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Swim Signatures

Mann’s Reel N’ Shad

Published: 21 June 2015
Written by Alex Tech
No comments
Categories: Deep Swimbait Fishing, Glide Baits, Herring Eaters, Small Bait Fishing, Smallmouth/Spotted Bass Swimbaits, Swim Signatures, The Ozarks, Trophy Ozark Brown Trout Fishing, Underspins

Keep it simple.  I am intrigued by swimming worms and swimming fluke baits, as they relate to swimbait fishing.  Swimming a fluke style bait is sorta kinda glide bait fishing to some extent.   There’s a randomness and glide of swimming fluke baits that makes them special.  Think about how the Scrounger Head, and Aaron Martens have pretty much validated that swimming flukes flat wear ’em out.  Now transition to the Head Spin.  Fluke influenced.  Very critical to rig your Fluke or swimbait PERFECTLY on your Head Spin.  Otherwise is runs funky or doesn’t look good.   The fluke + Head Spin of course won the BassMaster Classic in 2015 on Hartwell.  A blueback herring lake.  The Head Spin swims but also has a glide to it as it sinks and falls.  It has to do with the Fluke on the back.    The Little Dipper is an excellent trailer for the Head Spin.

My first exposure to the Scrounger was back in the day, Pacific Ocean in about 1990 out on the Dana Wharf fleet.   Saltwater calico bass fishing w 4″ curly tail grubs and Scroungers.  My first exposure to the Head Spin, was in 2005, in Atlanta, GA.  It was a local company and I read fishing reports for days trying to integrate into the Southern bass fishing scene.  I would credit Ryan Coleman for dialing me into the bite more like in 2007.  I hired Ryan to show me Lake Lanier.  There was a BassMaster Open coming to Lanier that year (Which, Ryan would WIN!).  He showed me how to slow roll a Head Spin over brush piles.  Later, folks like Brad and Bob Rutherford preached to me about the Head Spin for places like Hartwell.  Which is ironic because that is where Casey Ashley just won the 2015 BassMaster Classic — Lake Hartwell.   Head Spins have their place for suspended fish, herring eaters, spotted bass, largemouths, and any fish truthfully.  The underspin is a fundamental truth of fishing it feels like to me.

How many influences do you see here? Alabama rig and adding a 2nd blade/flash .... Then I've got a Little Dipper, from my Okeechobee affair w swimming worms. Then You have Fish Head Spin with is a unique swimbait in it's own right. Underspins, like spinnerbaits and inline spinners get bit.
How many influences do you see here? Alabama rig and adding a 2nd blade/flash …. Then I’ve got a Little Dipper, from my Okeechobee affair w swimming worms. Then You have Fish Head Spin with is a unique swimbait in it’s own right. Underspins, like spinnerbaits and inline spinners get bit.

So WTF does that have to do with the Mann’s Reel N’ Shad?  Watch this bait swim.  Watch it hop.  The straight reel, this thing has a sweet little wiggle fluid drive swim.   This is a “Do Nothing Swimbait” if I’ve ever seen one.  This thing looks lethal to me, on spinning gear , or casting gear.  There is a 3 3/4″ and and 5 1/4″ models which is cool.  The small one is definitely spinning gear time.  7′ M or MH Spinning pole and some 10-15# braid with a 10# floro leader.  Bang goes the dynamite.  This thing is part senko, part fluke, part glide bait, and part swimmer.  I just appreciate the simple yet super fishable and fish catchyness of this bait.

I have to admit, I haven’t fished a fluke on a standard roundball jig head enough.  I haven’t fished a fluke or fluke style (meaning V or U shaped body when looking at bait head on), that don’t have a swimming tail enough.   The swimming tail takes away from glide.   The tail straightens the swim into a more uniform flow/engine.  Fluke baits with a simple little fork tail (or no tail, ie Sluggo) don’t swim thru the water.  They glide.  The swimbait world is all blown up on, glide baits.  Glide baits are something so simple but something we (well, me certainly) are just scratching the surface with.  I’m so f@cking blown away on the Slide Swimmer 250, there’s no other way to put it.  I got like 5 bites by MAGNUM brown trout in the span of like 2 days.   It was sick and wrong.   There are particular reasons it’s so good.  I can kill it, stall it, etc that is very conducive to fishing current.  The Slide Swimmer 250 kicks f@cking ass in current.  Fishability.   Net net, anything that ‘glides’ like a fluke rigged with a light lead head will catch fish.   Try a 1/16 or 1/32 head on a Zoom Fluke sometime.  It’s stupid how good that thing fishes (and catches).  Mid-Strolling.  Have you ever heard of that technique?

