How long

[Drew03cmc]

When you first began tossing swimbaits, how long was it before you caught your first fish on one and how long before you caught a truly large fish?

Also, what kind of waters do you normally fish? I ask because I'm new to the game and primarily fish small waters <5 acres in Missouri, suburban KC to be exact and don't want to get discouraged when I get the setup and baits I'm angling for. Thanks fellas!

[JoshPerkins802]

Its going to be tough. The hardest part for me was fishing with my buddies and they're throwing all conventional gear and absolutely hammering them. And there i am, chucking big baits and not catching anything. Its a test to your personal drive and commitment, in the end, its worth it. But if nothing else, you get some pretty cool baits and if not anything else, you'll end up a collector lol

[Born 2 fish]

Ive been at it a year my first fish came quickly on a ganteral jr. But my biggest to date is only 3lbs. It will test your patience's casting for hours and not getting bit it's even worse when a big one follows your bait and you know it was your pb. I've caught enough fish in my life so I'm good with everyone catching smaller fish while I'm trophy hunting. Sooner or later I'll stick a big one. Until then I'll grind away.

Edited July 13, 2018 by Born 2 fish

[zanwhite]

It took me 2-3 months of dedicated SB fishing (68 hudd) before I broke 4lbs. Not fishing every day, or in a boat, but at least 3-4 times a week. I caught 15 or so fish (all 2-3 lbs) from the same small lake system before, almost magically, I got my first over 5. Then an 8. All it takes is 1 random day for it to happen 

I started thinking less about novelty of "swimbaiting" and stopped worrying about losing any baits. Seriously, that first 5# I thought I was hung on a fountain. Once a 25$ bait seems cheap, that's when it'll happen haha.  My casts started getting longer and more efficient, and my retrieves generally slowed down as I got confidence in what exactly my bait was always doing. 

[SethMuffinson]

This is my first season throwing swimbaits. First fish came after 6 outings maybe on a 9in slammer. Those six were right after iceout until it was may. Then it just kept going! Hudd 68s got me my pb so far. Just gota stay confident and switch up the retrieves if your not seeing much. You can learn a wealth of info here but in the field its trial by fire. Just gota find what works. And believe that it will work.  

[Nolan Aker]

My first fish came on a weedless rising son on my first trip out with only swimbaits, but I didn't have a 5 (very big for MN) on the scale until a year later.

[danthefisherman]

It took me years to finally break away from throwing conventional baits and tie on my "giant" 4 inch Castaic trout that I only bought because it looked cool. The bait was much too heavy for any of the cheapo spinning rods I owned, but every now and then I fished it a bit just for kicks.

Ifish a tiny, crystal clear man-made lake where the biggest bass probably isn't even five pounds and fishing pressure is pretty big. Back then I hadn't even seen a bass reaching four pounds, and I still couldn't believe the fish would commit to such a "big" bait. Then one windy day the bite was pretty slow. I reached for that Castaic trout and decided to test how far down a channel I could launch it with my $20 spinning rod. Completely open water...and BOOM! I get crushed almost immediately! The fish must've only been 2.5lbs and nothing I couldn't catch on a senko, but it really opened my eyes to swimbaiting and had me screaming like a little girl. That was four years ago.

I'm still after that truly big fish (10+ pounds) and it's never going to happen if I don't take the time to explore new waters. But my goal right now is to best my personal best out of this little lake which is maybe 4.5lbs shamefully caught on a BassProShops worm. The fishery has steadily declined over the years, but I know she's still out there and am set on landing her on a swimbait this time.

[basssavage24/7]

Six pounder second day throwing the bbz 50 rat. Havent look back since Biggest i,ve caught is a 9. Its been a few year's now throwing the big baits But I've grinded a few times where I've put 25 to 35 hours a week on the water during the summer. And have only 5 bites no hook ups for almost month. 

Sometimes swimbaiting is easy most days it's hard but. You just got to work hard and keep  putting  yourself on fish. 

   Cant catch them from the couch .

       

[Drew03cmc]

I'm looking forward to getting started doing this. 

[biggfeast]

When I first started it took me about 2 months to get my first bite (4lber on Hudd), then a stretch of about 4 months until I started catching them a little more regularly.

[BrhodesBassin]

It tools me 3 months before I finally landed a little 2-3 pound fish on a gantarel jr and it was almost a year before I broke 5 pounds on one and landed my pb of 8.2 on a 316 missionfish, in the middle of January. In the rain. Commitment is the key to it all. No YouTube video or forum thread can replace time on the water

[Willluvstafish]

At first I didn't commit completely to swimbaits and would bring some with all my conventional tackle. Caught a few dinks on a bbz perch. It wasn't until I just left all conventional at home that I started catching decent and more bass on swims. Get a few different style baits to start with. If someone started out throwing a Hudd only for 3 months without a bite, the Hudd bite was simply not there. Get a Slammer, bullshad or triple trout and a Hudd or rising son. You'll get bit

[MaineBassin]

This is my first year throwing big baits (6" plus). I have 3 hudds @ 8", a 9" slammer, a 6" perch bbz, a 50 spro rat, an a rig and a gantarel. So far I have only caught fish on the slammer and a rig. Biggest fish is around 15". It amazes me how small of fish will bite a 9" slammer. It is a grind sometimes when nothing will bite. But like everyone above has said, its a process. Gotta commit to it and keep at it. Results will eventually come. I dont know how many times i have questioned myself on the bait I had tied on, or whether it was the right body of water, etc. It's nice to come on here and read responses like above and get right mentally to get back out there and keep grinding. 

[andrewbee]

Prior to fishing swimbaits my mentality was "I'm going to catch a fish TODAY"

3 years later my mentality is "It may be today it may not but I am GOING to catch the biggest fish here eventually." When that moment happens (No reason to put if, because eventually the bite will come) the rewards are incredible

 

[Born 2 fish]

You can still catch small fish on big bait's.This bass was the same size as a 50 spro. Just keep grinding.