ATLbassin28

I am also a fan, caught my pb on that bait. Looking at some different options however, just to add to my arsenal.

Thanks!

h If you know where blind pass is, it's the bridge connecting sanibel and captiva, the snook fishing there is absolutely awesome. Didn't catch any reds while I was down there but the snook were biting. I'd go at night as the pass gets a little crowded in the daytime with boats and other people. I fished in a kayak but you definetly can wade fish there. My most successful baits down there were the Berkeley powerbait swimbait, also the savage gear 3d shrimp worked very well for me. Occasionally got some nice blowups on topwater walkers. Fish the other two baits very slowly. Fish docks, especially those with docklights.All artificial is the way to go for saltwater in my opinion. Go to whitneys bait and tackle on sanibel, they have all those baits, have the best bait selection imo and are great knowledgable guys who give useful and quality advice. Good luck fishing down there!

I don't really know if a 5 inch Berkeley power bait Shad swimbait is a "true swimbait" but I slayed the snook down in captiva Florida on spring break a few weeks ago using this bait, caught about 80% of my fish off of it. First time using strictly artificials in the salt and caught a ton of fish. Lost a lot on this bait only landed about half my bites, the hook on the powerbait is not the best and snook love to jump and throw your bait. Caught most of my fish at night, around docks with docklights, just slowly creeping the bait along the bottom.. This one pictured was the biggest one I caught, not a monster but a solid fish. Had a great time fishing the little swimbaits in the salt!

Do you prefer the floating or slow sink? Color is not a big deal for me. I have heard of them before though and could never find any online.

Thanks!

Thanks guys!

Have used a friends guide select and Daiwa dx, both are nice rods for their price, I didn't like the handle for the guide select on their 7"11 however, the molded butt end just was a little strange. Okuma does make a 7"6 heavy with a more standard handle though. The ones I used were both xh rods, didn't notice a weight difference. Both good rods for the price.

In the lakes I fish bluegill are the main prey for the bass so I'm always looking to get new bluegill swimbaits. I have a few but have not fished extensively with them. What are yalls personal favorite bluegill imitating swimbaits? Thanks

Another angle shows the length of the fish better, my earlier post made the fish look a little small, better pic here!

Thanks guys!!

Phenix m1 for 200 would be my choice but the irod genesis, okuma guide select and daiwa dx are cheaper options.

Great catches man, what kind and speed of retrieve are you using with the rat? Saw in some videos on it that you can walk the dog with the bait.

Awesome fish, how do you like the gantarel so far?? I fish lakes with a ton of bluegill and always lookin to get some new bluegill swimbaits

Maybe this was an omen or something but I saw this and took a pic of a 5 lb bass dead choking on a bluegill. This was right before I caught my new pb. This is why we throw the big swimbaits, bass will go after almost anything!

Caught my new pb today on the got em coach real gill 7" slow sink. Equipment was okuma Citrix 364 with 20 lb p line copolymer and Phenix m1 8" heavy. Big spawner female full of eggs, got whacked reeling very slowly from a cast next to a floating dock and landed this Georgia giant. Didn't weigh the fish but guesstimated around 7-8 pounds. Had not caught a fish for 2 hours up until this one but that's fine with me! Spring fishing is on!!

Thanks guys

I'm looking to get a new swimbait setup and I want a rod that can handle most swimbaits aside from the real giant stuff, just an all around swimbait rod. Also looking to get a quality reel specifically for swimbaits. What are y'all's recommendations?