# Soft plastic swimbaits



## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Seems like swimbaits are becomeing a very popular choice for saugeye anglers in central ohio. Not from reading on here but by being at places and seeing almost everyone throwing them at one time or another! When 3 or 4 yrs ago very rarly did i see some one throw them. 
Most people seem to be useing a sassy shad or the venoms, But i dont know if its cause ive only used the swagger swimbaits big joshy makes(and not that much comparred to others). but the venoms and sassy shads have very poor action. Ive heard decent things about the gandermountain brand, but havent used them myself.
What does everyone else prefer for cool/cold water eyes??? 
Heres what i have noticed with the ones ive used so far.

Venom i think 3 inches- No action at all looks like ur reeling in a stiff dead fish.

Sassy shad- very little acion,the paddle tail moves if u reel fast enough. But the body had no action.

Walmart offbrand- about the same as the sassyshad

-Swagger swim- very good action. paddle tail moves well, and the whole body wobbles really good.


I know there has to be more good swimbaits out there that are available to the public. Ive also heard good things on here about keitecs sp? Guess ill have to check them out? And have used the bigger hollow belly swims for bass but never for eyes now they have a good action, maybe i need to try and imply them in my saugeye fishing?
Thanks 
Bobby


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

I keep lookin', but there are no plastic swimbaits with better action than the Keitechs....none! 
Gators (all 'eyes) can tear 'em up and MEND-IT can put them back together...so buy both!


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## Skippy (Dec 2, 2009)

First off I,m retired and live right by a nice lake so I get a fair amount of fishing in.
I just ordered some of Big Joshy's swimbaits yesterday so I can't say anything about them. 
So far Kalin's had the best swimbaits out there but they don't make them anymore(tear in my eye). Wish they still did.
I use a fair amount of the bigger, 4&5 inch Big Hammer baits with a few mods to them such as splitting the tail and inserting one of those glass tubes with the rattle beads in it.
As far as smaller size, Cabela's hand poured swim shads are by far the best I'v used. Both 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 inch work wonders. Clear/blackback. They have a little silver glitter mixed in.

One of the biggest troubles with swim baits is getting the right jig head. I had more then a few nice fish get off with the standard jigs out there so I made my own. ( I DO NOT SELL THESE JIG HEADS) but anyone can make them. Just a thin wire aberdeen hood in sizes 1/0,2,3 & 4/0. These come stright shanked so I just bend the eye up a little then crimp on a regular split shot of any weight I want. ( Cabela's sells bulk packages of these.) I use mostly size 1,4 & 7's. Without the bend in the hook the splitshot will just spit and work its way down. Paint them up then I add 3D lure eyes. Clear coat over the jig head, helps hold the lure eye on. Netcraft sells what I use as far as paint and clear coat.
A bigger thin hook has uped my hooking percentage and if you snag up the hook most time you can pull it out.
I'v never tryed to post any pictures but I'll see if I can....


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

intimidator, Yea you seem to like those baits alot, They will be the next style swimbait i bye! Think im gonna fisnish out the fall and winter with the swaggin minnows im using now, until i get super comftorble with them, then this spring go with another brand/style. 
skippy, Thanks for the info i apreciate it, And migh give the jig head idea a try this winter when cabin fever sets in.

Keep em comeing!
Bobby


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

Saugeyefisher said:


> intimidator, Yea you seem to like those baits alot, They will be the next style swimbait i bye! Think im gonna fisnish out the fall and winter with the swaggin minnows im using now, until i get super comftorble with them, then this spring go with another brand/style.
> skippy, Thanks for the info i apreciate it, And migh give the jig head idea a try this winter when cabin fever sets in.
> 
> Keep em comeing!
> Bobby


Bobby, just go get yourself a pack of the 3.8" Keitech Swing Impact Fat in PERCH color (Gators love them) or another baitfish color...then you can see how they swim this year and decide what colors and other sizes you are going to need for next year! 

I use the 3" (Swing Impact) for Crappies and Perch (these are skinnier than the Fats), the 2.8" and 3.8" (Swing Impact Fat) for Walleye and Smallies, and the 4.8" (Swing Impact Fat) for LM. Of course I've had Crappie hit the 4.8" and LM hit the 3".


