Advice on swimbait hooks

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mark Byrne on October 16, 2011 at 8:59am

Kevin, Tito knows more about swim baits than anyone I know. Berkley (Tito is on their pro staff and works at 3 Rivers Marine running the baits section) has a large number of Swimbaits in their lineup and Tito really knows them and how to rig and fish them.

Mark

Permalink Reply by Russell Baker on October 16, 2011 at 11:02am

Kevin,

Not a bad question to ask at all. There are some factors that need to be determined.

What do you want your swim bait to do, what part of the water column do you want your swim bait to be worked in?

 

A couple of swim bait hooks to consider are the Owner Beast and the Gamakatsu EWG Monster worm hooks. We stock both of these hooks at Limit Out Marine. The Owner Beast is weighted and the Gama hook is unweighted.

 

Both of these hooks work well with many types of swim baits.

 

Russ

 

Permalink Reply by David Parnicky on October 17, 2011 at 2:00pm

I have three ways that I like to rig hollowbelly swimbaits based on how I want to fish the bait. 

1)  Weighted hook, I am not familiar with the hooks you are talking about.  I have only used the falcon weighted hooks but I really like them.  I normally use the weighted hook when I am fishing relatively shallow as its hard to thread a hollow belly over a big chunk of lead.  Also, the weighted hooks are awesome around vegetation and heavy cover as you can texas rig your bait and make it weedless. 1/16th-1/32nd oz weighted hooks give the bait a nice flutter in shallow water.  the 5/0 size would be good for the size of bait that you are describing.  Just texas rig the bait on the weighted hook like any soft plastic bait and you are all set!

2)  Internal jighead, Elken lures makes a jighead called "Neil's Mini Swimbait jighead" that I like to rig internally in the head of a hollow belly.  I like to use this when I want to fish a hollow belly slightly deeper and in relatively open water.  They make them up to 5/16ths of an ounce and it works well inside of 3-6 inch hollowbelly swimbaits. 

3)  External Jighead, The revenge swimbait head is a little pricey but an excellent external jighead.  I like to thread hollowbellies onto one of these when I really want them to go deep in relatively open water.  You can buy these up to an ounce so you can really get a hollow belly down to where fish don't see many.  I am not sure if just a plain football head jig wouldn't accomplish the same goal but these work well. 

 

I have done well with all of the above rigging methods and haven't had any issues with the bait not swimming straight with any of them.  This is all I know on rigging hollowbellies.  Keep in mind, your imagination should be your only limit when rigging hollowbelly swimbaits.  These are just a few options I have found through personal experience.  I hope this helps some!   

 

Permalink Reply by Kevin Bye on October 17, 2011 at 8:12pm

Thanks for the information folks,Russ,I'll stop by soon and checkout some tackle options.

Great info David. I'm not sure where in the column I will be using these. I have a lot of trials and errors

to work with. I figure I'll give them a try for bass but I started getting curious on using them for an upcoming pike tournament on Lake Coeur d'Alene. There are still thick weedbeds with large open pockets.

So I was thinking of the proper weight to have the bait swim just over the cabbage weeds and then have an enticing fall in the open areas.

I appreciate the feedback everyone,thank you

Permalink Reply by Tag Watson on October 17, 2011 at 10:10pm

Great advice above.  I was hoping David would elaborate a little on his suggestions but I suppose we can just extrapolate and fill in the blanks. 

 

Kevin,

 

In addition to swimming over the cabbage, also try using enough weight to get down into the cabbage on the retrieve so you can pop your swimbait free to trigger reaction strikes.  Some vegetation is more conducive than others for popping your swimbait free and not fouling.  If it is the cabbage I am thinking of, it is one of the best grasses for this technique.