Is it just me, or are more people swimbaiting?

[Loudsplashbassn_]

5 minutes ago, WaterWolf44 said:

That a*&hat JonB on youtube bought one of those1000$ manifolds just for the views. What a tool

Lol i think he got a hook up on it a couple weeks before that he was fishing with a known big bait guy on YouTube who also works at a tackle shop lol could be wrong  but find that kind of funny 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Loudsplashbassn_

[GrizzleyShad]

I blame fishbrain 

[JustBassinAround916]

I feel like on social media (youtube mainly) i see more "swimbaiting" but where i fish most people still just laugh at the size of my baits or just dont think anything will eat a lure that big. Most "swimbaiters" arpund me are just throwing small s wavers and gantarels 

[ktm858]

Fishing and swimbaiting in general has definitely spiked ! Local spots are packed with people elbow to elbow and even when you go at night illegally when the park closes it still sounds like a bowling alley smh

[_freddyroots]

Im im San Diego. The last time I went to Lake Poway on a Sunday, I saw at least 20-25 people with 250s and and big soft baits tied on and about 3 conventional fisherman. Go to Santee lakes and 75% of people there have the tk tied on. Things have rapidly changed over the last year or two out here. People used to laugh at me for fishing the small spro rat. 

[billythegent]

yeah way too many people.   im leaving here and going back to dropshot underground.    i just got an offer for $450 for a bag of roboworms.    

[Deadtwitchguy]

I was saying this back in 2013-15 lol. Primary reason I don't throw what everyone else does. 

[CG_Fishes]

I got into the game 4 years ago. At the time I thought I was the first and only guy in the area to do it. Of course as a stupid 15 year old I shared all my big catches and spots on social media. Those catches brought the conventional goons out thinking they could reproduce my results and when they occassionally did, they blew up the spot even further. Still after 3 years of this I had not met anyone else who had tossed big baits before me, although I had gotten 2 or 3 guys into it, who quickly began to outfish me. Finally this spring I met a guy on the water who had been fishing swimbaits for 3 years before me, we instantly bonded talked about our favorite catches and "the one that got away" stories. He had caught an 8-10 out of one of my lakes, as well as multiple 7s and countless 6s, cementing him as a true stick in my mind. We continued to fish all spring, I learned more from him then I have from anyone else in that 4 week period. I have not seen him or heard from him since leaving the water that last day, both soaking wet from a thunderstorm and stoked on our almost 30lb collective bag. He's a member on here and I hope everything is alright with him. Anyways the whole point of this rant is to offer another side of the coin. Although there may be more people out there throwing swimbaits, "stealing your fish", it brings forth a new opportunity to make some great friends and learn something new

[David Cindrich]

As swimbait angling grown over the years, I always laugh at the different years angers get on forums and say too many anglers are swimbait angling. Of course there are going to be more anglers getting into swimbait angling, it is a great way to catch bigger bass. I know CA anglers have been complaining about lakes getting too much swimbait pressure since at 2006 on SBN, don't know if the complaining has gone on before this, because I didn't hang out on the west coast sites before this. In 2007 Steve Kennedy won Clear Lake BassMasters Elite  on a Hud. I always felt this was when swimbait angling started going main stream. Swimbaits were now on the forefront of conversation with Bryron Velvick commentator  on ESPNS Bass talk and he did give swimbaits there due, mentioning swimbaits all the time and even mentioning SBN. Although not every angler went running to swimbaits, anglers looking to catch bigger fish started flocking to it.

When Swimbait Underground started, I felt this is when the growth started. Major tournaments being won on swimbaits. Bryon Velick won an Elite event then two weeks later Skeet Reese won another, both on Rago Baits. Somewhere in there KVD won Smithlake on the Kong. Baits were more accessible to me at the time, If I wanted a Hudd, I bought a Hud, If I wanted a Hardgill, I bought a Hardgill. Baits were still hard to get, but it was very easy to become a good customer with just about any of the makers and get what you wanted.

