Swimbait/Glidebait Fishing Chronicles (2020)

Capt. BassinLou · December 21, 2019, 11:21:24 AM

I know... I know.... enough with the Swimbait topic Lou!! Geesh!!

And yes, I also know before anyone mentions it, that there are forums out there dedicated to just Swimbait/Glidebait fishing, but that doesn't mean we can't have a thread of our own here on UB that covers this topic specifically.

I created this thread so that: A... I'm accountable to my 2020 goal, and B... I know there Swimbait/Glidebait anglers here on Ultimate Bass that can really share insightful information with us on these techniques.

So... if someone has some swimbait/glidebait stories to share, questions to ask, or baits to "show off"

, then this is your thread. Enjoy!!

bucketmouth 87 · December 21, 2019, 11:23:52 AM

Quote from: Bassinlou on December 21, 2019, 11:21:24 AM
I know... I know.... enough with the Swimbait topic Lou!! Geesh!!

And yes, I also know before anyone mentions it that there are forums out there dedicated to just Swimbait fishing, but that doesn't mean we can't have a thread of our own here on UB that covers this topic specifically. I created this thread so that: A... I'm accountable to my 2020 goal, and B... I know there Swimbait anglers here on Ultimate Bass that can really share insightful information with us on this technique.

I'm interested. Keep it up!

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Capt. BassinLou · December 21, 2019, 11:59:03 AM

I will break the ice. As I have shared over the last couple weeks, swimbait fishing is a technique that I have developed an interest in learning and becoming proficient at throwing. I have acquired the necessary tools needed to fish this technique. Rod: check, Reel: check, Swimbaits: check, but the box that I have not checked off yet, is the patience and persistence box.

Over the last several weekends, I have secretly been bank fishing throwing only a swimbait. I literally walk out of my home with a rod and reel in hand and a swimbait rigged, carrying only a spare swimbait. My objective here is to really understand and fish this bait come what may. Training my mind that it's ok that 2 hours have crawled by with 0 bass to show for it.

My focus will be on specifically fishing with bigger swimbaits, 6" on up, but for my bank fishing outings I have just been throwing the bigger psycho shads that are just shy of 5". Reason being, I'm not risking losing a big expensive swimbait in the urban canals I fish.

This morning, despite the annoying misty rain and wind we have been having for the last 2 days, I grabbed my rain gear and headed to my neighborhood canal to continue my training. FINALLY after the first hour, the sun broke momentarily through the clouds. I cast my psycho shad by a pylon cluster, and let the bait sink to about 3-4 feet. As I swam the bait slowly, and watched the steady wiggle of the swimbait, I caught a glimpse of a shadow trailing about 3 feet behind and below my bait. My heart stopped... and time stood still. As I continued to slowly reel the psycho shad, I could see the bass more clearly. She was BIG... 6lb+ BIG... Her cadence was matching my reeling cadence. Since I was running out of room before the bait reached me, I killed the bait and watched it sink into the depths, and the bass dove nose down in tow!! Then?? Nothing.... my Psycho shad reached the bank and the bass was no where to be seen.

But!! that lit a fire inside me. I kept fishing for another hour, and surprisingly enough I did not get skunked.

I landed this exotic Jaguar Guapote, and I did manage to stick a small bass but it became unbuttoned. As I have mentioned in other related threads. I know I'm on to something here. Stay tuned when my training continues out in the swamp next week.

Thanks for reading.

nats · December 21, 2019, 12:22:51 PM

Please don't stop, these are the type of posts/mini blogs that addicted me to this site.

Capt. BassinLou · December 21, 2019, 12:29:09 PM

Quote from: nats on December 21, 2019, 12:22:51 PM
Please don't stop, these are the type of posts/mini blogs that addicted me to this site.

Oh.. I'm not stopping my friend. It's full speed ahead for me.

Capt. BassinLou · December 21, 2019, 04:00:30 PM

Afternoon outing, 2.5 hours, 0 fish. Crappy weather.

Cuervo Jones · December 21, 2019, 07:04:46 PM

I look forward to reading the chronicles. Swimbait fishing has a learning curve, but it's a fun one! Next time you have a follower, don't kill the retrieve! Speed it up or do a quick snap of the rod to trigger the bass. That works for me sometimes. Killing a bait usually doesn't. A bass isn't used to prey simply stalling. It usually flees in terror!

Capt. BassinLou · December 21, 2019, 07:39:03 PM

Quote from: Cuervo Jones on December 21, 2019, 07:04:46 PM
I look forward to reading the chronicles. Swimbait fishing has a learning curve, but it's a fun one! Next time you have a follower, don't kill the retrieve! Speed it up or do a quick snap of the rod to trigger the bass. That works for me sometimes. Killing a bait usually doesn't. A bass isn't used to prey simply stalling. It usually flees in terror!

