January 25, 2016
By Ned Kehde
A few weeks ago a Midwest finesse angler suggested that we should publish a gear guide about the Vacuum, which is a soft-plastic finesse worm manufactured by Lunkerhunt of Toronto, Ontario. And we did that on Jan. 14.
When we were working on the Vacuum gear guide, we noticed that Lunkerhunt has several new soft-plastic baits that ought to catch the fancy of Midwest finesse anglers and their quarries. One of them is the Swim Fish, which in the eyes of most Midwest finesse anglers looks to be a unique stickbait with a boot tail. But in the eyes of the folks at Lunkerhunt, it is a small swimbait, and other anglers say that it is somewhat similar to Keitech's Swing Impact
It is 3 1/2-inches long.
Its head is round. Its nose is flat and will fit flush and snuggly to the back of the flat head of a mushroom-style jig.
Its torso is encircled with 17 pronounced ribs, which the designers and field-testers at Lunkerhunt say displaces water and generates an alluring movement. The movement of the Swim Fish is also accentuated by its boot tail. Lunkerhunt describes the movement as a tight swimming action.
They are impregnated with a natural fish scent, and they are not impregnated with salt.
It is available in the following colors: Black, Black Blue Fleck, Chartreuse, White, and White Silver Fleck.
Anglers can purchase a package of 10 for $4.99.
Endnotes
(1) Lunkerhunt recommends that anglers employ the Swim Fish on Lunkerhunt's Swim Head, which is a 1/4-ounce jig that possesses a 4/0-hook, 60-degree eye, and a wire bait keeper. They also say that it works well as a spinnerbait trailer.
(2) Midwest finesse anglers are stickbait aficionados. What's more, a 1/4-ounce jig is not part of their repertoire. Thus, Midwest finesse anglers will prefer to affix the Swim Fish on a 1/32-ounce, 1/16-ounce, or 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig and present it to their black bass quarries as a stickbait by employing the six basic Midwest finesse retrieves, which are described at this link: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/ .
(3) Midwest finesse anglers also prefer jigs with small hooks. For example, their favorite 1/16-ounce jig is poured around a No. 4 hook, and in these anglers' eyes, a small hook will allow the Swim Fish to quiver, gyrate, and undulate more when it is retrieved slowly and punctuated with an occasional deadsticking motif than can occur when it is affixed to a jig with a big hook. (What's more, Midwest finesse anglers, who regularly tangle with nine to 25 black bass an hour, have found that small hooks, with their barbs removed, will not damage the black bass as readily as big hooks do.)