A few years later, Swimbait Universe was started on FB. The group was moderated to try it and keep it swimbait related. Swimbait angling only or new guys looking to get into swimbait angling. At this same time, Swimbait Underground was growing their social media presence, as of now, I believe Swimbait Underground has the largest Social Media presence. So for the thought "This is the Underground" If Swimbait Undeground wanted this to be the Underground, they would have never went to Social Media to grow there social media presence into the largest on social media. They would have made this an exclusive place where only the hardcore anglers could participate and only way into the the Underground, would be by invite only. 

I can tell you when I started Swimbait Universe, I had zero Idea if it would work.  At  the time SBN had about about 6700 members and was dying, SU had about 4700 members and seem  to growing slowly. It was easy to see Social Media was were everyone was at. Simply SBN and SU traffic was crashing because of FB. SBU  grew very quickly and I think it was within a year membership over took both SBN and SU. SBU was growing so fast because simply because at some point of FB groups  the growth of the group becomes a suggested group to users using searches of big baits or swimbaits. This is when we had to vet every new member, if they were not there for swimbaits they were banned. 

If swimbait angling did not grow to what it is today, we would have very little to choose from. This is why, SBN, SU and SBU has always tried to support the angler and the bait makers. Social Media is what changed everything, when someone was on FB and started clicking on bass fishing, they would slowly start being fed swimbait stuff by FB or becoming friends with people that were into swimbait angling,

We had the Doctor, become the face of Deps U.S.A, now anglers saw swimbaiting, finally pay off for a swimbait angler. 

We also had Big Bass Dreams growing, slowly making a path for anglers who wanted something for their hard work of filming, editing and  trying to influence. Like Big Bass Dreams or not, it made a path for Swimbait Anglers to try and make a path for themselves.

It is no secret, a good swimbait video, will get more views that someone drop shotting. Or a swimbait review by an influencer will get more reviews than an influencer reviewing a bag of worms. 

For me personally I have seen, people complaining about too much pressure, bait flipping, posers for well over 15 years. So as far as swimbait angling becoming "too mainstream" We can blame anyone us who have made a video, posted a picture of a  swimbait fish, shared deep held secrets with someone we only knew from FB or a swimbait forum. It all has been done with thought of what someone has to gain. Is it respect from someone we will never meet and most the time, they don't even thank you, is it you want a bait maker to make it because you like their product?  Is it simply, you want someone to enjoy, something that brings you so much pleasure. We have done it to ourselves.

Everything that changes, stays the same.

[SoCalBassBum]

When a googan groupie like Westin smith that has thousands of groupies starts posting DRT products shits gonna get blown up. Half of the YouTubers that happen to fish are consistently posting swimbait related content hoping for a few more likes all the while selling out swimbait fishing.

[Loudsplashbassn_]

3 minutes ago, SoCalBassBum said:

When a googan groupie like Westin smith that has thousands of groupies starts posting DRT products shits gonna get blown up. Half of the YouTubers that happen to fish are consistently posting swimbait related content hoping for a few more likes all the while selling out swimbait fishing.

He's not too bad lol ryan rigged though did a video on the DRT tk that too me was hilarious for the fact hes giving a bunch of advice on how to fish it when he barley got it lol then did a hook swap and failed to mention to his viewers that putting to heavy of hooks on can throw the glide off lol 

[Rogervang]

I asked myself the same question back in 2015.

[Shaddaddy1979]

Only the strong cast off swimbaits  year round!!! Them swim for them !!! You gotta honestly look at fishing differently then others 

it really comes down to perfecting your skill set . Make every cast count. 

[Bassjam2000]

On 6/28/2021 at 3:29 PM, billythegent said:

yeah way too many people.   im leaving here and going back to dropshot underground.    i just got an offer for $450 for a bag of roboworms.    

Roboworms? Been away a while? Things have changed in DSU, maxscent flatworms are the deal now, I just picked up 3 bags! I got no car now though, at least my rods are short enough to take on the bus.

[CaliBassin]

You’re just realizing this? Lol it’s been headed that direction for the past 5-10 years at least. Only getting more popular from here on sadly. Social media ruins everything good