ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Matt Allen and Tim Little are well-known big-bass experts who own Tactical Bassin , a website and social media channels dedicated to educating the public about bass fishing .

S

wimbait fishing is here to stay .

Oversized baits that were once considered a novelty , designed to catch giant troutfed bass in Southern California ponds , have proved their worth from coast to coast . Many anglers have accepted these baits and recognize how effective they can be at catching fish in their area . Even with this acceptance , most still struggle to produce results themselves .

The first step is recognizing these big baits will ( and do ) work , but it ’ s something entirely different to find consistent success close to home . Having spent considerable time with these baits all over the country ,

we ’ ve noticed trends with big swimbait fishing that will help you get more bites – often of the “ giant ” variety .

Simply put , swimbaits will catch fish on your lake . If you have any doubts , it ’ s time to set them aside . Big fish eat smaller fish , they eat injured fish , they eat anything they want because they ’ re a dominant predator . That doesn ’ t change because you live in New York or Texas or South Dakota . With that knowledge and a few clues provided by your previous fishing experiences , you should be able to fish these baits with confidence .

To begin , let ’ s apply some basic rules .

Match the Hatch

First , you need to figure out what fish your bass are eating . If they ’ re targeting bluegill , a 14- inch glide bait fished in open water probably isn ’ t your best option . Second , if your bass are eating baitfish that grow to a relatively small maximum size of 3 to 6 inches , you need to adapt accordingly and fish a maximum bait size of 6 or 7 inches . Third , if the prey species grow in excess of 6 to 8 inches , bigger will almost always be better . One common mistake new swimbait anglers make is fishing the “ medium size ” baits .

And the final piece of the puzzle : How clear is the water where you ’ re targeting these fish ?