Swimbait must haves 2024
JustinJ reply :
Hey guys i recently purchased a swimbait combo and I want to pick up some swimbaits during the black Friday sale on tackle warehouse. In your opinions what are some must haves? I have done some research and it seems like the megabass, river2sea s waver, and huddleston are defintely a few I would like to purchase. I would loke to kwep the price aroubd $30-$35 for each bait.
I mainly fish shallow weedy ponds (average depth 3-4') with bluegill perch, golden shiners and some rainbow trout as primary forage. would the huddleston ROF5 be ineffective at this depth?
Thanks
BassB8Caster reply :
Do you have a lot of toothy critters where you fish?
JustinJ reply :
The lakes I fish generally do not
J Francho reply :
Save up, and get a Hard Gill floater, if you're fishing ponds with blue gill. I've caught well into the hundreds of bass with that one bait. The others you mentioned are all good baits as well.
BassB8Caster reply :
That helps you then. Nothing like spending 20 plus on a soft swimbait and getting the tail bitten off right away.
So hudds, savage gear, keitech etc make great baits. For a cheap option i love the action of the yum pulse 4.5". Weedless in cover and on a jighead for deeper has really produced for me.
JustinJ reply :
What line are you guys throwing? I've always been a big mono fan for everything except frogs and punching but was considering trying it for swimbaits. Right now i have 20lb mono on my swimbait reel
J Francho reply :
20# CXX.
JustinJ reply :
Someone talk yo me about huddleston in shallow ponds. Don't want to throw a 30$ bait if it's just going to drag bottom and get caught in grass. So far I've been doing some homework and seems like the 68 special rof5 may work for what I want to do.
DINK WHISPERER reply :
Savage gear shad and bluegill line through for sure. Bull shad 6-7" and some Spro BBZ rats in 40-50 size. For line some 20-25# CXX or Izorline XXX.
fishwizzard reply :
I am also just getting into swimbaits and I started out with a ROF5 68 Special and a ROF12 Huddgill. The 68 falls very very slowly and wants a painfully slow retrieve. It does come through grass very well but I have been to chicken to throw it around much cover. I have not caught much one it, but again, I have been pretty conservative in throwing it and I think that is really hurting me. I did have an osprey divebobmb it once, so it can trick predators other than bass.
The gill has been more productive, with a couple of fish on it and a dozen or so more hits I didn't connect with. It seems to gather grass a bit more readily, but no more than say a paddletail on a swimbait hook.
I am also going to stock up on a few swimbait/bigbaits during BF and try to fish them more aggressively in the coming year.
MassYak85 reply :
On 11/17/2017 at 1:40 AM, DINK WHISPERER said:Savage gear shad and bluegill line through for sure. Bull shad 6-7" and some Spro BBZ rats in 40-50 size. For line some 20-25# CXX or Izorline XXX.
x2 I love both lines, and also like the spro rats and savage gear bluegills (although the bluegills might give you issues if you let them sink into the weeds). Definitely grab a Mini-Slammer or the 7" as well. Mattures ultimate bluegill might be a goof choice as well.
J Francho reply :
On 11/17/2017 at 1:05 AM, JustinJ said:if it's just going to drag bottom
This actually how you should fish it, like draggin a football jig. You are mimicking a distracted, feeding baitfish.
VolFan reply :
Hudd 68, 7" or 9" Slammer, and an S waver (178 or 200). Learn to fish those and you'll never truly need anything else.
WRB reply :
The 3:16 Mission Fish is an excellent weedless swimbait.
Matts Hard Gill is excellent, I prefer the slow sink model.
Rats are good for ponds but far from weedless.
Hudd Gill is weedless and smaller size swimbait.
Tom
JustinJ reply :
Rof 5 or 12? I've read the rof 5 sinks very slow but am thinking the 12 may be too much for 3-5' of water I normally fish
VolFan reply :
I'd do ROF 5 if you're in shallow, weedy water.
MassYak85 reply :
On 11/17/2017 at 10:30 AM, VolFan said:I'd do ROF 5 if you're in shallow, weedy water.
Yea definitely go with the 5, worst case you have to fish it slower, which is what you want with hudds generally anyways. I find my ROF12 still gets hung up in the weeds IMO.
Bluebasser86 reply :
Savage Gear Shine Glide 7", MS Slammer mini or 7", Savage Gear 3D line thru trout and 3D 5" bluegill floater. Savage Gear also makes a top hook style trout swimbait similar to a Hudd but for much cheaper.
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Savage_Gear_3D_Real_Trout_Swimbait/descpage-SGRTSB.html
Caliyak reply :
a cheap alternative to the Hudds, Storm has some trout swimbaits. Walmart carries them. My wife bought me a pack. Not bad for a starter swimbait. Savage and Castaic are probably a step above the Storm, all Wally World baits. Optimum, Hudds,R2S and 3:16 are great baits.
JustinJ reply :
Does anyone fish the weedless hudds? How is the hookup ratio?
MassYak85 reply :
On 11/18/2017 at 5:42 AM, JustinJ said:Does anyone fish the weedless hudds? How is the hookup ratio?
