THROW BIG BAITS FOR BIG BASS TIPS

Most of the time the saying is true, bigger baits equal bigger fish! Although elephants eat peanuts, a big bait profile is something big fish sometimes can’t resist whether you’re fishing the open ocean or the Great Lakes. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last couple years experimenting with lures that are larger than what my previous comfort zone was for bass. It is pretty special to see what gets curious to come look at or bite these big baits.

There are many different types of swimbaits on the market, but I’ll break them down into two styles to keep it simple. There are hard, gliding-style swimbaits with treble hooks and there are soft-body swimbaits. Each has a time and a place, and both attract some very big fish.

Depending on where you are in the country and the size of the forage in your lake, a normal meal for a bass is usually much bigger than you would think. Bass have huge mouths to accommodate large prey items. A two- or three-pounder has no problem at all swallowing a 6- to 8-inch bluegill whole. I’ve seen 10-plus-pounders eat gizzard shad up to 14 inches long! Trying to exactly duplicate the larger bait fish in your lake with a natural presentation is the key to drawing attention to your artificial lure.

With hard swimbaits, my first choice is a shad imitation. Most of the places I fish are full of shad, and shad seem to be a favorite food source for bass. Crappie are another forage species people sometimes forget about. Lately, when throwing big baits over deeper water, I’ve caught some big fish with crappie down in their throats.

With soft swimbaits, I usually go to a bluegill imitation. I like soft baits because they are more weedless, and you can creep them through the grass or along the bottom in places where bluegills live.

Big swimbaits can get mighty expensive. If you are just getting started with them, I would suggest sticking with the more affordable baits that get good reviews until you get your confidence up. Then you can dive into some of the larger, more customized lures.

Learning to fish big baits is best done by getting on the water and doing it. Just get out there and experiment with retrieves until you find out what works. Of course, throwing giant lures requires special equipment. I like 13 Fishing’s affordable Defy for a rod. It’s an 8-foot swimbait rod that handles most big lures with ease. I pair this with a 300 sized reel, like the 13 Fishing Concept A3 and some 20- to 25-pound Seaguar Abrazx.

I hope this article sparks someone’s interest to get out there and throw a big bait. Once I stepped out of my comfort zone, I discovered it to be one of the coolest and most fun ways to target big bass all year long. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me on social media if you have questions about these tactics or any others.