Author: Rob Belloni
Overview/History: The Big Hot Momma by California Swimbabes Inc. was originally released as the “Eagle Swimbait” in 2002. There have been a few ownership changes with the company over the years but the product remains fundamentally the same. The original 9” Eagles came with two Owner ST36’s rigged on heavy (like 100lb) monofilament. The current Big Hot Momma comes with a single 1/0 Owner ST36. This 9” bait weighs in at 4.3oz and comes in approximately 25 colors. Pros: Let’s be honest, there are quite a few baits in this general category of swimbaits. When I saw the Big Hot Momma in the package, my initial reaction was that it was just another clone. When I saw the bait in the water though, my respect for the bait went up a few notches. The thing about the Big Hot Momma that is different than all of the other baits like this such as Osprey, 3:16 Rising Son, Kelly Craft, Double D, Mattlures FT series, etc is that it runs straight at very high speeds. I’m talking you can burn this bait until it jumps out of the water and it won’t roll. That’s a huge plus in my book because frankly I lose patience with lures that roll on their sides and require constant babysitting to get them going right. I like to spend my time on the water fishing, not shoving mojo weights into lures while getting my neck sunburned sitting in the bottom of the boat! So I give props to California Swimbabes for producing a bait in this genre that really does swim true at all speeds. Another interesting point about the Big Hot Momma is that it’s a bit heavier than similar lures in this swimbait category. This additional weight is a big reason why the Big Hot Momma runs straight and it also means that you can sink the bait out quickly. I like depth range versatility in any bait because it means I can spend more time deep when I need to have the bait deep. When the bait sinks, it falls nose down and although it doesn’t swim much on the sink, it does stay level and there’s an outside chance you might pick up some sink fish with this bait because of that. The action on the Big Hot Momma is about what you would expect. The lure has a very large boot tail and is made from a heavy, rubbery feeling plastic. These traits give the bait a throbbing pulsing tail action. The tail twists the body quite a ways up the belly and you’ll get a small amount of head waggle on a faster retrieve. An interesting mod on the Big Hot Momma is the metal tube that you run your line through to the hook. The tube has polished ends to keep it from fraying your line and it is very securely affixed inside the bait. I like this rig because it requires no modification and it’s durable. I’ve never seen a Big Hot Momma where the harness tore out, they really do hold up well over thousands of casts. From a durability standpoint, you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck with the Big Hot Momma. Catching 20-30 fish per bait would not be unreasonable. Your main problem at that point will be that the belly will be chewed up from inserting the hooks and the hooks will want to fall out all the time. Cons: The first time I saw the Big Hot Momma in action was a few years back. I was fishing with my good buddy Matt Peters and the fish were really chewing that day. Matt was throwing the Big Hot Momma (then the Eagle) for most of the day and he had some unbelievable strikes. These 6-8lb fish were popping up out of deep water and chasing the bait right to the boat and exploding on it like it was their last meal on earth. Matt has two 2/0 Gamakatsku hooks on the bait and you’d think with fish hitting the bait that hard you’d land them, but out of a good half dozen bites like this he only landed one 6 pound bass. There is something about the Big Hot Momma that just makes fish bounce off of the lure sometimes. My friends like Matt who fish the bait have tried all sorts of different hook setups on the bait using two and even three hooks and they’ve just found that no matter what you do, you lose a lot of bites. Keep that in mind with the Big Hot Momma when you chuck it. Fish at different lakes strike differently and you may find that you land a lot of fish on it where you fish, but what I’ve seen with my own eyes is that it’s hard to hook and land them on the Big Hot Momma. This brings up another point in regards to the hooks. I always give a big thankyou to manufacturers who put premium hooks on their lures, but the Big Hot Momma really could use another 1/0 Owner ST36 in most situations. Adding a second hook about 2” behind the first hook with wire or braid will up your bite to land ratio with this bait and I would highly recommend doing so. My last comment that I just have to make is in regards to the name of the lure. I take no offense if lure companies want to give their baits names like “Big Hot Momma” but every time I say it out loud it just feels little funny. Maybe I’ll call this one the Big Momma for short :) Regardless, this is my overall favorite bait in this category of swimbaits.
