Article & Images by Aadil Cajee
What is a Swimbait?
A swimbait is essentially a baitfish imitation-lure, made as realistically as possible and designed to closely resemble baitfish that predators usually feed on. It can be hard bodied or soft bodied, swim at pretty much any depth and comes in sizes that range from 5cm to a mammoth 35cm. They also range in weights from from ΒΌ oz to 10-11 oz which is pretty much a lure that weighs half a kilo!
Swimbait Types, Tackle Required and Applications
Swimbaits can be categorised into two main categories which are then further subdivided. In this section we will explore the different types together with the basic rigging technique, suggested tackle and application for the type of bait.
SOFT BODIED SWIMBAITS
MOULDED SOFT PLASTIC
These are the most commonly available (and cheapest) baits on the market and come in the most variation of sizes and colours due to the ease of manufacture. They have been around forever actually with the first being the sassy shad style bait fished with a lead jighead. Moulded baits are typically a baitfish shaped soft plastic body with a rubber boot-tail moulded on a jighead with an exposed hook to give it the swimming action.
Rigging
Rigging is basic with the lure coming pre-packed and ready to fish.
Tackle
Due to the vast array of moulded baits on the market it is easy to find a bait which can be thrown on anything from a light drop shot stick with 6 pound line to your favourite flipping stick with 20lb flouro or even braid. Tackle required for this bait comes down to pretty much the size and weight of the lure.
Application
Moulded baits typically have an exposed hook protruding from the back of the bait and thus are prone to getting hung up when fished in heavy cover. They are in truth not the most realistic swimbaits around as most if not all the motion of the bait resides in the tail. A good bait to use when bass are schooling and due to the economical nature of the bait you could easily have a wide selection of these to match the colour and size of the baitfish.
The larger baits in the 5 and 6 inch sizes are great when fishing deep offshore structure such as points, drop-offs and humps where the big weight of the bait gets them down quickly and allows you to maintain good bottom contact with the bait at all times.
I can recall a recent trip to Mokolo Dam fishing a submerged island (hump) with a 6 inch moulded swimbait. I cast the bait out and once it hit bottom worked it exactly the way I would a carolina rig and sure enough the technique produced on average much larger fish than my partner who was fishing a big worm on a carolina rig.
Bass Digest/February, 2014