If two steamed crabs were placed in front of you, would you reach for the jumbo or the medium? Odds are you would choose the jumbo (unless you’re very, very odd), so much like the appeal of jumbo crabs, a largemouth bass of six or seven pounds would probably choose to exert the energy to eat an eight-inch stocked trout or gizzard shad over a two inch baby bluegill any day of the week. While it’s certainly possible to catch your personal best bass on a crankbait or a three-inch plastic, why not toss a much bigger swimbait and increase your odds?
Big swimbaits offer a few unique advantages over your typical bass lures including realism, drawing power, and the ability to weed out smaller fish. Throwing big swimbaits has become so popular that just about every brand on the market has designed specialized rods and reels for throwing these oversized baits. Many anglers, especially here in the Mid-Atlantic, underestimate the power of big swimbaits and cannot fathom catching fish on such large lures. Yes, big swimbaits will limit the quantity of fish caught, but quality is almost certainly guaranteed to increase.
The best times to fish those truly BIG swimbaits (we’re talking six to eight-plus inches) include the entirety of the spring, and the fall months when fish are gorging on bait before winter sets in. In spring, once the water starts warming back up the big girls begin obliterating anything in their path in order to put on weight before spawning. During the spawn big bluegill swimbaits can be especially deadly when fished around bass beds. Since bluegill eat bass eggs, the bass will not take lightly to your swimbait anywhere near its bed. Post-spawn once the bass have moved off the beds, they will be frantically searching for calories after spending weeks focused on guarding their eggs. This entire pre-spawn through the post spawn cycle provides for a great shot at enticing those unforgettable catches.
With so many options on the market for swimbait rods and reels picking the right one can be challenging. You can get away with throwing smaller swimbaits on your standard medium-heavy and heavy bass setups, but heavier swimbaits require more specialized gear. What you want is a powerful reel with lots of torque and an oversized broomstick rod to lob these heavy lures long distances. Having a power handle on your swimbait reel is a personal preference but feels great in the hand, and heavy-duty low-profile reels are ideal.
The large swimbait rod market is vast and boasts options to fit any angler’s budget. The key features to look for are plenty of length, strong guides, and an oversized butt. The sweet spot is 7’9” to 7'11”. A long rod allows for lengthy and accurate casts while the long butt tucks under your arm, aiding in explosive hooksets and decreasing fatigue. Strong bulky guides are also a must due to the heavy line and lures you’ll be using. A heavy or extra-heavy model rated for up to six ounces will cover the bases for six- to eight-inch baits. Some popular options include the Okuma Guide Select Swimbait rod, Shimano’s SLX Swimbait rod, and the Dobyns Fury.
Due to the heavy gear involved, swimbaits require heavy line that allows for strong hooksets and the ability to horse fish out of cover. Some swimbait anglers opt for braid in the 40- to 65-pound range with a few feet of 25- to 40-pound mono or fluorocarbon leader, while others prefer to run straight 25-pound mono or fluorocarbon. Braid will increase your casting distance but mono or flouro will result in less backlash. For braid use an FG knot to connect your leader to the mainline. Lastly, use a loop knot to attach your swimbait in order to maximize its action.
The fun part: choosing which swimbait to tie on the line. Swimbaits come in a wide range of sizes, profiles, and prices. The two basic categories are soft body swimbaits and hard body swimbaits. There are pros and cons to each, but both work extremely well at drawing bites. All swimbaits come in different sink rates, with fast-sinking swimbaits better for fishing in deep water or current and slow-sinking baits ideal for fishing ponds, shallow water, and areas where there’s no current.
Soft body swimbaits are typically more weedless, have a tighter action, and a lower price tag. Weedless soft body swimbaits may have a lower hookup ratio but are great for fishing around heavy cover like downed trees and vegetation. Bottom hook baits are better for open water while top hook baits enable the bait to be dragged on the bottom and fished in open water. Soft body swimbaits have a variety of tail types including paddle tail, boot tail, and wedge tails. Paddle tail and boot tail swimbaits have more of an aggressive rolling action while wedge tail baits have a tighter and more streamlined action, which can be more enticing to fish during colder months.
Hard body swimbaits are more realistic, have a wider swimming pattern, and a higher price tag. They are available in a variety of styles including weedless, top hook, bottom hook, and through-rigged. Hard baits excel in open water off of points and can be used to draw fish out of cover from nearby docks and laydowns.
When starting your collection fill your box with a few different profiles to match different situations. A few soft and hard baits in different sizes and weights will suffice. Aim for a few shad profiles and a few bluegill profiles to cover your bases. My favorite bluegill profiles include the Jackall Gantarel Jr and Savage Gear Pulse Tail Bluegill RTF. For shad profiles, it’s the six-inch Megabass Magdraft, ZMan Shadtron LT, Berkley Nessie, River2Sea S-Waver 168, and Berkley Cullshad (note: the rigged version does not come weighted so you need to insert nail weights in the slot).
The next time you pass by some big swimbaits in the store, push aside the notion that they’re too big to catch bass and give them a try. It takes some self-control to fish a big swimbait all day and wait out that massive bite, but it will eventually pay off. Plus, big fish like striped bass, muskie, and snakeheads won’t pass up on that gigantic offering, either.
-By Ian Rubin