The video is of the 5 1/4″ version in guess what color?  Hartwell Special/Blue Glimmer.  You know somebody knows what time it is when they name something like that.  This bait has blueback herring eaters written all over it.  Likewise smallmouth and spotted bass.  From creek fishing, to fishing steep walls / shade lines…boy …. this thing is super simple but looks effective.

Beginners

Think about this bait for kids or for somebody who is new.   Good enough to cast, retrieve, and sorta gets the feel for jigging a bait with a rod, reel, and line.    You set them up with the Mann’s Reel N’ Shad , they are gonna be stoked.  Floating down a creek or fishing small water?  The 3 3/4″ version looks killer.  Great colors.   Mann’s surprises me from time to time.  I try to keep an open mind and never be snooty about baits, companies, and techniques.  That sort of arrogance has cost me a lot of money!   If you know what you’re doing this bait is sorta a new ‘indicator’ bait / approach.  One of those specialty baits you have rigged up on a shad bite/herring bite where fish are suspended, chasing bait, on steep stuff,  or need to probe the depths.

We’ve got a lot of tools to pick from.  This one definitely will help you keep it simple.  And might be a good suggestion to some beginners or something you take on a trip w you where you need to put some newbies on fish. Mann’s Bait Company is about as OG as you can get.  I think about Hank Parker and those Gold Colorado bladed spinnerbaits he won the Classic with, and I think of Paul Elias and the big ole deep dredge crankbaits.  I have to say, the 1-Minus series has caught me a lot of fish.   Anyway, Mann’s has some good baits, at a good price and seems to be hanging tuff.   I imagine they’ve sold 1 or 2 umbrella rigs too?!?!?!

MP

Purchase the Mann’s Reel N’ Shad from Tacklewarehouse:

manns-reel-n-shad
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HogFarmer Baits Hair Jig

Published: 1 June 2015
Written by Alex Tech
1 Comment
Categories: Deep Swimbait Fishing, Small Bait Fishing, Swim Signatures, The Alabama Rig

It’s officially June 1st. I think it’s safe to assume there are fishes on the ledges out on the TN River.   I’m no ledge fishing expert, but here is what I know:  You have to have multiple tools in your toolkit, once you locate a school of fish.  The fish get tuned into your bait after you hook 3-5 fish.  You have to switch it up to keep getting bit.

The hair jig is one of the oldest school baits you can throw these days. I fished round headed hair jigs with Uncle Josh Pork Frogs on the back on Bull Shoals lake in the late 80s/early 90s time frame.   I know they catch fish. I hammered fish on the hair jig.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/hL0kfJvDFfI]

Scott Schauwecker and HogFarmer Baits are legit.  Scott sent me a bunch of his HogFarmer Umbrella Rigs.  Something I intend to show and share.  They are killer and are exactly what I like in umbrella rigs.  His hair jig came to my attention recently, and I took some time to cast it and feel it and film it.  Hair jigs have a different vortex.  They have a real glide to them as they fall thru the water.  They fall on a different plane than rubber/synthetic skirts.  The hair jig has a consistent size and shape vs. rubber that tends to ‘squid’ and distort.   It’s got a great shad/baitfish profile that just works. It pulses along as it swims.  The hair moves and pulses, but it’s far less dramatic than the swim of rubber skirts.  Hair has a natural flow in water that is more subtle and quiet, but nice and bulky and sleek.

HogFarmer Hair jigs are made with synthetic bear hair, krystal flash, and real bear hackle feathers.  The colors are legit.  Lemon Shad reminded me of a good TN River threadfin shad color, with the chartreuse stripe.  I like the 3/4 ounce. I would suggest he make a 1 and 1.5 ounce baits too!  I like ’em heavier than most.

