mcaetano2905

Nice fat bass! Congratulations!

No doubt bass will eat it.

I went to really look at my biggest 6 bass and times I caught them and I found something very interesting: the 3 bass I caught in the Winter were caught from 10:30 to 11:30 and the 3 I caught in the Summer were caught from 9:15 to 9:30. 4 of those bass were caught on swimbaits and 2 on spinnerbaits (all on active baits). My 7th biggest bass was caught at 11:00, on a jig, in the Fall. Looks like I've been successful at both those times for big bass in the lakes I fish and in really hot weather it looks like they eat more around 9:00 to 9:30 and in colder weather they eat more from 10:30 to 11:30. But I need to catch more, because these are very few bass to be sure of a pattern... I fish only from the bank. This could mean bass visit the banks more at those times...

It depends on the style of fishing. A lot of people say at night is the best time. Dawn and dusk are very good too. Trophy bass usually get more active in low light conditions and roam more in search of prey, even more if that lake gets a lot of people fishing during the day. That's the best time to fish more active baits. In the middle of winter sunny warm afternoons can be better. People fishing weedless baits in heavy cover may have more success in the middle of the day. I think Butch Brown says the best time for him is between 9 AM and 2 PM and he likes to fish on sunny days. Personally I've fished a lot at dawn and dusk, but all my big bass came from 9 AM to 1 PM. Really, you can catch trophies at any time. Just try to fish a lot at different times and see at what time you catch more big bass.

My favorite swimbait right now is the River2Sea S-Waver 168. You can start with that and then move to the 200 size as you catch some fish. If you fish lakes without trout and where bass mainly eat bluegill/sunfish/shad, you can stay in the 168 size. In lakes with big shiners or gizzard shad the 200 size should work great too.

Well, went fishing today for 3 hours, up to the sunset. Went to a very small reservoir that's full of weeds and soft moss on the bottom. Tried the 7" Slammer for about 30min. Nothing... Then switched to the U2... Nothing. Then tried the Gantarel Jr for some time fishing it almost like a jerkbait, slowly reeling it in with some 1/2 quick reel handle turns and pausing for some seconds. Got my first fish on it! Just over 1lb! lol Well, I guess if a 1lb bass can eat a bait this size with no problem 2lb and bigger bass will have no problem with the regular sized Gantarel. I have one of those too. But most of the pumpkinseed I see in these lakes are around 4 or 5" long... After fishing some more time with the Gantarel Jr with no more bites I finally switched to a Keitech 4.8 rigged weightless (because of the weeds and moss on the bottom). Had about 5 or 6 hits while fishing it slowly with some stops (they usually striked when I stopped the bait) but I think they were small fish. I was able to hook one, but lost it. I saw the fish. It was around 1lb too... Some weeks ago I caught 4 bass around 1lb on the Keitech on this lake around the sunset too... Tomorrow I'm going to fish a bigger and deeper reservoir where I already caught a bass just under 4lbs this year on a S-Waver 168. Thank you for all the replies!

I loved those baits, but currently I can't find them. Caught one of my biggest bass ever on one of those swimbaits.

Thank you all for your replies! I think I'll try the Mattlures Bluegill and the Keitechs. I have 2 U2 Bluegills in the pumpkinseed color but didn't got bit yet. I almost stopped fishing them. They don't run true, so, I don't have much confidence when fishing them. I also have a Ultimate Gill in the Bluegill color. I'm going to fish right now and I'll tell you if I catch a big one!

In most lakes where I live (in Portugal) bass are northern strain and eat mostly pumpkinseed sunfish, baby bass and in some lakes bleak (a fish usually from 4 to 6" similar to a shiner or shad. It forms some schools that roam near the surface along the shores and open water). Some lakes have carp and they eat crawdads a lot too. I fished an 8" Hudd with no success (not even a follower) and also some 6" and 68 special Hudds with no bites in many hours in many trips over some years. I had some success on a 7" bass colored MS Slammer (over some years one bass around 4lbs and one that got away), a Mattlures Baby Bass (caught the same 4lb bass a few months later ), and caught one almost 5lbs (almost my PB) last summer on the S-Waver 168 (bluegill color) and this year I already caught one bass almost 4lbs on a S-Waver 168, Party Crasher color, in a lake with bleak (that color really looks like a bleak). I'm looking for a good soft swimbait to fish specially in the colder months in these lakes. I only fish from the bank, so, I don't want an expensive bait that's easy to snag... I was thinking about the 5.8" Keitech, the 6" Weedless Optimum Boom Boom or the Beast Coast Tungsten & Tackle Miyagi Swimmer. Which one is the best swimbait for fishing slowly on or near the bottom? I want the one that still kicks at very slow speeds. Also, if you fish lakes where pumpkinseed is the main forage I would like to know which swimbaits you fish. I really love the S-Waver 168 and the Gantarel Jr (but still haven't caught a fish on it) and I really think I'll finally have a new PB this year! I just want to add a good soft bait that works in these lakes. I'm sure all of you know what a pumpkinseed sunfish looks like but you don't have bleak in the USA, so, here are some pictures of them:

I agree with that. If you are fishing a swimbait and bass aren't hitting it try to know what size prey big bass are eating at that time (usually it's the most abundant and easier to catch prey, specially near the place where bass rest). Just fish the size of the prey bass are eating. You may have to either downsize or upsize to match the hatch. If that doesn't work just experiment.

If you can't see the player then go to this page: http://www.rodandreelradio.com/archives.html . It's the show from Sunday 02/05/2017. If you search the other shows there are some other about swimbaits. With Mike Long and others.

