Fishing a citizen 6

[1Nickfishing]

Hello all!

I hope this discussion finds you well. Over the course of the summer, I’ve been messing more with big baits and have been loving it. Biggest fish being an 7-8lb monster on a bull gill back in May. 
 

Last week I purchased a pack of the new ‘spectator’ working class citizen 6’s. I’m eager to get it out on the water and test it out. Before I dive headfirst with this bait, I’d love some advice from y’all about the most effective ways to fish this swimbait.

Don’t leave anything out. Time of year, water temp, type of cover(or lack thereof), techniques, favorite colors, preferred retrieves, etc. Anything will help.

Thank you in advance for any help your provide.

-Nick

[Adrian L.]

Good Luck!! Best part of swimbaiting is figuring out what works for you and your fishing style. Most start off by slow rolling it on the bottom but do what works for you and have fun with them. WCZ baits are the ish and are super fun to fish!!

[PKNNH]

Just chuck and wind my friend. Open water, weeds, cheese, mats, rocks, rip rap, etc. Chuck and wind at a moderate retrieve.

[Unclefish4life]

Like the others said, just get it wet. Adding lead tape or nail weights like in Mike's WCZ video is great for working along the bottom and allows for a faster retrieve, even wake without blowing out. My best success has come when running it into every stump, limb, dock post, rock, grass edge I can find (think squarebill). Other effective ways have been a steady slow/moderate retrieve at night and fishing through/along lay downs/tree tops like a worm or jig but using the added weight bc it'll fall faster, get that tail moving and cause a reaction bite (or I like to think so anyways). No real wrong way tho, just experiment and have fun with it. 

[ewillsd]

toy with bottom contact. You dont always have to drag the bottom. I've found that kinda moon bouncing if that makes sense works for me.

[ikaika]

They skip great so they’re great for docks or other overhanging cover. I fish mine pretty fast, but I am usually fishing them in the summer so fish mow them down no matter how fast you’re winding. Also very weedless and come through grass well, so you can fish them in the same places you’d fish a swim jig.

You’ll lose the eyes quickly because the clear dip isn’t very thick, but the fish don’t care. Get a bottle of Mend-It or some other soft bait glue to repair them between trips; it’ll help you get a lot more life out of your bait. 

[kahai808]

man kind of a loaded question. to be honest I don't think there is a right answer to fishing it. Every body of water is different and the fish are different. I can fish two lake that are miles apart and they just set up different. I definitely think there are better way to fish them. For me the Citizen is a year round bait. you can throw it in thick cover and bounce it around the bottom. I think the important thing is to focus your time in those high percentage area, areas you know hold fish. But nothing can replace time on the water. 

I use 8/0 beast hook and tungsten pin to weight it depending on how deep I like to fish it. as far as color I just stick to Silver. 

I know its not much help but its hard to tell you how to fish something unless I've fished it on your lake. 

[NEbucketmouth19]

Yeet the bait. Retrieve the bait.

Nah but I like rigging them on a Flashy Swimmer Beast hook and ticking the tops of weeds. To get deeper I'll put nail weights in the chin.