The 68 has no issues with hooking up. They collapse very easily.
Also just my 2 cents, others may disagree, but as someone who was in your shoes looking at beginner swimbaits not too long ago myself, if you can afford it, just go with the tried and true lures like the hudds, slammers, bullshads etc and get a couple or a few that you can afford, and learn them and out time into them. I think it will do you more good than trying to find out first hand which of the cheaper entry level swimbaits are actually good or not. But at the end of the day it's what you are willing to spend and if all you can get is an S-waver 168 (s-wavers are actually very good baits for the money), and a savage gear trout, by all means do it.
JustinJ reply :
On 11/18/2017 at 9:06 AM, MassYak85 said:The 68 has no issues with hooking up. They collapse very easily.
Also just my 2 cents, others may disagree, but as someone who was in your shoes looking at beginner swimbaits not too long ago myself, if you can afford it, just go with the tried and true lures like the hudds, slammers, bullshads etc and get a couple or a few that you can afford, and learn them and out time into them. I think it will do you more good than trying to find out first hand which of the cheaper entry level swimbaits are actually good or not. But at the end of the day it's what you are willing to spend and if all you can get is an S-waver 168 (s-wavers are actually very good baits for the money), and a savage gear trout, by all means do it.
Massyak, thanks for all your help. As a beginner swimbaiter, i plan on starting with a few hudd 68's in perch and trout patterns, an s waver 168, ms slammer, and maybe a Matt lures gill
WRB reply :
ROF means rate of fall,
Huddleston swimbaits the ROF is in feet per 10 seconds without line tied onto the lure, line changes the fall rate and retrieve speed changes the fall rate.
0 = floater
5 = 5' in 10 seconds
12 = 12' in 10 seconds
16 = 16' in 10 seconds.
Lures rated slow sink average 5'-8' in 10 seconds
Fast sink is about 15'-18' in 10 seconds.
Huddleston ROF 0 and 5 do not have hooks, you add your own.
The HuddGill is weedless with hidden top hook and you will miss some strikes.
Tom
JustinJ reply :
On 11/19/2017 at 6:15 AM, WRB said:ROF means rate of fall,
Huddleston swimbaits the ROF is in feet per 10 seconds without line tied onto the lure, line changes the fall rate and retrieve speed changes the fall rate.
0 = floater
5 = 5' in 10 seconds
12 = 12' in 10 seconds
16 = 16' in 10 seconds.
Lures rated slow sink average 5'-8' in 10 seconds
Fast sink is about 15'-18' in 10 seconds.
Huddleston ROF 0 and 5 do not have hooks, you add your own.
The HuddGill is weedless with hidden top hook and you will miss some strikes.
Tom
So the hudd 68 weedless rof5 does not come with a hook?
So far I have narrowed my bait selections down to s few hudd 68s, s waver, Matt lures ultimate gill, and a wake bait. These will be purchased during the black Friday sale tackle warehouse is having. Further down the line I may purchased more baits but for now I want to keep it fairly simple
J Francho reply :
On 11/21/2017 at 12:43 AM, JustinJ said:So the hudd 68 weedless rof5 does not come with a hook?
Any weedless Hudds I've ever gotten had a hook.
WRB reply :
Weedless Hudds have a recessed top hook, the standard models don't.
Tom
J Francho reply :
On 11/21/2017 at 1:08 AM, WRB said:Weedless Hudds have a recessed top hook, the standard models don't.
Tom
Of course, that's what makes them weedless, but they all come with a hook.
WRB reply :
On 11/21/2017 at 2:01 AM, J Francho said:Of course, that's what makes them weedless, but they all come with a hook.
The original standard 0 & 5 only have a hook hangers no top hook, you add the hook.
Looking at the Huddleston site they do have a top hook model 5 in 6", 68, 8" & 10".
I haven't bought a Hudd 6", 68 or 8" ROF 5 in over a decade, still have a dozens of them since the trout stocking ceased where fish.
Tom
J Francho reply :
On 11/21/2017 at 3:50 AM, WRB said:I haven't bought a Hudd 6", 68 or 8" ROF 5 in over a decade
They come with hooks these days.
Primus reply :
JustinJ There a lot of proven baits that have been suggested so far in this thread . That said it might be helpful to find what rod/reel and line combo you have available to throw these baits with . It's not uncommon to see swimbait fisherman throwing baits around an ounce up to 10 ounces or more. Most of the swimbait sticks tend to have a sweet spot in terms of weight range where they perform well. For example I have 3 Dobyns 795's in my line-up along with a few other rods. Even though this rod is rated from 1 to 5 ounces , I think the sweet spot are baits in the 2 to 3-1/2 oz range as an example and anything over 4 ounces is pushing it . Knowing what you are working with will help you select baits that will match up well with your equipment optimizing your ability to cast, control and fish these baits properly.
MassYak85 reply :
Primus brings up a good point, I have an Okuma Guide Select H rated 1-6 oz and I would not throw anything over 4 oz on it.
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