Swimbaits Win Again!

Skeet Reese dominated the Bassmaster Series event on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, winning by nearly 15 pounds!

He was fishing with the hottest style of baits to hit the scene in a long time, the realistic and fun swimbait. These baits are very versatile and have become a "go to" bait for many anglers.

There are many swimbaits available on the market today such as the Spro BBZ1 Shad, the Strike King Sexy Swimmer and Yum Money Minnow. All of these and many others are extremely important to have in your tackle arsenal.

The larger sizes of swimbaits (6" and up) are a must if you are going after monster size largemouth bass. All of them are great and the soft plastic style are great because they can be rigged to be weedless and fished in heavy cover where the lunkers like to hide. Be sure to get yourself a few of these great baits and try them out. You'll be glad you did, and the bass will fear you!

Lipless Crankbaits

The hottest bait at the Bassmaster Classic this year was the lipless crankbait. The majority of bass caught were bagged using this versatile bait. This lure can be fished at any speed and can be fished at a variety of depths for whatever presentation turns the bite on.
These baits have a tight wiggle action that isn't quite as aggressive as other crankbaits, this is perfect for fish this time of year especially since the bass are moving a little slower and getting ready for the spring spawn and may be a little skittish. These bait usually have ball bearings inside that rattle and along with the vibration really rings the dinner bell for hungry lunkers.
All of the baits I mention can be found at Bass Pro Shop, you can click on the banner at the top of this blog and do a search on the BPS site.

I am a big fan of spinner baits, as a matter of fact, it is probably my first choice in baits. I usually carry 3 or 4 fishing rods with me, and there is almost always a spinner bait tied on 1 of them. There are many different brands and most of them are good, I like Strike King and Boo Yah baits the best. They are nearly weedless lures and can be cast into almost any place without snagging. I have had great success with chartreuse colors and white with willow leaf style blades. If all else fails a spinner bait will usually get 'em! You also need to consider sizes, a normal bait is 3/8 or 1/2 ounce, these are awesome, but sometimes fish don't bite. If this is the case you may need to downsize to a 1/8 ounce spinnerbait. I have done this numerous times when the bites slack off, and sometimes the bass just are looking for something smaller.