I fished San Vicente this past weekend throwing swimbaits for the first time. Didn't catch anything on them and only had one follow. I didn't really expect much as it was basically just a trip to get the feel of tossing the big baits and to check out various retrieves. Although I didn't get any fish, I was able to form a couple of opinions of the baits. I'd be curious if those of you who fish these more often would have similar opinions.

The Osprey has awesome action and looks real good in the water, although if the retrieve got too fast( barely above slow ), the bait had a tendency to roll over. Any way to avoid this?

I'm not sure what I expected from the Basstrix, but I wasn't real impressed with the action and feel of that bait. It felt like I was throwing a huge crankbait. I didn't expect that. Any tips for this one?

As for the Mission Fish, I was very dissapointed with this one. The action was not very good and it rolled over very easily. I've heard that it's better to use this bait as a bottom bumping bait, almost like a jig. Anyone have any experiences with this one?

Like I said I'm new to the big baits so any input would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Keith
Fish Blaster Baits Pro Staff
www.fishblasterbaits.com

I have two 11" Basstrix baits I have not used yet, I figured they would only have so so action. But I liked the large size and double hooks. I was talking to a trout guy the other day who said the only baits he will waist and time on are the AC plug and the Osprey. He did not like the action or the Castaic Trout swimbait ( the New all rubber one).

The Osprey will roll over if you crank it too fast. Each individual bait seems to have it's own speed at how fast you can crank it. You can add a mojo weight to the belly of the bait (just poke a hole in the belly and insert the weight) which will keep it upright, but make it fall a bit faster. That's what Chris does to his rigged baits at bass world west, and that's what I do on most of my re-rigged baits.

I've never fished a basstrix or a mission fish, but I'll comment nonetheless... I've refrained from fishing basstrix just because I think they look so cheezy and I've never heard any good reason to fish a basstrix versus any bait that I already fish. I think there are too many better options than a basstrix out there. Now, mission fish I would say should only be used for bottom bouncing or fishing extremely thick weeds, or grass. The hook on that thing is so buried in the bait it's gonna be real hard to consistantly stick fish. So, if you want to fish a swimbait in open water, leave the mission fish in the box and grab something with a regular hook. If you want to fish heavy cover or bounce rocky bottom, the mission fish might be a good option. And from what I've heard, you really got to pop the fish on the hookset. Cross their eyes like you're fishing a jig.

Robbor- I have a 9" castaic swimbait. That thing doesn't swim for nothing. It has one of the worst actions I've ever seen. It falls terribly and you have to burn it to get it to kick. It's also extremely heavy. What I think I'm going to do with that thing (since I never fish it) is trim the underside of the tail (as demonstrated in velvick's video) to see if I can get it to kick at normal speeds, and then just fish that thing in deepwater until I break it off on a rock. Maybe I'll catch a fish before it gets donated to the fish gods. But, out of the box, that thing gets two thumbs down from me. I'm not a huge fan of the entire castaic lineup, with the exception of the baby bluegill and the sardine swimbait (for saltwater) so it's no surprise that this one's a dud too IMO.
-Brian

I use the optimum and it has different speeds for the various sizes and my Basstrix has been sitting there for 2 years as it just doesn't measure up to the other baits standards! One thing that does inhance all swimbaits that I own is a big split ring. They just swim way better. My problem with swimbaits is getting the fish to the boat. They would have named a cove after me two years ago if I had landed all the fish I hooked that day. I figure over 50 pounds got off in the first seconds of the battle. I got the smallest fish in and it was 9 1/2 lbs. They just would come up shake their heads 3 times and out flew my optimum.I didn't think the addition of a stinger hook would do any good as 99% of the fish strike the head of the lure. After a long discussion with Marlin Spencer my big bass mentor,his explination for the way he plays a fish is that he doesn't. When they come up you drag them staight to the boat. I use a really stiff Loomis and 25 pound test and I now set the hook like there is no tommorow and step back and do it again and back and again then I wind for all I'm worth. That helped but I tried something else that you guys might think about. I took a piece of velcro and dyed it green with some rit dye. I super glued an oval shaped piece between the eye of the hook and where the hook comes out of the plastic. This rig got my 12 pounder at Cachuma and I think it keeps them from spitting that puppy when the start that head shakin' thing. An additional benefit is the baits tend to tear less where the injected portion of the lead and the hook meet. I think the real trick to these baits is to throw them repeatedly until you learn where these big fish live, which will give you something to fall back on year after year as you start stringing these catches together the big fish patterns will start to emerge as something distinctly different than the 3lb. and under fish. Sorry I am all over the place on this post but The guys here who fish the swimbaits all have they're personal favorites and they became that way because of results. I'm going to have to get some big hammers just so I have something to compare the bastrix ( My personal dog ) and the optimum to. my .02 Kelly