Here's a nice radio show where Bill Siemantel & Butch Brown talk about swimbaits: http://www.rodandreelradio.com/Archives/2017/02/02-05-17-2hr.mp3 Enjoy it!

I love your videos too! I live in Portugal... I see your family name is Ferreira. That's a portuguese name. Do you have portuguese family members? Wish you the best!

12lb Big Game for all my swimbait fishing. I use S-Wavers 168, Gantarel, 7" MS Slammer and used 6" soft swimbaits like Huddleston 68 and even an 8" Hudd in the past. Also use Keitech Swing Impact Fat 4.8". Never had a fish break my line.

How do you retrieve your Slammers? I'm saying this because I fish a 7" Slammer for some hours on almost every trip and I get 1 bite a year or less! I've fished a Slammer for at least 5 years now.

Yes, I'm catching them in Portugal. We have only northern strain here, but there are not many people releasing fish (specially big fish), so, there are not many bass in most lakes and not many big bass. I'm trying to locate lakes with bigger bass and larger numbers of them. Near my village the small lakes don't have many big fish. Some reservoirs a bit bigger that are around 10 years old and are deep and with clear water seem to have bigger bass and I'm fishing them more.

Thanks! I forgot to say that this fish was 19.7" long. It's my longest bass ever! I think the one I caught in the summer was longer, but it dropped to the water when I was going to measure it.

Went fishing today. Cloudy/overcast with some light rain from time to time. Strong winds from SW. Big waves! Forecast was more rain and stronger wind around 12:00 and then it was going to rain all afternoon. Barometer was starting to drop. Air temp was around 58ºF. Fished only from 9:15 to 12:30. Started with a 7" Slammer with no bites or followers. Then fished a Gantarel a little. No followers or bites. Then switched to a S-Waver 168 (party crasher color). I was fishing it slowly and with a couple quick 1/2 and 1/4 reel handle turns from time to time. After the reel handle turns I stopped the bait for some seconds and saw the line moving. Reeled up and set the hook. Felt like I hooked a small bush or a wet cloth. Didn't fight much. Tried to jump once. It wasn't too fat or it could have weighted near 5lbs. It weighted 3.8lbs, my 6th biggest bass ever. It was my second bass on the S-Waver (first was a bass almost 5lbs I caught last July). Almost my PB!). Caught it as 11:30, just before it started to rain heavily and just before the winds started to get stronger! I fished areas where the waves were big and the wind very strong, but ended up catching the fish in a more protected area. I love S-Wavers and the 168 size seems to be great to mimic the size of the prey fish big bass eat in these lakes. I'll try to catch a bigger bass next time!

I have a 7" Slammer for about 5 or 6 years now. Fished it for countless hours on countless days and only caught a 4lb bass, lost another about that size and had a bite from one about 10" long. I don't know if I'm really a bad angler (I don't think so, because I can catch big bass on other baits) or if it's because big bass prey here is from 4 to 6" long. I have an S-Waver 168 for less than 1 year and almost broke my PB on it already last summer.

S-Waver 168. Pick a color that mimics your local forage (should be a color you have confidence in) and you're ready to go! They work everywhere, year round. In the winter just fish them as slow as you can but fast enough for the bait to swim in a s-motion. In the summer do a lot of quick half and 1/4 reel handle turns and give some slack so the lure glides more. Fish faster. You'll catch a lot of 1 and 2 lb bass on it but it attracts a lot of huge bass too and you'll catch them!

Congratulations! Very nice fish! If I catch one that big it will be my PB too! Mine is 5lbs. The bass in my profile picture was almost my new PB at just under 5lbs... Caught it on a S-Waver 168. I love glide baits! They attract a lot of fish, we can cover a lot of water quickly or even fish slow, they're fun to fish and watch moving and they catch big fish!

I use 12lb Big Game for all my swimbaits (7" MS Slammer, Hudd 68, Gantarel, S-Waver 168 and I even fished an 8" Hudd a few times). Never had a bass break my line and never cast-off a bait... I fish from the bank and only have one baitcasting and one spinning combo. So, I use 12lb Big Game for all my baitcasting fishing (swimbaits, jigs, frogs, spinnerbaits)... When I started bass fishing I only used 6lb mono and I even caught my current PB (caught 15 years ago) with that 6lb line using a normal sized spinnerbait. I NEVER had a bass break my line even tough I used 6 and 8 lb line for some years...

I like the bait, but I'm not able to order them from their website because they don't ship to Portugal.

I only fish from the bank. I use a waist pack, where I have a couple bigger baits and some smaller baits (I usually put in there the baits I'm planning to fish first), my digital scale, tape measure, camera and hooks/sinkers. This way I have quick access to all those items. Then I have a backpack where I have the other big baits or other baits that don't fit in the waist pack, some food, water, etc... I never take a lot of baits with me. Just a couple baits for each depth or situation. At the middle of the day, if there are baits in my waist pack that I'm no longer planning to fish that day I put them in the back pack and replace them with baits that are in the backpack and I want to use later in the day.

Gantarel Jr. in RT Bluegill or RT Ghost Gill, S-Waver 168 in baby bass color and Spro BBZ-1 Rat 40 in brown color. Those are the swimbaits/colors I don't have and want to buy next. Duo Realis Onimasu in largemouth bass color is a swimbait I would like to try because it looks so good, but probably I'll never buy it because it's a bit too expensive for me. Another one is the 7" MS Slammer: I caught a nice bass on one, but they're getting more and more expensive and when I buy something over about $40 from the USA I have to pay some absurd taxes... So, I don't think I'll ever buy another MS Slammer.