Published: July 10, 2008 11:51 pm            

Swim baits deadly on lunker bass

After a couple of hours of fishing without catching a lunker bass, Jeffrey Carver decided to try one of the hottest new bass lures on the market. That lure is called a soft swim bait and is sold by a variety of companies such as Bass Magic and Yum. Though the lure hit the professional scene a couple years ago, it has just become available to the general public in the last few months.

At first Carver didn’t have much luck on the bait, but did notice that some bass were following the lure back to the boat. Changing tactics somewhat, Carver decided to slow the lure down slightly. As he cast the lure out he would let it sink slowly until it got near the bottom, whereupon he would start retrieving the lure back to the boat.

Casting the lure near a shallow ledge that dropped off into deeper water, Carver let the lure sink and then began his retrieve once again. This time a huge bass hit the lure and headed for parts unknown. The lunker put up a valiant fight and really put on a good show before Carver wore him down and put him in the boat. The seven pounder was admired, photographed and quickly released to grow and possibly be caught again.



Right rigging



As Carver continued fishing the lure he determined that the bait had to be rigged properly or it wouldn’t swim correctly, and therefore not draw any strikes. The swim bait is approximately 6 to 8 inches long and rigged weedless with a large weighted 5/0 to 7/0 hook. If the hook is not exactly straight in the bait, it will not allow it to run properly, therefore it is critical to rig it correctly.

In Carver’s case, it didn’t take him long to determine what the bass wanted and he continued to draw strikes from lunker bass in the 5 to 7 pound range. Although there were several anglers in our fishing party and all were catching some bass, none were matching Carver’s prowess of drawing strikes and catching bass. At least not until Carver shared his newfound lure with them.

After trying one myself, I had a couple of quick strikes. The first came as I reeled the lure up to the boat. A lunker bass engulfed the lure just as I was about to lift it out of the water. Hesitating momentarily, I set the hook hard and played the fish a few seconds before losing him at the boat. This scenario was repeated a couple more times before I realized that I just didn’t have a rod that was big enough to drive the hook deep into the fish.

In order to fish the large swim baits you must have stout rods and strong line, or you’re just spinning your wheels. After a short break at lunch time, I fished the lure on a 7 1/2 foot custom made striper rod. On my first strike after lunch I caught a nice bass in the 6 pound range.



Non-stop bites



Carver meanwhile kept at it and continued to draw strikes and catch lunker bass. One particular bass nailed the lure from out of nowhere and almost tore the rod from his hands. After quite a spectacular battle he wore the old monster down and landed him. That whopper was obviously in the 8 pound range and put up a whale of a battle.

Though you’re not going to catch a lot of fish on the soft bodied swim baits, you will have a chance at catching some of the largest fish in any lake that you’re fishing. And this time of year you must put the lure where the fish are first, or you won’t get bit at all. And that means fishing ledges or deep water drops where the big fish live this time of year. If you’re fishing smaller ponds or lakes, then you need to fish the shoreline areas early and late.

Want to catch a lunker bass? Then take a tip from Jeffrey Carver and try the swim baits on your next trip. You just might catch the largest bass of your life.

        

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