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For the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with various swim baits and thought some of you would like to know what I've learned.
First thing I have learned is that I'm out of shape :grin: Takes a lot to wing those baits out cast after cast, and the retrieves are just as grueling. The baits I've been throwing are the Storm Wild Eye 6", and 9", and also the Spro BBZ Slow sink (which by the way weighs about a pound).
As far as life like the Spro gets that nod hands down, as a testament to the 2 Osprey and one Pelican that were fooled by the bait into making power dives on it. After casting it and casting it, I finally wound up trolling close to weedlines and caught 3 bass, first one being 7lb's, second was 4lbs, and third fish was 3lbs. There was almost no fight out of any of these fish. The bait is so huge and bulky that even the 7lb'er had no fight and only slid accross the surface of the water back to the boat. Not much they can do when they have a 1lb bait full of trebbles in it's face.
The Storm Wild Eye 9" is almost too much to handle on freshwater gear. It is too heavy and bulky to manage, though I did get slammed twice with it, though I didn't stick the fish. The 6" version really worked well. Casting the bait a country mile, and allowing the bait to sink to bottom, I was ripping it 5 to 10 cranks and killing it, allowing it to sink back to bottom on a slack line. The model I was using was almost a perfect crappie pattern, and on the fall there was an unmistakable twitch in the line where the bait was getting hammered. Getting bit though is only half the battle because it is difficult to get a good solid hookup. I lost a ton of fish until I started allowing the fish to "chew" on the bait a split second, and allowing the weight of the fish to load up before setting the hook. Normally a twitch is reason for hook set, but not with this swim bait. On average the fish were around 2 to 3 lbs, with an occassional 4 or 5lb'er.
It really is a kick to see fish hit these monster baits, but in my opinion, best left for recreational fishing and won't be using them in tournament situations... although I can see giving these baits a try once I have a 5 fish limit on somewhere like Toho or Kissimmee.
First thing I have learned is that I'm out of shape :grin: Takes a lot to wing those baits out cast after cast, and the retrieves are just as grueling. The baits I've been throwing are the Storm Wild Eye 6", and 9", and also the Spro BBZ Slow sink (which by the way weighs about a pound).
As far as life like the Spro gets that nod hands down, as a testament to the 2 Osprey and one Pelican that were fooled by the bait into making power dives on it. After casting it and casting it, I finally wound up trolling close to weedlines and caught 3 bass, first one being 7lb's, second was 4lbs, and third fish was 3lbs. There was almost no fight out of any of these fish. The bait is so huge and bulky that even the 7lb'er had no fight and only slid accross the surface of the water back to the boat. Not much they can do when they have a 1lb bait full of trebbles in it's face.
The Storm Wild Eye 9" is almost too much to handle on freshwater gear. It is too heavy and bulky to manage, though I did get slammed twice with it, though I didn't stick the fish. The 6" version really worked well. Casting the bait a country mile, and allowing the bait to sink to bottom, I was ripping it 5 to 10 cranks and killing it, allowing it to sink back to bottom on a slack line. The model I was using was almost a perfect crappie pattern, and on the fall there was an unmistakable twitch in the line where the bait was getting hammered. Getting bit though is only half the battle because it is difficult to get a good solid hookup. I lost a ton of fish until I started allowing the fish to "chew" on the bait a split second, and allowing the weight of the fish to load up before setting the hook. Normally a twitch is reason for hook set, but not with this swim bait. On average the fish were around 2 to 3 lbs, with an occassional 4 or 5lb'er.
It really is a kick to see fish hit these monster baits, but in my opinion, best left for recreational fishing and won't be using them in tournament situations... although I can see giving these baits a try once I have a 5 fish limit on somewhere like Toho or Kissimmee.
