Dave LeGear
Contributing Member
- City
- What's left of Pine Island
- State
- Florida
Always a very productive way to cover water and get strikes 
Here of late we had company in and I got to play guide (again / still) and even converted a Live Bait chunker (and Seminole fan on top of that) to the world of Power Fishing and one of the systems I always employ is Swim Baits
I had him and his cousin thumping both nice Trout (over 21 inches) and Reds on Swim baits. One pair of Reds the other day was over 27 and another over 30 inches They were both having a good time till I told them that I had not given them my bill for guide fees as of yet! Ha-Ha...
The system I employ though is using either Bass Magic or Strike King Swim baits (same vendor who makes both) in the smaller 3.5 inch size.
Luck ''E'' Strike Bass Magic Swimbaits
I use the smaller ones this time of the year since the overall size of the finger mullet are smaller and then lather them up with a little Pro Cure Mullet scent.
PRO-CURE Super Gel, High Performance Gel Scents
This does 2 important things, help it blend in the bait with the Mullet schools I am hanging around, this as well as cover any Human or left over Plastic scent on these lures.
Colors for me are going to be as close to a natural bait as I can find. One is just not going to fool fish in a population center like the Tampa Bay area without doing such... I use black back and silver OR if I am in a location that has some tanic acid or fresh water influx, I may switch over to the black back and gold color combo and see if that will help crack the code. When I see a lot of Pin fish or Sardines mixed in, I may switch over to a green shad color if the two above are just not scoring. Even quicker if I am seeing Trout, Reds or Snook "Dust off" the bottom as I slow troll or drift over them.
I then have about 2 foot of 20 pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon leader tied onto the braid and use a 1/4 oz Slayer Jig Head that has (very important) a built in weed guard with the barb pressed down. When rigged on a fast tip action 7.6 foot Daiwa Coastal Spinning Rod
And either a 3500 or 4000 size Daiwa reel correctly loaded on the spool with 15 test braid... You can sling this combo a long way (critical to stay off of those fish) and then as soon as it hits the water, swim it back at a speed (rod tip bounce) to keep it swimming above the grass. Either fan cast an area, or work it around the Mullet schools or Stingrays and you should pick up your share of hits
Here is a video I found of Blair showing how to rig Swim Bait on hooks actually designed for such lures.
So give them a try, for they like square billed crankbaits (separate thread) can really help you cover (rule out) a lot of water. And like I was expertly trained by Brother CA Richardson over the years, you need to also have your SA (Situational Awareness) on "high" and really pay attention to what is going on around you to move yourself into the 10% of the anglers who get 90% of the fish. This because 90% of the fish are usually only in 10% of the surrounding water on any given Flat...
Tight lines!
Here of late we had company in and I got to play guide (again / still) and even converted a Live Bait chunker (and Seminole fan on top of that
) to the world of Power Fishing and one of the systems I always employ is Swim Baits I had him and his cousin thumping both nice Trout (over 21 inches) and Reds on Swim baits. One pair of Reds the other day was over 27 and another over 30 inches
They were both having a good time till I told them that I had not given them my bill for guide fees as of yet! Ha-Ha... The system I employ though is using either Bass Magic or Strike King Swim baits (same vendor who makes both) in the smaller 3.5 inch size.
Luck ''E'' Strike Bass Magic Swimbaits
I use the smaller ones this time of the year since the overall size of the finger mullet are smaller and then lather them up with a little Pro Cure Mullet scent.
PRO-CURE Super Gel, High Performance Gel Scents
This does 2 important things, help it blend in the bait with the Mullet schools I am hanging around, this as well as cover any Human or left over Plastic scent on these lures.
Colors for me are going to be as close to a natural bait as I can find. One is just not going to fool fish in a population center like the Tampa Bay area without doing such... I use black back and silver OR if I am in a location that has some tanic acid or fresh water influx, I may switch over to the black back and gold color combo and see if that will help crack the code. When I see a lot of Pin fish or Sardines mixed in, I may switch over to a green shad color if the two above are just not scoring. Even quicker if I am seeing Trout, Reds or Snook "Dust off" the bottom as I slow troll or drift over them.
I then have about 2 foot of 20 pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon leader tied onto the braid and use a 1/4 oz Slayer Jig Head that has (very important) a built in weed guard with the barb pressed down. When rigged on a fast tip action 7.6 foot Daiwa Coastal Spinning Rod
And either a 3500 or 4000 size Daiwa reel correctly loaded on the spool with 15 test braid... You can sling this combo a long way (critical to stay off of those fish) and then as soon as it hits the water, swim it back at a speed (rod tip bounce) to keep it swimming above the grass. Either fan cast an area, or work it around the Mullet schools or Stingrays and you should pick up your share of hits
Here is a video I found of Blair showing how to rig Swim Bait on hooks actually designed for such lures.
So give them a try, for they like square billed crankbaits (separate thread) can really help you cover (rule out) a lot of water. And like I was expertly trained by Brother CA Richardson over the years, you need to also have your SA (Situational Awareness) on "high" and really pay attention to what is going on around you to move yourself into the 10% of the anglers who get 90% of the fish. This because 90% of the fish are usually only in 10% of the surrounding water on any given Flat...
Tight lines!
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