As the mist still lingers on the mirror-like surface of the water, the oh-so-sweet smell of 2-stroke in the air, I can see the rocky outline of the point in the distance and as I strap up the rods for the run contemplate the thought of the possibility of landing a giant bass. I tap off and idle closer, it’s perfect, 8ft on the top of the point falling to 20ft quickly, a few rocks and some grass, the perfect big fish spot. I park the boat in 30 ft of water, haul out the 8ft swimbait rod rigged with a big 3oz bluegill and after a big heave send it on its way across the point. As the bait lands I give it time to sink and admire the sun peeking over the horizon… I pop the bait off the bottom hoping for a strike…nothing, then proceed to slowly reel the bait over the point.
I can feel it bumping the rock and
getting through the grass as it
comes over the point… as it gets
to the top and starts its decent I
give the rod two big snaps and
something pulls back violently…
I set the hook only to have the
mirror like water broken by a
very angry and very big bass…
the fight is short and furious, but the big fish succumbs to the heavy tackle quickly and is landed….my hands are shaking and the sound of my heavy breathing drowns out the fish eagle’s cry in the distance…I manage to slip the scale in…3.57kg, a decent fish I think while struggling to get the camera out the hatch…
I have been experimenting with swimbaits and swimbait techniques for around 4 years now and have built up a little bit of experience which I thought I would share with you all. It is not possible to cover it all in one article but I thought I would try and cover the basics and maybe if the reception is good (considering this is my first attempt at writing an article) do a follow up. In order to consistently catch bass on swimbait, we have to understand what a swimbait is and what it is about a swimbait that attracts larger fish. We will also go through the types of swimbaits, their applications as well as the tackle required to fish these baits. Before you go on, I must warn you, swimbaiting opens the door to an entirely new world, if this bug bites prepare to be sucked in to the addiction that is swimbaiting!
order to present the larger bass with a bait that matched its natural prey not only in colour but in size as well. As the technique developed, so did the baits and specialist rods and reels which went with it. Modern day swimbaiting is made easy for the average angler, with a myriad of baits and specialist tools to choose from and unlike 10 years ago is not limited only to super size baits and super size bass.
CAGE'S COLUMN
SWIMBAITS UNRAVELLED
“Swimbaits”, the mere mention of the word conjures up images of massive bass and record size bags. You rush out to your local tackle dealer and grab a few of the fabled baits and make your way to your favourite dam, eager to give them a try in anticipation of the violent strike from a plus sized fish.
The minutes seem like hours and after a half a dozen casts or so, your enthusiasm starts to wane and eventually turns to frustration as you fail to yield any kind of success with your newly acquired baits. Sounds familiar? I too have experienced this frustration when first starting to experiment with this exciting and ever evolving technique. After revisiting an article I wrote a while back on the subject, whilst wanting to write on it again, I realised that much of this still holds true today. So here it is, Enjoy.
Swimbaiting was born in the western states of the USA where bass to today still grow to gigantic sizes due to the populations of stocked trout which inhabit these waters. Anglers at the time started experimenting with baits mimicking the profile of a large trout in
Bass Digest/February, 2014