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## fishslim (Apr 28, 2005)

Those are some good baits that have been mentioned. I have tried alot of different ones myself over the last few years. And there are a few commercial brands that i do like,as everyone well knows i target Saugeyes most of the time and really was looking for a swim that worked with great action at super slow speeds in super cold water. I have a buddy that does not sale his but by far are the best larger swimbaits i have ever used he calls them Swimming Swamp shads they are over 4" long and he makes them with a rattle in there belly area. There are 5-6 other guys on the site that have used these sims and i think all will attest to there value in cold water conditions as well as all year long. These swims roll and waggle at almost no speed at all and already have crushed some very large eyes on them the last couple weeks. Big Joshy Swaggin Minnows are very similar in action to the larger version they to will give off great action at very slow speed and have produce over 150 saugeyes for me in the last 2 weeks.I have seen them out produce jigs and tails jerks and vib'e a couple nightS ago last week at a stupid ratio. And it was not just me ii gave some to other guys there using the other baits and they started wacking them also. Granted i have also had nights when the other style baits are the ticket.I will be out there in a couple days throwing both baits with a tendency to go to my larger ones at certain times when i need more thump or bigger profile for the big girls. If anyone else has found some good swims let us know i know there are some saltwater swims out there that are fantastic but when water gets super cold they stiffen up to much. I want Slowwwwwww!!! And so far hand poured have been the answer to that. Good Fishing


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## Tokugawa (Apr 29, 2008)

As far as "swimbaits" go, there are quite a variety.

For hollow bodied, paddletail swimbaits, Basstrix are probably the best.

For non-realistic, non-hollow bodied, the Keitech Swing Impact Fat are money. Trust Intimidator on this one...especially with a Model III swim jig head.

For realistic soft bodied baits, the Trash Fish and Mattlure Gills are very nice.

The Giron is nice for a hard bodied panfish bait.

For hard, jointed trout or shad type swimbaits, the CL8 baits are incredible...as are 3:16. Spro BBZs are decent too.

It just depends what type of swimbait you want to throw.


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

fishslim said:


> I want Slowwwwwww!!! And so far hand poured have been the answer to that. Good Fishing


That is exactly why I like Keitech's...I fish everything SLOWWWWWW!

The tails move so well, we actually fish them under a bobber for crappie and the water movement makes the tails move.


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

Tokugawa said:


> As far as "swimbaits" go, there are quite a variety.
> 
> For hollow bodied, paddletail swimbaits, Basstrix are probably the best.
> 
> ...



I actually also use the TRASH FISH when I want to throw something different (realistic)...but ALL of my TRASH FISH have Keitech tails transplanted onto them with MEND-IT!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks guys, this is what i was looking for!! Well lasnite all my fish came on swimbaits again(im hooked)! Im going to give the keitechs a shot this spring, and will be one of the baits i stock up on when cabinfever starts to set in this winter.
Fishslim, You showed me the bigger swims ur talking about, very impresive!! One of these days im gonna try to pour plastic myself. Lol not now thought to much other stuff going on. 
Oh and another swim i have used that i wasnt impressed with were the berkley ripple shads. again had to swim the bait to fast to get to tail to move, with hardley any body action. and the one bite i had on them the fish took my tail off. A couple though that i have looked at with interest, are the berkley gulp shakey shad, and the berkley gulp salt swimshad. But like has been said i think when it gets super cold out the material those baits are made of will get super stiff wich = bad swimbait.
Keep them comeing i know theres more out there. and thanks for all the info already!


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

bobby you are starting down the same road I went down 2 years ago and It led me to design and make my own so I can tell you you will find way more bad swimbaits than good ones! Its actually amazing to me how many REALLY bad ones are out there. The last straw for me was the bass assasin panfish size swimbait. Easily the worst, stiffest, peice of junk swimbait ever. Didnt even produce the slightest wiggle at any speed! I don't know how reputable companies dare to sell such garbage. they think if you put a boot tail on a hunk of plastic its a swimbait and it will sell. Sad thing is people buy this crap and decide that swimbaits are no good. If only they knew!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

big joshy, if it wasnt for useing urs first and knowing there are some out there that produce, I would have given up after the sassy shads and venoms, cause they just plain suck. Now i guess they will catch fish but when they are im sure any thing u throw at them will. Im looking for something that catches fish when nothing else will(LOL aint we all!!). 
Again thanks a bunch guys!!


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

its true that there are alot of times when my baits will work with about the same results as a twistertail, but ive had quite a few of people fishing these for quite a while and there are times when they will outfish a twister 10 to 1. I just feel more confident in catching bigger fish when im using swimbaits. And they usually get a more agressive, way down their throat bite. I fished with twisters for over 10 years with no saugeye over about 23 inches and the second trip out with swimbaits I hit a 7.5lber so I was sold.

BTW Ive had alot of people giving me feedback about how they fish swims for saugeye and several people are having success with a lift and fall, sort of a rolling retreive. Slim got 2 to my none the other night with that retreive on a tough night when nobody was catching. And that 7.5lb fish I was just talking about hit while dragging the bait on the bottom about 1ft at a time.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Yea ive been getting most of mine with a slight jerk during a fairly steady retrieve, and a couple just dragging on the bottem.