I'm still cracking up from reading your velcro idea . . . and I'm not making fun of it. (I only wish I had the time and skills to catch trophies like most of the guys on this board.)

I can't get the image of a bass stuck on a velcro backed bait outta my head. It would be murder on the calico bass with all those rows of little teeth. Think of all the torn up thumbs lipping them. Might have to put some down the back of some big swimbaits. It'd be a great scent holding material too . . .

Kelly,
I'd watch out with that triple hookset. Bass don't have very hard mouths, so one solid hookset is enough to drive it home. Especially with the open hooked baits like swimbaits. If you keep swinging on em, eventually you'll rip a big hole in their mouth, or you'll rip the hook out. What I usually do is just give em one solid sweep, then keep the rod pinned there and crank em to the boat. I don't like it when they get their head turned... As long as you can keep em facing the boat, you should be in good shape. Then again, even the 800L couldn't turn rob's fish, so sometimes you just gotta go along for the ride and hope you've pleased the fish gods that month.
-Brian

You guys shouldn't laugh about the VELCRO on the baits....Not all that long ago they were making baits with velcro for that very reason! I have to disagree about the trailer hook he says won't help. I also prefer the Optimum over the other soft baits but until I set a treble hook in the tail as a trailer my boating a fish ratio was real low. I have seen the trailer hook the fish in the side of the face and the main hook lose after it was initially hooked on the jighead hook. I have to admit it affects the action to some degree but not enough to keep the fish from eating it.

Moose,
Since you have thrown at least three different trout baits, you've discovered that they all swim differently and do completely different jobs. The Osprey shouldn't be retrieved quickly, it's niche is to be slowly swam shallow to entice bass that are set up to ambush trout in water that is at least 3 foot visibility. The Basstrix( or an Optimum ) is a bait that should be swam deeper, or across the surface quickly. These heavy swimbaits usually do the job when the water is off-color, when bass are not visually feeding on the surface or against the bank. The Mission Fish should be thought of more as a jig ( like Brian suggested ), or like a flip bait that you can put deep into cover where bass are not used to seeing a trout imitation.

Back to the Osprey, we have found a new way to balance them if they lean to one side or the other. After boiling the bait in water and letting it set, the bait should be completely rigged and tested. If it still lilts to the side on a slow retrieve, use Lunker City nail weights to balance it. These are the same weights used on Sluggos, and they can be pushed into the bait through the gullet behind the eye on the side of the bait which is turning up during the retrieve. These weights will help balance the bait, but not effect the swimming action or the speed of retrieve. After inserting the weight, glue the bait where the weights went in, molding the plastic back together.

Chris, I just picked up one of your Ospreys the other day, can't wait to try it out at LMV. As far as the other baits go, I still love the 9" AC, and the 9" Castaic, that thing rolls but works great as a wake bait. I've done okay with a 9" Mission Fish kind of Tex-posed, but that thing is a biaaatch to get the big Gammie home. Looking forward to the Osprey this week. Some day I'll get a real job and fish the Generic Trout. Don't forget the 12"-16" worms and the jig and pig for the big girls!

Thanks for all the input guys. It sounds like my impressions were pretty much in line with everyboby elses. I'll keep plugging away and hopefully come up with a big girl before too long.

Keith
Fish Blaster Baits Pro Staff
www.fishblasterbaits.com