Trailers/Customizations

Definitely you can cut the hair, thin it out, or create a tail.  I’m fairly certain a good trailers for a bait like this are: Keitech’s, BassTrix, Skinny Dippers, Big Hammers, Straight tailed Worms split down the center, Flukes, or Senkos.   The added bulk will give you more weight, more swim, more glide, etc.  The heavier your jig head, the better your trailer swims on the fall/sink.  Unless you are looking for glide, in which case, lighter tends to be better than heavier.

Stroking

Hell yes.  Rip this bait off the bottom and let it fall back.  That is the #1 application of the HogFarmer Hair Jig that I’d have in mind. I’d find a school of fish and use this as one of my tools to fire up the school, and show them something fresh and new.  I find switching from Big Hammer to Omega Remitz Football Jig to Magnum Speed Worms and then Umbrella Rigs of course.

Swimming

You should definitely swim a hair jig like you would any other swimbait you fish mid water column.  Whenever you find fish and need to show them something fresh or just explore how big a bait they’ll eat or really try to dial them in…Hair jigs are super old school.  The theme reminds me of “Ken’s Vortex” conversations.  The hair jig has a different footprint and vibration than rubber jigs and it swims and glides different.  It gets bit.

Purchase from Tackle Warehouse
Purchase from Tackle Warehouse

 

 

Buzz Hammer and Persuader Buzzbaits

Published: 17 December 2014
Written by Alex Tech
No comments
Categories: Big Hammer, Small Bait Fishing, Swim Signatures

[youtube=http://youtu.be/MGT41izlhs0]

I love fishing buzzbaits.  Adding swimbait tails to buzzbaits and spinnerbaits isn’t super new, but I’m unclear what guys actually use. I have always liked the Persuader Clacker Buzzbait.  I have caught big fish on buzzbaits, especially ones with clackers.  I love a black buzzbait with clack and a big ole ugly bait on the back, like a big Skinny Dipper or Zoom Lizard.   I have done really well, on the opposite end of the spectrum, with the Buzz Hammer.  The Buzz Hammer is smaller, more finesse, and quiet buzzbait that makes adding a swimbait tail really easy.

The Persuader Clacker Buzzbait

Skinny Dipper Swimbait Tail (trailer)

 

The Persuader Clackin' Buzzbait with the full size Skinny Dipper as a trailer bait
The Persuader Clackin’ Buzzbait with the full size Skinny Dipper as a trailer bait
A more finesse approach, the Buzz Hammer is a softer gurgle and the Big Hammer Square Tailed swimmer is a catchy little swimbait.
A more finesse approach, the Buzz Hammer is a softer gurgle and the Big Hammer Square Tailed swimmer is a catchy little swimbait.

The Buzz Hammer fishes really well with a 3″ Big Hammer Swimbait Tail.  The head on the Buzz Hammer designed to receive the Big Hammer Swimbait Tail, so naturally there is good fit and swim. I wish there was 3/4 and 1 ounce (or bigger) sized Buzz Hammers with bigger hooks and heads to accept the Sledge Hammer and just bigger paddled tailed swimmers out there.   You need to ‘bigbait’ your buzzbaits is my thought.

The Little Dipper on the Buzz Hammer looks awfully good, and is a great clear water/pressured fish approach to buzzbait fishing
The Little Dipper on the Buzz Hammer looks awfully good, and is a great clear water/pressured fish approach to buzzbait fishing.

 

 

Clack Clack Clack-----Blam! The small willow leaf blade on the Persuader Buzzbait adds flash, but most importantly a good clack. I have caught a lot of fish on this buzzbait. It runs true and wakes 'em up.
Clack Clack Clack—–Blam! The small willow leaf blade on the Persuader Buzzbait adds flash, but most importantly a good clack. I have caught a lot of fish on this buzzbait. It runs true and wakes ’em up.

