EC_Flyer

Thanks, I appreciate the response Ill switch retrieves a little. I think I just got to keep the 68 in the water a little longer.

hey Jesse, I am also I New England Swimbait fisherman. While I also have a lot of success on the slammer I have only been able to get a few in the 3 pound range on the 68. I was wondering if you are willing to share your technique for fishing it. I normally fishing it slowly bottom bouncing it. As it has warmed I have moved it faster and higher in the water column with very limited success. Thanks for any suggestions Eli

Gentlemen, I general dislike posting or asking about gear, but I'm struggling to find a good white perch swimbait without having someone custom paint one. I am fishing an area that is completely covered in white perch, I actually caught two on my spro rat, largest size, last week. So dose anyone know of a good white perch bait? Thanks guys

Okay for salt water I guess but.... If a catch any of my friends or family members who consider themselves legit bass fisherman with that garbage anywhere near my boat I will drop them off at the closest land / shallow area I can find. If you have fished hard for years and moved to swimbaiting for the challenge and the potential for big bass and you decide to pick up a zombait you have experienced a deep and profound bass fishing regression. Just my opinion.

I think your in for a treat ATX. I have been fishing only swimbaits this year and while its been frustrating from time to time, started off the year with 4 fish-less trips, its been rewarding. Like you, I had some baits and fished big baits in years past but never really committed. I'm not sure why others have decided to throw only big baits but for me its not only the reward of big fish. Its the high stacks that come with getting only a couple bits a day, and the excitement associated with catching a fish exactly how I want to. I stopped using senkos and plastics a couple years ago and switched to only hard baits, for me leaning the nuances of rip baits, crank baits, etc, and catching fish how I wanted to rejuvenated my love for bass fishing, was almost purely fly for a couple years. Lets be honest, throwing a senko around with every Joe Shmo is basically a skill free and talent-less way to "bass fish". Don't get me wrong people should fish however they find enjoyment in the sport. For me it's more exciting to miss a swimbait bit than to catch another fish on a different bait. sometimes I just tick a rock, weed patch, or my hand slips off the reel and my pulse raises. In conclusion Ill give you the best advise I got on this site, and I should go back and figure out who said it so I can give credit. Just pick a lake that looks conducive to swimbaiting and learn it well. I had to really learn a single lake before I started getting fish, jumping lake to lake was much less productive for me than hitting the same body of water over and over until I understood every drop off and piece of cover. Good luck! Only take your big bait gear, leave the little stuff at home.

First of all thanks for the ideas. I think all the suggestions put forth are valid and its a combination of all of them that have led to the poor ratio. I mainly use two rods #1 Diawa DX swimbait rod Heavy 2-8 oz. I use this for larger swimbaits and I do think this rod is to stiff and has cost be some of the fish in question. #2 G. loomis crank flex deep cranking rod I put this rod into use because of the medium action high flex. Throwing slammer and rat mostly, it has not seemed to help. I have a couple other jig rods I use as well, recently started swimbaiting in last couple years and didn't want to commit thousands when I have already spent thousands on fishing setups. Im throwing 20 lb mono on DX and 15 pond fluro on the loomis, no braid. maybe ill switch, also maybe to needlepoint hooks. Also like my swimbait partner says ill try and stop "horseing" it so much. hes up 11 pounds on me so far this year. Thanks all

Having some serious trouble getting fish to the boat. The following is the hook/to catch ratio on my top 4 baits this year. MS 9 inch slammer 18/7 Hooks = Owner st36 Spro large rat 5/0 Hooks = Owner st36 Jackall Ganteral 9/4 I like the feathers too much to change stock hooks Deps175 3/0 Stock hooks I am bringing about 30% of my fish to the boat, many are lost on head shakes but some just come unpinned under water. I have lost fish on a variety of other baits as well but these are the main baits I am struggling with. These aren't just hits they are hooked fish. My questions for forum...... is this rate close to the same as anyone else? Some factors, I think some of these fish are between 1-2 pounds and have small mouths, but I am also losing big ones. Some are long line trolling, hundred plus feet out. Any advise or helpful tricks to help me not lose my mind out there. Thanks

Yes Glide baits at night will work Glide baits are a visual bait but using black or white at night with a good moon in clear water can make them effective. That being said I would rather use something different at night. Top water, slammer, rat, BBZ. Or a Shell Cracker, or even something with a lot of tail action.

The is terrifiing, 22 pounds

First of all, on either coast it’s fishing, so it’s freakin sweet. Spent last 10ish years fishing San Diego. San V closed a few months before I got there, then reopened a couple months after I moved to Boston. Bad luck I guess, that is not to say I haven’t thrown swimbaits in San V. lake before, and that’s all I’m saying about that. Fishing on the east coast is easier in terms of numbers, it a lower pressure area for sure, catching a bunch of fish under 3 pounds is very common and 20 fish days are not hard to come by if you leave the swimbaits at home. In terms of size catching really large bass is very difficult. I have been here for a year and largest is 6.3. In a year of fishing San Diego waters I would always catch larger fishing than this. I love fishing both coasts. There are many differences, both are great.

Hey all after moving from San Diego to Boston my idea of fishing pressure has changed. I remember fishing Lower Otay Reservoir in San Diego some days and felling like I could walk across the reservoir with all the boats on the water. The crazy part was that this body of water continued to produce numbers and size regardless. On the east coast the pressure is less but some bodies of water still could be described as moderate pressure fisheries. I will be fishing some of these spots this weekend and was wondering if people have go-to High pressure swimbaits? Here are a couple tricks I use, 1 fishing at night. 2 fish large baits 8in plus. 3 fish bright colors, lastly I normally use soft plastic baits rather than hard baits. Wanted to see what SU members do when confronted with a high pressure fishery ? Thanks

Okay thanks all, I got a tracking number today, really good prices on the deps, also hard to find that RT #12 color, so had to order a couple for gifts, my frinds are going to be pumped. Thanks for the Heads Up Tony! Personally prefere the Flash Carp #1.

Has anyone that placed an order on these recived an email that thier items have shipped? Placed order on saturday and havnt recived shippment email. Just Courious, thanks

Nice fish, I also live in MA. Got one last weekend on a Huddelston after two straight skunks. Hopefully it will heat up. PM me if you want to talk about some MA lakes, and spots. Thanks for the report

Thanks for all the insightful responses

Update: Lake Massapoge sharon MA. 400 acre lake depth 40ft Max water temp, about 38, basically just unfroze. 1 swim bait fish 3.57 pounds hudd. 68 special, rainbow trout color. a couple non swimbait bass aswell fairly uneventful but its still cold so all in all good day.

Hi all, Been throwing swimbaits for a little while now. About to get out tomorrow after major winter storm in MA. Personally I haven't found that high and low pressure systems have as large an affect on swimbait catch rates as it dose when normal bass fishing for numbers. This may be because getting skunked is common regardless of barometric pressure when throwing swimbaits in the Northeast. Or maybe because larger territorial fish are less affected by barometric changes. Was wondering about other people's experiences about fishing with swimbait during pressure changes? Thanks

yep I'm in, very nice of you!