FISHING WITH SWIMBAITS
BY: JESSE JAMES PIONTEK
BY: JESSE JAMES PIONTEK
Fishing with paddle-tail swimbaits is a lot of fun! They are well known to catch large fish, and at times can catch high quantities of fish too. The best part about them is that retrieving them can be pretty basic, due to their super natural swimming action on the retrieve. Here are a few tips that will help out a beginner angler, or an angler that is simply just new to swimbait fishing....
FISHING LINE OPTIONS: Flourocarbon or braided super line. Flourocarbon is the best choice in most conditions, expecially in clear water or if you are trying to fish really deep. Flourocarbon naturally sinks, so it helps your line get your swimbait down deeper. If you are around sharp rocks, flourocarbon is more abrasion-resistant than other line types. If you are fishing lakes that have northern pike present, I recommend using at least 17# flourocarbon. If there are NO pike present, you can get away with 10# flourocarbon. If your body of water is stained, then you can use braided line. Braided line will give you longer casts and is much more sensitive. If you want to run your swimbait through weedy areas or near the top of the water column, then braided line would be a great choice!
ROD CHOICES: Most anglers that fish with swimbaits will use a Medium Heavy Swimbait rod made of super sensitive graphite. But from the past few years of experience, I have found that my fiberglass Skeet Reese S-Glass Rod and my Rick Clunn S-Glass Deep Cranking rods do a better job of casting farther and getting fish in the boat. The loss of sensitivity doesn't seem to result in missed fish, mostly since swimbait bites are typically very violent, there is no doubt that you have been bit. The fiberglass rods have a moderate taper so they do a better job absorbing the shock during the battle, especially at boat side. I highly recommend checking out the Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Deep Plus fiberglass rod, as well as Abu Garcia's Ike Delay Series in 7'10 MH. The Ike Series was designed by World Champion Mike Iaconelli and has that same moderate taper with its composite design.
REELS: When fishing with swimbaits I advise using a baitcast reel. Swimbaits are decent sized, and when combined with a jig or a weighted hook, they cast very well and backlash rarely. Gear ratios can vary, I like using a 5:1 for a super slow retrieve, but a 6:1 works great as well, especially when fish decide to swim quickly towards your boat. I recommend to NOT use a 7:1 gear ratio for paddle tail swimbaits, because it tends to help the angler move the lure way too quickly, reducing the number of strikes that they will recieve from fish.
JIG OR HOOK OPTIONS: I like to use three different rigs for the Bootykicker swimbait. The first one is a weedless setup. For this method, I use the VMC HD Swimbait EWG weighted hook in 7/0. It fits the Bootykicker perfectly, and has 3/8 oz of weight to get it towards the bottom where I usually fish it. If you do not want to use the full 5," cur 1.25" off of the head of the lure, and then rig it with a VMC HD 5/0 EWG weighted swimbait hook. This will have reduced weight and a perfectly-fitting hook for your weedless application.
For waking action, rig this lure with a 7/0 EWG non-weighted hook. This will allow the ure to run barely below the surface. This is fun around lily pads or around any cover in shallow water. I would use braided line for this, so you want to use a thick, heavy duty hook. May sure when you get bit that you set the hook very hard to drive it in past the barb!
For jigheads, I like to cut 1-1.25" off the head of the Bootykicker and rig it on a 1/2 oz VMC Swimbait Jighead design by Mike Iaconelli. The flanged head allows the lure tail to kick perfectly with fantastic hydrodynamics, as well as the perfect 5/0 hook built in by VMC. These hooks are sharp and built with quality. This weight gives the lure a perfect swimming action from shallow to deep.
For waking action, rig this lure with a 7/0 EWG non-weighted hook. This will allow the ure to run barely below the surface. This is fun around lily pads or around any cover in shallow water. I would use braided line for this, so you want to use a thick, heavy duty hook. May sure when you get bit that you set the hook very hard to drive it in past the barb!
For jigheads, I like to cut 1-1.25" off the head of the Bootykicker and rig it on a 1/2 oz VMC Swimbait Jighead design by Mike Iaconelli. The flanged head allows the lure tail to kick perfectly with fantastic hydrodynamics, as well as the perfect 5/0 hook built in by VMC. These hooks are sharp and built with quality. This weight gives the lure a perfect swimming action from shallow to deep.
BASIC METHODS
There are a few ways to present paddle-tail swimbaits. As I mentioned in the jig & hook section, basically you can run them weedless unweighted in a waking form, weedless with weight around cover, or on a heavy jig with an exposed hook deep in the water away from snaggy cover.
When fishing in cold water in early spring conditions, you will want to fish near the bottom and slowly. You will want to fish this lure at 3.75" in length by cutting off the first 1.25" of the lure head. Run this on a 5/0 EWG weighted VMC HD Weighted hook. The lower weights will require a slower retrieve to keep it near the bottom. Use flourocarbon to prevent spooking the fish!
Around the spawn through early summer, fish this lure shallow with no weight. This can be done with an EWG 5/0 hook when you run it at 3.75," or if you are fishing just for aggressive or big largemouths, run it on an unweighted 7/0 EWG hook at the full 5" length. Throw it around cover, through spawning areas, and try to reel it somewhat slow. Use braided line in stained water or around heavily weeded shallow flats.
During summer on clear lakes with a lack of shoreline cover, the bass will probably hide deep. During the fall months they typically run deeper too. In these cases, you will want to put this lure on a jig head. I recommend cutting the lure down to a 4" size, and running it either on a VMC Swimbait jig head in 1/2 oz, or if they are finicky slow the lure down by putting it on a Slo Poke LS jig in 3/8 oz size. The long shank Slo Poke will match up to a 3.75"-4" swimbait very well. Cast the lure far, let it get close to hitting the bottom, then reel it back steady - while trying to keep it swimming barely off hte bottom of the lake bed. Try this deep, around drop offs, and near points and river channels, especially in fall. They will hit this lure even at a 40 degree water temperature in the fall. Slow steady retrieves are the key to using the Bootykicker.
When fishing in cold water in early spring conditions, you will want to fish near the bottom and slowly. You will want to fish this lure at 3.75" in length by cutting off the first 1.25" of the lure head. Run this on a 5/0 EWG weighted VMC HD Weighted hook. The lower weights will require a slower retrieve to keep it near the bottom. Use flourocarbon to prevent spooking the fish!
Around the spawn through early summer, fish this lure shallow with no weight. This can be done with an EWG 5/0 hook when you run it at 3.75," or if you are fishing just for aggressive or big largemouths, run it on an unweighted 7/0 EWG hook at the full 5" length. Throw it around cover, through spawning areas, and try to reel it somewhat slow. Use braided line in stained water or around heavily weeded shallow flats.
During summer on clear lakes with a lack of shoreline cover, the bass will probably hide deep. During the fall months they typically run deeper too. In these cases, you will want to put this lure on a jig head. I recommend cutting the lure down to a 4" size, and running it either on a VMC Swimbait jig head in 1/2 oz, or if they are finicky slow the lure down by putting it on a Slo Poke LS jig in 3/8 oz size. The long shank Slo Poke will match up to a 3.75"-4" swimbait very well. Cast the lure far, let it get close to hitting the bottom, then reel it back steady - while trying to keep it swimming barely off hte bottom of the lake bed. Try this deep, around drop offs, and near points and river channels, especially in fall. They will hit this lure even at a 40 degree water temperature in the fall. Slow steady retrieves are the key to using the Bootykicker.