Swim baits.

[FLATHEAD]

Anybody use em? Never much fished them seriously myself. Played around with some a few times but I want to try and use them correctly this spring. I am thinking I can hook up some good size bass with swim baits in the 5 inch range. I know I wont get a lot of numbers with a 5 inch bait, but I think if I do get bit it'll be some quality fish.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Swim baits.

storm wild eye. baby bass & baby blue gill. s-l-o-w retrieve. for stripers try chart/silver.

 

[fireman57]

Re: Swim baits.

jtex, as you know I have been enjoying the white/striper fishing on the Ohio River now for a number of years. Tried swim baits last spring all the way to fall and only caught a few. Tried just about everything with the. Still have the best luck with a number 4 silver blue fox. Everything seemed screwed up this year too. Couldn't catch a dang thing all spring and most of the summer. In '06 we caught over 500 of them from mid May thru mid July and then they quit. '07 didn't catch any numbers until late Aug through Oct. Can't figure it out.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: Swim baits.

As far as the stripers. Let me ask, do you keep the ones you catch? If every guy out there that cleans up on fish keeps them it is no wonder the numbers diminish. We have a lot of guys complaining about the numbers of walleye being absent in the susky river. These are the same guys that would harvest 25 30 fish each time out over the years, and now they wonder where the fish are? It's a no brainer.

Not saying that is the case with your striper numbers

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Swim baits.

Myself, I would eat nothing out of the Ohio river.
'Course, I'm a catch and release guy anyway.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Swim baits.

what are those ohio river stripers eating? around here its almost exclusively shad (either threadfin or gizard) - 6" sassyshad in dayglo or chart on a bigass jighead has been a good producer for a long time, and more recently the storm wildeye.

IMO, if licensed fishermen taking legal limits are threatening the population, your wildlife authorities are sleeping on the job. that or else some natural catastrophe - we've had a couple good fisheries pretty much wiped out by golden algae - takes a long long long long time to recover.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: Swim baits.

Oh,, The big problem in Pa is the fish commission. They have the put in take out mindset. They seem to think as long as they can stock trout for the one day wonders to buy license and catch a limit thats all there is. They dont seem to care much about the bass and other native fish. That said a group of anglers has pushed them to introduce a bill that would eliminate "all kill" bass tourneys on some of our rivers. It is a step in the right direction.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Swim baits.

On another note...a legal catch can be several things.
Daily bag, or "Creel" is one thing, but how many fish are in the freezer that never get eaten??????(possesion limit). These guys give a ton of fish away every year and you know some get tossed in the can.
During the Walleye spawn every year I catch "usually" anywhere from 200-500 fish. I might keep 18-20 during that 30 day period.
I also see alot of the same guys taking their limit for many days at a time....I know they ain't eating them that fast, and those people are the first to complain when the quality and/or quantity go down.

 

[John_S]

Re: Swim baits.

"We have a lot of guys complaining about the numbers of walleye being absent in the susky river. These are the same guys that would harvest 25 30 fish each time out over the years, and now they wonder where the fish are? It's a no brainer. "

The daily limit is 5 and min len is 15" here in NY on the Susky. I very rarely keep any though. I know a decent number that do the same. Many of the limit guys, do try to keep the 15-20" and let the bigger females go. There is still a fair number of fill the freezer crowd though. When you see them exceeding their limit, call the DEC.


Here is a 13lber caught late this fall on susky ( not by me )

 

[BND]

Re: Swim baits.

Have only used eels & clams for stripers, but if you are talking LM Bass, nothing beats a swim bait.IMHO.

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Swim baits.

I'll tell ya, that kicktail they advertize on TV, that looks pretty good... I've been wanting to try that.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Swim baits.

You guys got me wanting to take a northern fishing trip this year!
Man,have not eaten walleye in years,thats a tasty fish.
The fishing here last summer was real bad due to all the lake levels dropping.
I always release bass,i may eat a few cats over the season.

 

[AnglersResource]

Re: Swim baits.

I like the new NEW Berkley 5" PowerBait Saltwater Swim Shad these things are some mean swim baits. They are coming out with a new one for freshwater this year I think... But you can use the saltwater one in freshwater that is what I have been doing...