Makes sense, thank you for the tip. Oh.. these chronicles are for any swimbaiters on here. So I expect to hear a lot from you CJ.

Cuervo Jones · December 21, 2019, 09:57:52 PM

In that case, here's what's on my rotation for some upcoming big bass trips.

They're under the Christmas tree since I just got them and they're waiting to get thrown into some lunker waters. The Hiroshima Godzilla is a glidebait that should work well in the cooler waters. The two Orso Gillzillas haven't been made since 2009, but since so few bass have seen them, I'm thinking they'll be popular with the chubby girls. The bigger baits are 7.5" long and the smaller is 5.5". Bass always enjoy chomping sunfish and baits that mimic them are my go-to swimbaits in many cases, unless I'm fishing topwater. Glad you started this mini-blog Lou! I'll post up fishing results, random thoughts, and pretty pictures as they come into and out of my phone and brain.

caddyjoe77 · December 22, 2019, 01:36:39 AM

Interesting thread Lou. Been more into Glidebaits, and giant ones at that but I will be definitely letting you know what I find on Big G. Not exactly prime weather, and the water crossed the sub 50 threshold -- but i will keep it on deck and throw it regardless :D

FlatsNBay · December 22, 2019, 06:27:19 AM

Have you tried them at the super clear park where you and Rick like to fish? Im dying to see how they work there! I would hope that you can attract the attention of a monster from far away in the clear water.

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Capt. BassinLou · December 22, 2019, 07:02:27 AM

Quote from: FlatsNBay on December 22, 2019, 06:27:19 AM
Have you tried them at the super clear park where you and Rick like to fish? Im dying to see how they work there! I would hope that you can attract the attention of a monster from far away in the clear water.

Sent from my moto e5 play using Tapatalk

I have actually, as soon as my Bull Shads arrived, I went out there for an hour and nothing!! I would have sworn the bass were going to be active since a front was approaching and the weather was starting to turn, but no, I was wrong, again..

Capt. BassinLou · December 22, 2019, 07:02:52 AM

Quote from: Cuervo Jones on December 21, 2019, 09:57:52 PM
In that case, here's what's on my rotation for some upcoming big bass trips.

They're under the Christmas tree since I just got them and they're waiting to get thrown into some lunker waters. The Hiroshima Godzilla is a glidebait that should work well in the cooler waters. The two Orso Gillzillas haven't been made since 2009, but since so few bass have seen them, I'm thinking they'll be popular with the chubby girls. The bigger baits are 7.5" long and the smaller is 5.5". Bass always enjoy chomping sunfish and baits that mimic them are my go-to swimbaits in many cases, unless I'm fishing topwater. Glad you started this mini-blog Lou! I'll post up fishing results, random thoughts, and pretty pictures as they come into and out of my phone and brain.

Very cool baits CJ, I read over the history of those baits on the other thread.
Question... what has been the biggest Swimbait you have fished with and currently fish with?

Capt. BassinLou · December 22, 2019, 07:13:32 AM

Quote from: caddyjoe77 on December 22, 2019, 01:36:39 AM
Interesting thread Lou. Been more into Glidebaits, and giant ones at that but I will be definitely letting you know what I find on Big G. Not exactly prime weather, and the water crossed the sub 50 threshold -- but i will keep it on deck and throw it regardless :D

Glidebaits and Swimbaits all fall under the same category to me... Very big baits aimed to catch big bass,

but I now realize that they are two different baits. I appreciate you bringing this up, I need to change my thread title, and clarify my intention with this thread.

Also... this thread was created with you in mind as well Joe. I remember those big glide baits you showed me at your house on the Guntersville trip. I would really like if you utilized this thread as your platform to share your Guntersville swimbait adventures with us.

Capt. BassinLou · December 22, 2019, 07:27:23 AM

Quote from: caddyjoe77 on December 22, 2019, 01:36:39 AM
Not exactly prime weather, and the water crossed the sub 50 threshold -- but i will keep it on deck and throw it regardless :D

Joe, in regards to your quote above, what are the ideal fishing water temps for SB's/GB's ?

Capt. BassinLou · December 22, 2019, 08:05:45 AM

Here's my collection so far, I don't which style of baits I will be concentrating on since I technically haven't started throwing these bigger baits yet.

I know for many reading this, my baits are tiny when talking about this topic, but since I'm baby when it comes to throwing these baits, everything looks big to a baby.

"Appetizers"

"Weight watcher portion size"

"Petite sirloin serving"

Cuervo Jones · December 22, 2019, 10:22:34 AM

Quote from: Bassinlou on December 22, 2019, 07:02:52 AM
Very cool baits CJ, I read over the history of those baits on the other thread.
Question... what has been the biggest Swimbait you have fished with and currently fish with?

