The Synchronous Converter

What lures are 4-13″ long, been used regularly on the West Coast and have caught some of the biggest bass ever? Yep, Swimbaits.

Now a change is happening, these lunker catching baits are being used on the East Coast as well. It doesn’t take a 20 pound bass to eat a 12″ swimbait. One thing the swimbait is known for is big bass and they will catch big bass in any lake if used right.

Some of the swimbaits are pricey to say the least, while some go for $150.00 in the store or more others have been sold on Ebay for $1200.00 each. Why would anyone pay that much for these baits? The answer is easy, they catch fish or are a collectors item or both.

Many of these swimbaits look and act like rainbow trout and there’s a reason for that…trout are one of the big bass’ favorite food. The bass will get a high protein, high calorie dinner and use the least energy with one of these fish in his belly. Swimbaits have come a long way in just the past couple of years.

So, how do you fish a swimbait? The trick is to fish it at the slowest speed you can that will allow the action of the bait to work. Fish it with a slow steady retrieve. Don’t jerk it, don’t speed it up just a slow steady retrieve. Fish the swimbait in places like over the top of submerged vegetation, over submerged points, along docks, over brush, around bridges and anywhere else that bass can ambush their prey. If you see a bass coming after a swimbait by the boat, don’t stop reeling, if anything turn the lure or speed up a little, that is how a fish that is scared would act. You can also troll these bait and cover more water but again, I think slower retrieves works best. If you aren’t having any luck with a slow retrieve then you might want to try trolling or a fast retrieve.

When choosing a swimbait grab the lure by the head, if the tail curves and almost touches the body, that is the one you want. The action will be good. If the tail doesn’t almost touch the body, find another one that will. You want the lure to appear natural.

When fishing a floating swimbait one of the most effective techniques to use to catch suspended bass is called “dead-sticking”. Here is how to use these technique…ready? Just throw the lure out and let it sit, that’s it. You have to realize that a big bass can take 30 minutes or an hour to decide to hit your lure. Just let it sit motionless, be patience and hang on when you get a strike.

You might fish a swimbait all day and only get one or two hits but odds are the fish you catch are going to be trophy bass. Big bass are lazy and use the least amount of energy as possible, so you’re going to get less strikes fishing for lunker bass. Swimbaits can catch the biggest bass in any lake. Have patience and try your luck with these outstanding lures.

Charles has fished for bass for almost 50 years. He has fished from Florida to California and has caught more than 6,000 bass in his lifetime. His biggest bass is 12 pounds 14 ounces. Charles has owned two tackle stores in his lifetime. He now resides in Ohio. Charles is webmaster for: http://www.bassfishingweekly.com

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Method 1

Equipment

I fish baits at all depths, not just the bottom, in wide-open water. I always set up and fish deep lake structures. Besides an understanding of the contours on the bottom of the lake, being mobile and being able to read your fish locator are the keys. The tools I use are 8-foot heavy action rods, circle hooks, cut and live shad, balloons and the all-important fish locator. I use 30-pound line, large capacity reels, 8-foot heavy action rods, 2 oz. Egg sinkers, barrel swivels and #7/0 circle hooks.

Basically a Carolina Rig, I have a hook with an 18-inch leader tied to your barrel swivel, which is connected to your main line, which is where your egg sinker is attached. My boat is equipped with steel rod holders, a hand-controlled trolling motor, two fish locators, a big dip net and marker buoys. My equipment is not the most expensive but it is practical. The main thing to remember is to keep whatever equipment you use in good condition. Many know all too well about the disasters that can be caused by old line and improperly maintained fishing equipment and big Blues will test everything from your knots to your rod holders. If there is a weak link, they will expose it.

Find the Big Fish

You need to know how to tell the difference between larger fish and bait fish while using your fish locator.

There are two main structures that I catch Blue Cats on: ledges and humps. Blue Cats are creatures of edges and they seem to congregate on the brake lines of ledges and humps. The one-two punch comes when you find these structures with both bait fish and big fish mixed together on your locator. There are very few spots that I will stop and fish where I don’t see either big fish or bait fish on my locator. The ledges that I primarily fish are old river channels edges. The fish can be scattered up and down the edge but the best fishing occurs when they are on the top.

Catching Them

Typically, when I set up to fish these ledges, I run my boat over them and throw out my marker buoy where I see the fish. A little trick to using your marker buoys is to throw your marker upwind of where you are going to fish. If you drop the marker right on top of the fish, you will be bumping it and will eventually move it while the wind is pushing you around. If you throw it upwind of the fish, you can run your trolling motor right up to it without the wind pushing you over it.

Next I bait my rods, staggering them at the depth I see the fish. If the fish are up high, above 10 feet, I use a balloon and live shad on two rods. The other four rods will have half live and half cut shad, which I will suspend over the fish, continuously moving around the marker until the first strike occurs. In the warmer months the bite will usually occur on live shad. The colder the water, the better that cut bait seems to work.

Keep moving the depth of your baits up and down according to what your locator is telling you. An easy way to determine the depth of your bait is to measure the distance between the first guide and your rod’s reel. My rods are two feet from reel to the first guide so when I pull out twenty sections of line between my reel and the first guide, my bait will be approximately 40 feet deep. Stagger the depth of your bait so that you know how deep each is. When you get your first strike, move your other rods to that depth. If no strikes occur within 30 minutes move to another structure. I have set on the same ledge for many hours and caught fish, but I will usually have to move after catching 5 to 10 active fish. If you do not have a trolling motor you can use anchors, but it requires many sessions of heaving up heavy anchors and can soon kill the fun of ledge fishing. When water is at its coldest, the anchor method will work better due to the inactivity of the fish below.

In other words, the warmer the water the faster the fish will spook out from under your boat. The colder the water the less chance the fish will want to move away due to their comfort zone in the water column.

Make sure to read Part 3 of this article to learn about Capt. Jeff’s second non-typical technique!

You have permission to publish this article free of charge as long as you are not selling it and that you include the author bylines immediately visible with the article and, if published in an electronic medium such as on a web site, you provide a link back to www.ozark-lodges-fishing-trips.com in the author bylines, both where the web address is listed as well as well as with the text “Lake of the Ozarks Catfish Fishing Guide Service”…

Jeff Williams runs a Truman Lake Hybrid Bass and Lake of the Ozarks Catfish Fishing Guide Service offering lodging and guided trips in Missouri. To book a trip, learn more tips, or find out how Capt. Jeff would fish your own local waters, call 1-866-HOOKSET or visit http://www.ozark-lodges-fishing-trips.com today!

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