Overview/History: The Big Hot Momma by California Swimbabes Inc. was originally released as the “Eagle Swimbait” in 2002. There have been a few ownership changes with the company over the years but the product remains fundamentally the same. The original 9” Eagles came with two Owner ST36’s rigged on heavy (like 100lb) monofilament. The current Big Hot Momma comes with a single 1/0 Owner ST36. This 9” bait weighs in at 4.3oz and comes in approximately 25 colors.
Pros: Let’s be honest, there are quite a few baits in this general category of swimbaits. When I saw the Big Hot Momma in the package, my initial reaction was that it was just another clone. When I saw the bait in the water though, my respect for the bait went up a few notches. The thing about the Big Hot Momma that is different than all of the other baits like this such as Osprey, 3:16 Rising Son, Kelly Craft, Double D, Mattlures FT series, etc is that it runs straight at very high speeds. I’m talking you can burn this bait until it jumps out of the water and it won’t roll. That’s a huge plus in my book because frankly I lose patience with lures that roll on their sides and require constant babysitting to get them going right. I like to spend my time on the water fishing, not shoving mojo weights into lures while getting my neck sunburned sitting in the bottom of the boat! So I give props to California Swimbabes for producing a bait in this genre that really does swim true at all speeds.
Another interesting point about the Big Hot Momma is that it’s a bit heavier than similar lures in this swimbait category. This additional weight is a big reason why the Big Hot Momma runs straight and it also means that you can sink the bait out quickly. I like depth range versatility in any bait because it means I can spend more time deep when I need to have the bait deep. When the bait sinks, it falls nose down and although it doesn’t swim much on the sink, it does stay level and there’s an outside chance you might pick up some sink fish with this bait because of that.
The action on the Big Hot Momma is about what you would expect. The lure has a very large boot tail and is made from a heavy, rubbery feeling plastic. These traits give the bait a throbbing pulsing tail action. The tail twists the body quite a ways up the belly and you’ll get a small amount of head waggle on a faster retrieve.
An interesting mod on the Big Hot Momma is the metal tube that you run your line through to the hook. The tube has polished ends to keep it from fraying your line and it is very securely affixed inside the bait. I like this rig because it requires no modification and it’s durable. I’ve never seen a Big Hot Momma where the harness tore out, they really do hold up well over thousands of casts. From a durability standpoint, you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck with the Big Hot Momma. Catching 20-30 fish per bait would not be unreasonable. Your main problem at that point will be that the belly will be chewed up from inserting the hooks and the hooks will want to fall out all the time.
Cons: The first time I saw the Big Hot Momma in action was a few years back. I was fishing with my good buddy Matt Peters and the fish were really chewing that day. Matt was throwing the Big Hot Momma (then the Eagle) for most of the day and he had some unbelievable strikes. These 6-8lb fish were popping up out of deep water and chasing the bait right to the boat and exploding on it like it was their last meal on earth. Matt has two 2/0 Gamakatsku hooks on the bait and you’d think with fish hitting the bait that hard you’d land them, but out of a good half dozen bites like this he only landed one 6 pound bass. There is something about the Big Hot Momma that just makes fish bounce off of the lure sometimes.
My friends like Matt who fish the bait have tried all sorts of different hook setups on the bait using two and even three hooks and they’ve just found that no matter what you do, you lose a lot of bites. Keep that in mind with the Big Hot Momma when you chuck it. Fish at different lakes strike differently and you may find that you land a lot of fish on it where you fish, but what I’ve seen with my own eyes is that it’s hard to hook and land them on the Big Hot Momma.
This brings up another point in regards to the hooks. I always give a big thankyou to manufacturers who put premium hooks on their lures, but the Big Hot Momma really could use another 1/0 Owner ST36 in most situations. Adding a second hook about 2” behind the first hook with wire or braid will up your bite to land ratio with this bait and I would highly recommend doing so.
My last comment that I just have to make is in regards to the name of the lure. I take no offense if lure companies want to give their baits names like “Big Hot Momma” but every time I say it out loud it just feels little funny. Maybe I’ll call this one the Big Momma for short :) Regardless, this is my overall favorite bait in this category of swimbaits.
