New set up for beginner swimbait guy...

[AWilliams]

With all the latest rage going on with swimbaits I want to maybe start throwing them. I want to start off slow and small at first. Not really looking to start chucking an 12" Castic trout just yet, maybe more along the lines of a 6" MoneyMinnow or the like. Here's some issues I have too. The place I fish the most is a little spot that has a ton of shore structure. Basically the whole place is lined with tullies and brush and laydowns and average depth is from 3' to a max of 10 '. There are some islands too that create some nice points. I normally flip senkos, pig/jig and flukes there with pretty good sucess. The only way to fish this place is in a float tube also. They would need to be weedless too. There is no way I'd be willing to throw one of these swimbaits with the 3 giant trebles hanging down at the tullies. I'd get hung up every other cast except for maybe throwing parellel to the tullies I suppose. In that case I don't think I'd get hung up too bad. That's why I love throwing the Fluke so much there because it is aso weedless.

So, I guess I'm looking for some rod specs/actions/line ratings of what I should be looking for throwing the above mentioned swimbaits. The rod can't be to long because the fatigue associated with the different style needed to fish from a tube. Reels suggestions? I have some old school Chronarchs, a Curado and a couple Accurists. Any of those good for throwing these? Suggestions on some inexpensive weedless and not so weedless swimbaits to start with too.

Thanks,
Alin

[darrin]

You will get lots of different opinions on this. I started throwing swimbaits not too long ago and I also started with the money minnows and other soft plastic swimbaits. The main thing to consider is you want a rod that handles the light paddletails and also some heavy duty baits as well. I settled on a Daiwa Zillion 741XHFB. It can handle the light stuff and still have power to cast a huddleston. This is a good middle of the road swimbait rod for me. I can throw a lot of different lures plus this is an awesome frog rod, too. As for reels, any reel with decent line capacity would work imo. I use a Zillion 100 w/ 17lb for paddletails and a pflueger asaro or daiwa luna with 20lb for the larger swimbaits. But your old school curado 200 is also a good reel. Nice drag and good line capacity. I don't worry about bass spooling me, so even your chronarch should work. It's when you're constantly throwing the big swimbaits do I worry about getting a larger reel. Also, post this question in the rod section of the forum. You'll get more responses regarding rod and reel combos. Good luck

[CombatWombat]

If you want to fish small weedlees swimbaits I recommend a stiff rod to help with the hookset. You need that stiffness to drive the hook with that much plastic. If you don't have a swimbait rod, a stout jig/flipping rod that can handle the weight would be ok. I use the mission fish for pitching in tullies and grassy areas and you can also fish it like a jig. This bait is designed specifically for this. Start with a 5" or 6". I prefer braid when pitching but switch to a 25lb or 20 lb mono if the water is clear.

I use a 300 size reel but you don't need that line capacity for pitching so a curado 200 is fine.

I also don't have a problem fishing trebled swimbaits in grassy areas and tullies. I like to sink my swimbaits close to bottom along a weedline and slow roll it. Parallel to the tullies will also produce. If you can get out at night the better. Remember that swimbaits will produce less bites but you will upgrade the size or your catch.

[sacrtrain]

I use a 7'0'' MH Zillion with a revo sx and 15 pound hybrid for my light swimbaits. I honestly believe this is the perfect set up for the application. I can easily throw 3/4 oz fishtraps and downsize to something as small as a fluke. Im normally just a Shimano and Daiwa guy but the revo works for this.

As for baits, you cant beat the basstrix hollow bodys because they are weedless and really catch fish. I like the smaller paddletails in chartruse this time of year. THe only downside is the basstrix get tore up after only a fish or two which can be frustrating. However, a screw-in type Gami Swimbait hook seems to help.

Lastly, Ive Seen Alan Fong speak at the ISE a few times and he always recommends fish traps to new swinbait guys. They wort kill you if you throw them all day and cost 1.25 each. Good luck and I hope this helps.

[GRANTG]

Two of the guys above said what I had planned to. The mission fish is a bait you have to try if you fish heavy cover. Also the zillion 7'4" swimbait rod is perfect for what you want. Use a reel you already have until you step up to bigger baits. The line needs to be at least 20lb mono or 50lb braid though in my opinion. I would not want a 5# bass in heavy cover on 15# line. And just about everywhere has bass at least that big. Most places much larger. I fish the 7" and smaller mission fish on the above mentioned zillion with 65# braid. If you have clearer water use a heavy flouro leader.

Grant