage19)

Is that a real dictionary?

all of the above.:-)

Of course it's a real dictionary. I wrote it! ;-) You can buy it on line at Amazon or visit my website and click on Keenfish publications.

HO HO HO everyone!!

Dave(Outrage)

Why do you ask Pete?

I will tell you all later why I am asking this, but for now if anyone knows of a published document (dictionary, fishing book, etc.) that describes a "swimbait" or "swim bait" as a generic term for Big Hammers, Fishtraps, Worm Kings, Optimum, Castaic, etc. please let me know.

i remember reading in south coast sportfishing about an article about swimbaits . it had a complete description of a swimbait but im not sure where you could get one.

a swimbait has and forever will be something like a fishtrap. but then again brian and rob and everybody else has already said that.

definition of "swimbait":

What one yells after casting any type of lure to bring it to life.

Proper use in a sentence:

As the lure hit the water he yelled swimbait and it suddenly began to swim.

I have been using the swimbait technique for years. The toughest part is one must become the bait. He needs to understand all there is to know about the bait. He must eat what the bait eats, sleep like the bait sleeps, live like the bait lives. At that moment and only at that moment you will have finally mastered the use of the swimbait technique.

Z-Man out