I’m probably a month too late for some folks, but it’s surprising how well fish eat topwater baits, like buzzbaits as the winter sets in. Fish eat moving and reaction baits way better in cold water, when the water is in a cooling trend.  For example, 52 degree water that is falling from the summertime highs is NOT the same 52 degree water that is warming from 42 or wherever you lake bottoms out.  It’s relative of course, but think about cold water that was warm and figure those fish are better active chasers and hunters, than cold water that is only slightly warmer than the bottom out temps.

The Buzz Hammer, aka, Buzz Hamster. Rigged with a 3" Big Hammer Swimbait Tail, of course.
The Buzz Hammer, aka, Buzz Hamster. Rigged with a 3″ Big Hammer Swimbait Tail, of course.

 

Buzzbait fishing is badapple.  You need to be throwing the Whopper Plopper if you haven’t seen it. This is what I’m talking about, bringing some bigbait into your buzzbait.

persuader-clacker-buzzbait-tw
Click to Purchase the Persuader Clacker Buzzbait
buzz-hammer-tackle-warehouse
Click to purchase the Buzz Hammer

 

Lucky Craft Blade Cross Bait

Published: 11 December 2014
Written by Alex Tech
2 Comments
Categories: Glide Baits, Spinnerbaits, Swim Signatures, Underspins

[youtube=http://youtu.be/i-pr79dfxH8]

Here is some more fusion.  The Lucky Craft Blade Cross Bait you have to check out.  This thing really fuses the jerkbait, underspin, spinnerbait, and swimbait thing together.  I really like how neutrally buoyant this thing feels in general. It sinks out, but any slight tension flattens the bait out and you can get a near suspend with any bow or wind in your line.  Very senko-ish in feel.  You can rip rip rip and then stall this thing and just be totally stoked at this jerkbait, flash, spin, stall stuff this bait produces. You can slow grind out and transition out of your jerkbait cadance, and get more swimbait style.  Just slow grind it along, mindfully.

The Lucky Craft Blade Cross is pretty impressive. They make a 110 size which tells me there has to be bigger / saltwater size of these things! I want a 200 or 300 series!!!
The Lucky Craft Blade Cross is pretty impressive. They make a 110 size which tells me there has to be bigger / saltwater size of these things! I want a 200 or 300 series!!!

 

I think jerkbaits catch fish all year long, but as winter sinks in, and then again right before Spring springs….the jerkbait is king.  I can see smashing fish on the Ozark lakes on this bait.  Where ever you have a good reaction bait bite.  Lake Mead/Havasu come to mind.  I can see the herring eaters going nutty about this bait, especially those spotted bass herring eaters that love spinnerbaits and jerkbaits so much.  Lanier, Clarks Hill, Murray, Keowee, Hartwell —those lakes come to mind as well suited for this bait.  All clear water lakes, that is for sure.  And anywhere you know fish react to jerkbaits, well shoot, I would just tie one of these on and give a try, because this thing fishes sick.  There is no doubt you’ll enjoy and appreciate this bait.  It almost has a glide bait feel to it, and has so many other influences, I was impressed.

Purchase
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This is a modern twist on jerkbait, spinnerbait and swimming baits and if you think about it, is a bit of a sister to the spy bait thing.  The spy baits have the props and the whirring of their blades creates a new unique vortex.  So does the Blade Cross Bait.  Very unique swim signature and profile. Lucky Craft makes quality baits and this is no exception. I notice these things tend to be low in quantity and stock in Tackle Warehouse often.  That is usually a good indicator.

Fusion of jerkbait, spinnerbait, underspin and swimbait. Pretty rad bait.
Fusion of jerkbait, spinnerbait, underspin and swimbait. Pretty rad bait.

 

Purchase the Lucky Craft Blade Cross Bait HERE

The Gambler Burner Worm

Published: 10 December 2014
Written by Alex Tech
No comments
Categories: Florida, Rigging, Small Bait Fishing, Swim Signatures, Terminal Tackle, Weedless Swimbaits

[youtube=http://youtu.be/9k3WCuG_jK0]

I will admit it, I was a snob when I saw and heard about swimming worms.  I can think of 3 times the swimming worm was relayed to me as the bait, and I foolishly tried to make it a bigbait / swimbait bite without putting it into context.  When you fish Okeechobee, you will inevitably get around the Speed Worm bite.  Well, as you progress, you’ll migrate to the Magnum Speed Worm, and rig it with a jumbo offset worm hook and 1/4 – 1/2 ounce weight pegged and learn to swim, stroke, hop it thru the various grasses.  The big worm and special tail swim really well, and fish eat the heck out of it.

