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#1
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Favorite Plastic Swimbait ?
For Walleye's what Brand and color and size is your Favorite ? Thanks
Do you Jig them or Dubuque 3 way swivel them or troll them ? Thanks |
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#2
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my favorite is one that i make myself (angling ai hammer and little hammer molds) but commercially available is either the 2.75" strike king baby rage swimmer or the 2.8 and 3.3" keitech swing impact fat. color is dependent on lots of things, water clarity, day/night, local forage, etc. i like to have a variety (which is why i make my own).
most people cast swimbaits on a jighead (or EWG/beast hook, if using a large bait) and cast and retrieve around structure. a few will troll them, never heard of them on a dubuque rig. swimbaits are great, very versatile and they catch a ton of fish (of many species). carry a variety of jighead weights, you can fish them shallow, deep, fast, slow, just an amazing bait! |
#3
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For me there is a distinction between swimbaits and paddle tail minnows. Not sure which you are asking about or maybe both?
For walleye, I only really use plastics on a jig. I fish inland lakes. So, that usually means paddle tail or forked tail minnows. Both work well. Brand never really mattered much so far. I like Northland Impulse Paddle Tail Minnows, Northland Impulse Smelt Minnow, Berkley Ripple Shad, Berkley Havoc Grass Pig, Berkley Powerbait Minnow, Berkley Powerbait Rib Shad, Berkley Powerbait Power Swimmer, Lunker City Fin-S Minnow... I also like the Keitech swing impact type of solid plastic swimbaits. There are number of companies that make very similar baits now as well (Bass Assassin, X-Zone, Angler's Choice, Jackall, Strike King....). They are all pretty good. I just find them expensive and not necessarily more productive than the cheaper paddle tails. At least for Walleye fishing. Pike and Bass would likely be a different story, but that comes down to method/technique more than the bait type itself. Even more so for the hollow bodied plastic swimbaits. Although, if I needed something with a larger profile I would consider using them for Walleye jigging. Overall, I think the Berkley Havoc line offers the best value with Northlands lines being close. |
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#4
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My favorite is actually a Scheels branded bait. It’s the Scheels outfitter swim minnow. It isn’t the only one I like but it is my “go to”.
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#5
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What sizes of paddle tail do folks find work well? What kinds of jig heads do folks like with them, and how is jig head size - weight and hook - matched to paddle tail size? How if at all do the answers to these questions change if one is trolling as opposed to other presentations? Gerry |
#6
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Those look pretty good and look very similar to the Berkley Havoc Grass Pigs. I would buy those for sure if we had a Scheels here. How many do you get per package? The website did not say. You get 10/pack for the 3.5" Grass Pig Jrs.
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#7
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They come in a 10 pack I’m pretty sure.
Gerry as you your question I use the 3 1/2” paddle tails with 1/4 ounce jig heads. The bulk of the body slows the drop enough that they can be fished well from 2’ down to about 8-10 feet. What I like is that with the 1/4 ounce head they have a nice wobble to them almost like a rolling action. I fish them a variety of ways depending on the fishes attitude. Snapping action, subtle swimming action or sometimes just a slow steady retrieve. Deadly baits tho. |
#8
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Jig weights depend a lot on depth but unless I want a slow presentation in fairly shallow water I seldom go as light as 1/8. Too light and you don't get action on the fall. An exception is when I'm in weeds like cabbage and want to fish middle third of the water column where the top half of the weeds reach. 1/4 gets used a lot down to 15', 3/8 deeper than that. Sometimes I'll go as heavy as 1/2 in more than 20' when I want to really keep it moving. You'd be surprised how long it takes 1/4 or 3/8 to get back down when you pop it up a few feet in the summer or on a fast break where 3' of horizontal movement results in 5' of depth change. I pour my own jigs and fish minnow shaped plastics almost exclusively on darter heads. The 1/8 take 3/0, 1/4 and 3/8 4/0. Those a big hooks with plenty of gap above the plastic and shanks that get back in the body a bit whether it's 2.5-3.25" for 1/8 and 1/4 or 3"-4.5" for 1/4 and 3/8. Again, some of the weight consideration is to keep the tail moving on the fall. A big plastic on a light head just won't wiggle and thump. The darter head fishes like it sounds, jumping from side to side a bit. There are other styles that do the same, really only ball heads swim pretty straight. I think the side jumping is really important when you're popping the jig. |
#9
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