waynem

For the guys who think that a split ring at the line tie is unsafe consider this: 99% of our hard swimbaits have split rings connecting the hooks to the bait. Yet somehow those split rings are to be trusted but not one at the line tie. This make zero sense to me.

Join the club guys. Massachusetts (where I live) and Vermont have been the only 2 states in the US to have had this $600 limit in effect for a few years. I've been reluctant to post up surplus baits on the Black Market asking for "friends & family" since I am the one who originally wrote the post that is pinned at the top of the Black Market page about "Be aware of sellers asking for F&F only". Now we are all in the same boat. I suspect Venmo won't be any different than PayPal since they are both owned by the same entity. I think money orders or F&F may be the only way to go but I'm willing to listen to others on here. I'm not one to flip baits for a profit so it sucks that I have not been able to sell a $100 bait to SU guys for anything close to $100 since I then have to pays income tax on it. If people are going to go the money order route I may toss some baits up on BM. Let's see if there are any other ideas from the SU community. "Hi I'm from the government and here to help you."

If you go on the MS Slammer website you will see a "Buy Direct" tab at the top. You can do that or call the telephone # listed. I am assuming eBait takes a pretty good percentage of the selling price. I would rather have 100% of my money go to the bait maker rather than splitting it between the maker and a distributor. I get it that you can't do that very well with a big manufacturer like Daiwa, Deps, etc., but for little guys like Mike Shaw I always try to go direct. Without swimbaits there is no swimbaiting.

Next time I would suggest ordering directly with the guy that makes them- Mike Shaw.

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Spray paint them, wait a couple of days, and then brush some Envirolite epoxy over the paint. It will last for years.

Consider it money well spent. You are not going to find anything under $100 that will be better. If and when you decide to dive deep into the swimbait game, you can upgrade to something like the Champion line. Until then you will find the Fury is going to serve you very well.

Another thing to keep in mind is the true braid breaking strength. In general the manufacturers rating is WAY, WAY below the actual (unknotted) break strength. For instance 10# Power Pro has an unknotted break strength somewhere around 25#, and stuff rated 50# is up around at least 80# of true strength. I believe the manufacturers do this because there are so few knots that maintain good strength with braid. The FG is one of the few knots that maintain super knot strength with braid - generally up around 90% if tied right. Back in my pre-swimbait days I often used 10# braid with a 15 or 17# leader. If I got snagged and had to break off I can't ever remember the braid breaking first.

I've found the FG knot to be stronger, more reliable, and much less bulky than the Alberto or Albright. However it is a lot tougher to tie out on the water so I always do it at home ahead of a trip.

I'm in if this ice ever melts.

Thanks for posting this.

I use 4 & 5 Decoys a lot. However I never switch baits with them. After I put one on I use a pair of pliers to lightly crimp it lightly so it can't be opened and I've left them on for years that way without issue. I should add I haven't had the PROBLEM of dealing with many DD bass up here in New England. Whenever I get a new bait I always test swim it with both direct tie versus split ring/snap. Most baits swim better one way or the other.

In cases like this I always recommend getting in touch with the bait maker first. Give Clayton a shout and ask what he recommends.

Thanks for posting this. Lots of good stuff in that 35 minutes of Butch on swimbaiting.

The Baitsmith trout seem to run just fine out of the package.

Great topic for a bitterly cold winter day! Giant trevally Barramundi Cubera Snapper Black marlin Atlantic salmon (finally actually land one this time) Golden Dorado Milkfish Mahseer Piraruku Giant Wolf Fish

Great way to get it started. Congrats!

The auction stats at 10,000 yen which is $96. Pretty steep for a used skin.

Gooping the feathers up like this kills the movement in the water. As others in this thread have said, marabou has the most movement in water (breathes) but is not durable at all. Fox hair and hackle feathers have both good movement and are reasonably durable. Some of the craft hair products are also pretty good. Many times I use a combination of hair and feathers. A cheap vise, bobbin & thread will get you in business.

Fantastic way to start! Welcome aboard.

If you are having issues with a pair of treble hooks tangling with each other on the cast, you may be able to solve the problem by changing the hook split rings to a smaller size (smaller diameter) which will keep them further apart from each other. If you need to maximize this you can go with the Wolverine triple split rings which are super strong for the diameter (which is why a lot of musky guys use them).

Thats why they call them HAWGS. Congrats!