The Gambler Burner Worm tail.
The Gambler Burner Worm tail.

 

The Gambler Burner Worm tail (left) vs. the Zoom Magnum Speed Worm tail. We used to modify our Magnum Speed worms with a small piece of copper tubing to make what is now OEM on the burner worm. Just saying.
The Gambler Burner Worm tail (left) vs. the Zoom Magnum Speed Worm tail. We used to modify our Magnum Speed worms with a small piece of copper tubing to make what is now OEM on the burner worm. Just saying.

I found the swimming worm to be an effective technique on Okeechobee, Lake Seminole and Lake Dardenelle.  Dardenelle in the shore grass, over stumps and wood, and anywhere I could find grass the was submerged due to river levels.   Gambler doesn’t need my advice to create great products.  This company lives in South Florida and knows grass fishing way more intimately than me.  You have to appreciate the Gambler Burner Worm as a derivative of the Magnum Speed Worm.  The tail has a larger groove cut out of it, and it thumps and flaps better than the Magnum Speed Worm.  It is fatter than the Magnum Speed worm, but only measures approx 7″ in length.  It’s a fatty worm, that swims really good.

Purchase the Gambler Burner Worm from Tackle Warehouse:

gambler-burner-tackle-warehouse

I highly recommend you learn how to swim a worm.  You arent’ fishing for 10 pounders.  You are fishing for 3 – 5 pounders.  I really like 50# braid, a 1/4 or maybe even 3/8 ounce weight pegged and a 5/0 Owner Offset Worm Hook Texas Rigged.  You fling your Burner Worm way out and swim, stroke, hop it back much like you would a rattle trap in grass, or a vibrating jig.  The high stick retrieve.  Yo-yo it back while swimming it.  Let it fall and bury up in the grass and then lift up, reel it along and drop your rod tip and let it sink back down.  Fish tend to woof it and there’s no doubt when you’re bit.  The Texas rig nature makes hook ups pretty much 95%.   For those headed to South Florida this Winter, this is a swimming worm I’d have on board for Florida.   Gambler’s colors rock too.

Full worms compared. Gamber Burner on top, Zoom Magnum Speed Worm below. Texas Rig, with pegged weight. Swim it and don't hate. This is tournament swimbait fishing.
Full worms compared. Gamber Burner on top, Zoom Magnum Speed Worm below. Texas Rig, with pegged weight. Swim it and don’t hate. This is tournament swimbait fishing.

The Strike King Tour Grade Rage Blade Swim Jig

Published: 9 December 2014
Written by Alex Tech
2 Comments
Categories: Small Bait Fishing, Swim Signatures

[youtube=http://youtu.be/bAwa-8JAwUE]

The Strike King Tour Grade Rage Blade Swim Jig.  Say that 5 times fast!  Look, it’s a fair assessment.  This thing is a fusion of vibrating, swimming, stroking, grinding styles of jigging up fish.  Chatterbaits, vibrating jigs, or whatever you call them…….. get bit.  Swim jigs are a whole other universe of topics, but hell yes they catch fish, and in themselves fuse swimbait fishing into jig fishing.  So, connecting, fusing, and borrowing is the name of this bait. I was asked what I thought of this bait, so here goes.  I feel like this flavor of vibrating bait gives off a different vibration and vortex. It’s quite fishable and an innovative work around from Strike King.  My understanding is the Z-Man people have brought legal actions against anyone copying their “Chatterbait”.  It looks to me like Strike King found a way around it from a legal/design/patent perspective and likely has a bigger legal team!

Purchase from Tackle Warehouse:

tackle-warehouse-rage-blade-swim-jig

 

Where would I fish it?

