Swimbait Voodoo

All of my rods are tied by Marc Higashi at Performance Tackle. It took me a long while to get used to spiral wrapped rods, but after he taught me what I had passed on earlier in the thread it does make a huge difference. It simply makes it so I don't have to roll my wrist at all to achieve super smooth casting. The guides move the line and my wrist stays upright. In the end, my swimbaits go an average of about 10-15 feet farther...last time I tested it with a 10 inch triple trout. If you throw from over the left shoulder...rods should be spiraled right If you throw over the right shoulder, like me, all of my rods spiral left

It has nothing to do with the side that the handle of the reel is on. Just want to disagree with the others. It has to do with how you cast....If you cast from over your RIGHT shoulder, then the guides should be spiraled LEFT as this is the natural rotation your wrist will want to take through casting. The purpose is to eliminate the need to roll your wrist to the left to achieve a smooth cast. With the guides spiraling left you can achieve a smooth cast by simply keeping your wrist and the reel totally upright through the entire cast. This is especially good for our big ol' swimbait rods and reels...Chucking them all day long is easier IMHO with a spiral wrapped rod.

I like 25 myself. Deep channel with a point that splits the channel...nice "dinner plate" up on the point for big bass to come up and feed. Easy access to deep water for bass and there is probably some current there. IF there is any kind of rocky cover there it would be gold...I would throw into the deep water and bring it up over the point.

Thinking of changing my swimbait hooks to the Short Shank round bend Gamas. It seems they hug the bait a bit better and don't hang line on against the wind casts vs. the standard shank. Any of you use them? Any problems with hookups? Thanks for any opinions.

I'm going old school Mervyn's to get this bait.....I will be there tailgating in the parking lot if anyone wants to join. Then..."Open-Open-Open" Can't wait Mr. Brown.

This is a GREAT tutorial. Thank you! You should consider a YouTube video on this....

I stumbled upon a muskee/big bass swimbait on ebay called a Nokken Magnum. Im sure its old news to some of you gurus but the video shows a pretty good swimming action. I could see this bait KILLING it at DVL when the stock truck comes. Any info on this bait? Its dirt cheap. Anyone know how it performs? Opinions?

One of my favorite baits is the 11" Rago Soft Tool. However, I just purchased a new one and the one eye apparently received no glue so I could pull it out of the socket easily. Good thing I checked it because on the first cast I would have lost the eye. Can anyone recommend a good glue? I was thinking of Mend-It obviously but the eye is hard plastic and it must fit into a pocket of soft plastic and stay there. Mend it may not work.... Someone mentioned a PVC Gel Clear Glue that I have not looked for yet. Any advice????

Hello, just wanted to contribute and introduce myself. Maybe I shouldn't though considering the past few posts in this thread but maybe it will be a graceful transition to more productive discussion? Im not even sure this is the proper thread for introductions but I'm going to let it fly anyway. Feel free to move the post if I screwed up. My name is Jason, Im 42 and you can find me in a yellow/black/silver Stratos Evo fishing DVL frequently. This past year was my first year fishing all of the local tournaments for WON, NBW and ABA and I happily finished in the middle of the pack or better in most all of them. I love throwing swimbaits...In fact, I have been dedicating the past year to practicing the craft. This website seems awesome so far. I like the pureness of it. The reading has been exceptional and I plan on contributing as much as I can. I was a part of something with a similar philosophy several years ago online. It was called FreeSpool. Unfortunately, they never made it but it was a good thing for a good while. I am hoping that this site avoids some of the pitfalls and mistakes that FreeSpool could not. It seems like you guys have something good going on here. Feel free to say hi when you see me. I will be hucking the big baits at DVL ALOT in the next several months. I live in Corona and am always happy to share the boat with someone who wants to chuck em all day long. Just HMU. Jason