New system promises the biggest bass in the area, wherever you live.

Lure Selection

The term swimbait includes both jointed large wooden lures (AC Plug, Original Castaic Trout, and M. S. Slammer) that rank sizewise with the largest muskie lures, and the more common soft-plastic variety. While wood baits float and dive when cranked, soft swimbaits may float or sink at various rates of speed, based on lead content and plastic formulation.

While no industry definition for “swimbait” exists, we suggest that the category includes baits that not only produce a wiggling tail action, but also move somewhat in the manner of a crankbait, a complicated 6-part motion that provides much of their appeal. While some have bills, others gain action from the shape of the plastic, in combination with the weight of a jighead.

Swimbaits used for trophy-sized bass can reach the dimensions of Ken Huddleston’s Deluxebow, a 12-inch, 10-ounce trout imitator that looks good enough to grill; or Jerry Rago’s Dead Stick, a 16-inch wooden floater. Baits from 7 to 10 inches long and weighing 1 to 3 ounces are used most commonly. Since giant bass consume lots of stocked trout in many California waters, the most popular colors imitate the stocker rainbow in color as well as size.

Terry Battisti of Meridian, Idaho, has fished swimbaits with experts in California and has tried smaller versions on the natural lakes of his home state. For working fast over deep weedbeds, Battisti likes the 5-, 6-, or 7-inch Mission Fish lures that sink fast and have a great swimming action on a fast retrieve. “They’re weedless and slender in profile, so they work through grass well. Smaller editions of the Bass Trix bait also work well up here, and I’ve had success with several of the new models from Storm Lures.”

At the miniature end of the scale, Optimum’s 2- and 3-inch versions of their weighty trout-sized bait work for white bass and crappies, and as finesse swimbaits for bass. And they offer intermediate sizes. Storm’s WildEye Swim Shad is available in 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 9-inch sizes, the smaller ones matching most popular crankbait profiles. Their latest swimbaits are the WildEye Live series of seven natural shapes including perch, sunfish, pike, minnow, leech, and trout. Swimbaits are available to match nearly any bass fishing situation, from the surface to 35 or more feet deep, and to imitate prey ranging from fathead minnows to rainbow trout and perch.

“Lighter baits are better for slow-rolling or stop-and-go retrieves from the surface down to 5 feet or so,” Battisti says. “Mid-range weighted baits can be slow-rolled or retrieved at a faster rate, while heavily weighted lures are for deep work and also for fast retrieves. Also, they will not roll when twitched hard.”

Ken Huddleston, veteran swimbait designer who worked on the original Castaic Trout and then teamed up with the Castaic Soft Bait Company, has his own business, Huddleston Deluxe, producing the prodigious Deluxebow. Models are rated according to Rate Of Fall (R.O.F.) based on 10 seconds of sink time. His 0 R.O.F. model floats, while the R.O.F. 13 edition will be at about 13 feet.