  1. Okeechobee
  2. Okeechobee
  3. Okeechobee
  4. Eufaula
  5. CA Delta
  6. Chickimauga
  7. Guntersville
  8. Every other lake and river!

The truth is, where ever you swim a jig or vibrate a jig, this thing is going to work too.  It’s new and fresh, and has a slightly different swagger.  Would a bigbait version of this make sense?  I believe a big vibrating jig would be worthy of putting together. In fact, I’m 200% sure guys have done this since Bryan Thrift smashed them on it on Okeechobee in the early 2000’s and thus launched the Chatterbait (to me anyway).   The wave of the future is clearly ‘bigger’ is better.  The conventional bait companies like Strike King have caught swimbait fire and the natural progression every company needs to be thinking is how to handle the “XXL” or “Super Sized” size of baits.  Look at the 10XD crankbait from Strike King.  Why stop there?  You just go down the line, and make every lure bigbait:  spinnerbait, buzzbait, topwater, jigs, vibrating jigs, spoons (Ben Parker, aloha, and super work on your Magnum Flutter Spoon), WORMS, etc, etc etc.   The horse has left the stable, and the universe of swimbait and bigbait is influencing.  The Strike King Tour Grade Rage Blade Swim Jig is sadly only available in 3/8 and 1/2 ounces which, don’t get me wrong, are excellent sizes and choices. I’m just keeping a pulse on when companies like Strike King go big and where.  Rods, reels, terminal tackle, line and baits have to match up remember, and that is the funky transition we’ll be in until the big companies get it right and make it all and affordable system for the masses.  Then it will truly all be there.   Until then, it’s the innovative anglers who are charging harder, tweaking conventional tackle to make it bigger and badder or just flat out making their own baits.  And then matching rods, reels, line, hooks, rings, etc as it happen.

I would throw thing thing out and make a ton of bottom and rock contact in a non-grass lake.  I would run parallel or whatever angles, even uphill to make this thing cling and clank off as much rock, woods and stuff as possible.  There is a good high stick pump you can use to reel snatch your bait along, letting it make bottom contact a lot but still swimming it.  Rod tip to down to 10 clock (reeling the entire time) and snatch up to 12 oclock and back down to 10 oclock and so on…pumping, grinding and waiting to turn sideways into a full pull against a 8 pound pre-spawn fatty on some perfect staging area you know.  In the grass, braid braid braid and same high stick retrieve.  I would snatch it along like a rattle trap and/or make the most contact with the grass while still being able to snatch and keep my hook clean.  High stick is how I retrieve, a lot.

The Rage Blade from Strike King. Capitalism is a vicious beast. Chatterbait it is not, but vibrating jig, yes.
The Rage Blade from Strike King. Capitalism is a vicious beast. Chatterbait it is not, but vibrating jig, yes.

The Strike King Rage Blade strikes me as a bait you can fish deeper and have more control over at depth.  It doesn’t take much to get this thing running right and with the weight in the blade, it tends to have a truer fall and pickup.  If your fish are tuned into the Chatterbait, you  might want to give the Rage Blade a try, it’s gonna be slightly different.  It fishes very true, is extremely weedless as far as what you can fish it thru, and seems to be a pretty well designed bait, even if it was influenced by the Chatterbait.

Take a look at the Naked Rage Blade (variation on the Scrounger Head).  I gotta believe this would be a good thing to have handy in the swimbait + chatter cricket department.  I know guys throw a ton a paddle tail style swimbaits on Scrounger heads.  This is the same application, but with a fresh vortex and vibration.  How about a Lake Fork Magic Shad Swimbait?  In case you don’t know, fishing a Lake Fork Magic Shad on a vibrating jig or Chatterbait (remove skirt, just the swimbait tail) plus the jig head, is a frickin’ killer.   The Scrounger and Naked Rage Blade give you fresher and move vibrant and lively swim to your paddle tailed swimbait of choice.

Don't worry how goofy these vibrating jigs look. They catch fish really well.
This thing has a helicopter look to me.  It just fishes nice and clean, and I know these things will catch them. You’re gonna benefit from not losing fish or letting them throw the bait so easily too.  I think that is something to explore.