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

Big Joshy said:


> bobby you are starting down the same road I went down 2 years ago and It led me to design and make my own so I can tell you you will find way more bad swimbaits than good ones! Its actually amazing to me how many REALLY bad ones are out there. The last straw for me was the bass assasin panfish size swimbait. Easily the worst, stiffest, peice of junk swimbait ever. Didnt even produce the slightest wiggle at any speed! I don't know how reputable companies dare to sell such garbage. they think if you put a boot tail on a hunk of plastic its a swimbait and it will sell. Sad thing is people buy this crap and decide that swimbaits are no good. If only they knew!


Amen!
I fish with swimbaits 100% of the time for Crappie, 90% of the time for Walleye, and 75% of the time for Bass. I think that I have tried/used every type of swimbait known because of the cost of the Keitech stuff...Now that everyone has raised their prices for junk swimbaits, the Keitech's aren't that expensive anymore!
Now that I know about it, I'm gonna give your stuff a try...Keitech is mainly natural colors and I need a few brighter ones...plus I love that craw!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Intimidator, Let me know how you think they compare to the keitechs!
Oh and i wanted to mention that i had a buddy at buckeye lake give me a few swimbaits he has been useing with a little sucsess. 
I thinkd there a brand called bite me sold in the bargain bins at gander mountain. He gave me a few pink with sparkle and a white one, I think there 2 or three inches long. Ill post here how i like them after i give them a try this weekend!
Bobby


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

Saugeyefisher said:


> Intimidator, Let me know how you think they compare to the keitechs!
> Oh and i wanted to mention that i had a buddy at buckeye lake give me a few swimbaits he has been useing with a little sucsess.
> I thinkd there a brand called bite me sold in the bargain bins at gander mountain. He gave me a few pink with sparkle and a white one, I think there 2 or three inches long. Ill post here how i like them after i give them a try this weekend!
> Bobby


Hey Bobby, are you talking about "Big Bite Baits" at the bargain bins at Gander? These are in the BB for a reason!LOL

Most of these shad type swimmers and other types use cheaper plastic, are too thick at the tail, or have bad paddle designs, to get the desired action at slow speeds.
The Keitechs will even move while just sitting under a bobber...just the wave action or current will make the tail move like a minnow suspending in the water. The scent of the bait is made into the silicon/plastic and lasts for the life of the bait. I need a bait with this kind of action to pull off as many different styles that I use. Sometimes I use a super slow retrieve, sometimes I bounce it off the bottom, stop and go, twitch it, jig it, make it die, or burn it and the tail never stops moving which is the key to the bait! Like I said I have tried every kind and type of plastic swimbait and 0 have come even close to what I'm using....that is one of the reasons I have never tried any swimmers from anyone on this board...I try to give true reviews about products and I do not feel comfortable about reviewing other fishermen's products if they do not compare well!
I recently tried another USA manufactured plastic swimmer that had 3 of 4 traits that I look for...it had very natural colors and shape, was made from a very nice plastic so it moved well, perfect sizes (2", 3", 3.5"), but the paddle design was terrible. I had bought some to try and they did not perform well so I took a better designed tail and "Frankensteined it" with the help of Mend-It (plastic repair/glue). I tried the Frankenstein and it was just as good as the Keitech! I e-mailed the owner and sent pics and vids and he loved it and it is in the process of development right now!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks guys!!


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## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

I love swims. The new cabelas hand pours are nice in any of the colors and they sell 25 packs of large hooks with smaller jig sizes that work well. The biggest mistake cabelas made was getting rid of the 3 inch aquaglow hoochie coochie. They still are one of my favorites with a small profile. Big Joshy's have been very productive for me as well, producing when others wont. Recently got some panic minnows which I was very disappointed with. Haven't tried the ones that have the split up bodies yet, but have them. Berkley rippleshad work, Gander name brand work, and storms work, but not like any of the others I listed. Storm really went downhill when the started selling the prerigged 3 packs, versus the bags. Now only 1 or 2 out of a pack work.


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

st.slippy said:


> I love swims. The new cabelas hand pours are nice in any of the colors and they sell 25 packs of large hooks with smaller jig sizes that work well. The biggest mistake cabelas made was getting rid of the 3 inch aquaglow hoochie coochie. They still are one of my favorites with a small profile. Big Joshy's have been very productive for me as well, producing when others wont. Recently got some panic minnows which I was very disappointed with. Haven't tried the ones that have the split up bodies yet, but have them. Berkley rippleshad work, Gander name brand work, and storms work, but not like any of the others I listed. Storm really went downhill when the started selling the prerigged 3 packs, versus the bags. Now only 1 or 2 out of a pack work.


There will be a NEW design of the Density Panic Minnow Dropswim soon...I worked with the owner to develope a new tail design so it swims like a swimbait should!


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## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

Intimidator, if you could send me some pics of your mend it tails that would be awesome!!!


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

st.slippy said:


> Intimidator, if you could send me some pics of your mend it tails that would be awesome!!!


PM sent!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Steve, Thanks for the reply. All of this input has really helped me out alot!


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