The biggest baits I throw now are surface baits (wakebaits). I didn't get much of a chance to toss them this past year due to travel schedules and other stuff that blew my plans for night fishing. So I haven't put any fish in the boat on them yet. But I've caught bass on 9" and 7.5" slammers, 7.5" homebrew wakebaits, and 5" homebrew rats. Here's the largest I will be throwing in the next year.

The bodies are all 9-10" long and that's the main point. Tails add a bunch of extra length to rats (the Rago mink is 16" total) but bass focus on the main part of the lure so that's what I consider the main length. I had a 12" Orso split-tail, but it was an absolute monster to throw so I traded it for a rat and another bait. The largest subsurface bait I've caught fish on is 8", but I got some 10" Savage Gear line-thru gizzard shad that I'll be throwing this year and I have tossed some Rago glideators, but not enough to catch anything yet. I've caught lots of bass on 5-8" bluegill baits (Mattlures and Deps) so they're usually on at least one of my rods when I go out. I started throwing the big stuff in 2008 after a business trip to California in 2007. I visited Lake Perris, where I used to fish as a kid and saw a photo of Jerry Rago's cousin with an 18# bass landed on his 12" generic trout. Blew my mind and I honestly thought it was a photoshop job!

I don't throw big baits exclusively by any means, but I plan to focus on them a bit more in 2020. This'll be a fun thread to participate in! Thanks for getting it fired up!

Capt. BassinLou · December 22, 2019, 10:47:26 AM

Cool looking baits CJ, thanks for sharing. Holy crap that's a big bass!!

Capt. BassinLou · December 22, 2019, 12:24:33 PM

I suspect those big rats swimbaits will get crushed in some of the areas I fish.... hmmmm....

Capt. BassinLou · December 22, 2019, 03:54:44 PM

Went out for 3 hours today bank fishing my neighborhood canal. Below was my swimbait of choice.

Contrary to yesterday I had a lot more followers today, but they weren't as big as yesterday's pig.

I did not skunk however, I caught a decent bass while my bait swam along a limestone wall.

Not a giant by any means of the imagination, but I'm moving in the right direction.

TNDiver · December 22, 2019, 04:29:09 PM

I have some swim baits that I swear should work, but haven't caught anything on them yet. Threw one at Guntersville when we sighted some and tried to hit the alleys between the grass.

Do you guys fish them more in clear water or do you do so in muddy water? I think part of my problem is the bass do not see them as well unless I run them top water to cause a wake

Cuervo Jones · December 22, 2019, 06:32:52 PM

Water clarity doesn't matter to me. Bass feel then with their lateral line. They put out a LOT more vibration than a jig or worm or spinnerbait. Lots of people think they're for clear water only, but that never made any sense to me. Bass hunt in all sorts of water clarity and don't have any problem nailing baits.

BrandonK · December 22, 2019, 07:23:41 PM

Awesome stuff, guys. I got somewhat bored with regular bass fishing but hollow body frogs kept me excited this entire last year. A couple months ago, after lots of reading, I decided to try the BIG swimbait/glide bait/rat game out. Only one fish to show for it (6lb) but I love the theory of it all. And knowing I'm likely the only guy (or one of very few) throwing these things in this area is a confidence booster. Plus man they look amazing when they swim. I have a couple Huddleston 68s being delivered tomorrow. Been throwing the 7.8" Keitechs, a couple Sebile swimmers, an S-waver, my homemade rat, and this big beautiful 8" Gigantarel. I'm excited for 2020

Pipepro · December 22, 2019, 08:20:19 PM

I love the idea of throwing these gigantic baits! I always seem to migrate towards bigger baits and unfortunately fewer bites because of it. I have been eyeing those topwater Rats for a while thinking I should throw them around looking for the biggest bass in the lake. You guys keep posting up these pics and Ill be buying another setup soon! Keep us posted, Id love to see how Bass under 5lbs react to these things.

Smallie_Stalker · December 22, 2019, 08:42:43 PM

Quote from: BrandonK on December 22, 2019, 07:23:41 PM
Awesome stuff, guys. I got somewhat bored with regular bass fishing but hollow body frogs kept me excited this entire last year. A couple months ago, after lots of reading, I decided to try the BIG swimbait/glide bait/rat game out. Only one fish to show for it (6lb) but I love the theory of it all. And knowing I'm likely the only guy (or one of very few) throwing these things in this area is a confidence booster. Plus man they look amazing when they swim. I have a couple Huddleston 68s being delivered tomorrow. Been throwing the 7.8" Keitechs, a couple Sebile swimmers, an S-waver, my homemade rat, and this big beautiful 8" Gigantarel. I'm excited for 2020

I have the Gantrel in a spawning bluegill color. I like how it does a 180 if you give the rod a quick snap.

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