One of the perks of bass fishing in the ultra-clear waters of northern Michigan is that we get to fish with visual bait styles. One of my all-time favorite presentations are swimbaits. There are a huge variety of swimbaits on the market. Just to name a few:
Soft bodied styles like the Jerry Rago, Sebile’s Magic Swimmer, and Castaic.
Hollow-bodied styles such as the Basstrix swimbait (which started the whole hollow body craze), Strike King’s Shadalicious, Berkley Hollowbelly, and the Bass Magic.
Hard bodied styles like the Sebile Magic Swimmer, BBZ-1 by Spro, and the King Shad by Strike King.
Fishing with these lures requires a rod with a soft tip, to absorb strikes, but also a stout mid and butt section to be able to throw these lures, many of which approach an ounce for our smallmouths here up north. I use fluorocarbon line exclusively, since one thing that swimbaits excel at is realism. Lifelike swimming actions and real-life paint schemes make these baits seem ultra natural, and fluorocarbon line, which is invisible in water is the natural choice here. I find that a baitcasting rod is more efficient for this entire category of lure, but certainly a spinning rod would do just fine for the soft-bodied styles.
Visual water and ultra-real lures make for absolutely exhilarating time on the water. My blood boils with excitement at the thought of this style of fishing. Almost every strike can be seen, only adding to the excitement. Smallmouths feed more by sight than by feel, in general, and with the clear glacial waters of the Grand Traverse Bays and the northern Michigan inland lakes, this is even more true. And fish will travel a long way to hit a lure.
Long casts are a must, and swimbaits can be fished anywhere in the water column. Fish often follow a swimbait before striking, and being able to watch this behavior is truly knee-shaking. Strikes usually come from behind, as the fish follow the bait, engulfing it from the back. For this reason, I instruct my guide customers to wait to set the hook until they can feel the full weight of the fish, much like a topwater bite. Because the lures are so lifelike, fish tend to hang on a little bit longer than they might with other lure categories. Waiting this extra second before setting the hook is a sure-fire way for my Traverse City Bass guide customers to hook and land more fish.
Tie on a swimbait next time you’re fishing clear waters, and trust me, you’ll try to figure out where else, and how often, you can throw these baits.