Zoom's Four-inch Swimmer

Since the advent of swimbaits in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they have not played a role in the repertoire and tactics of Midwest finesse anglers until recently.  This change began to occur when tackle designers and manufacturers created smaller renditions of those humongous first, second, third, and fourth edition of swimbaits.  Nowadays a few Midwest finesse anglers have begun to wield some of the diminutive-size ones.

Zoom Bait Company recently announced that they have created a four-inch swimbait, which is called a four-inch Zoom Swimmer, which caught the fancy of some Midwest finesse anglers and their quarries.

The Zoom Swimmer's head is endowed with a pair of eyes. The top of its head is flat. The bottom portion of its head to the tip of its nose is formed with an oblique angle.

Its torso is hollow with a relatively flat back.

Depending on the eyes of the angler who is employing the Zoom Swimmer, the configuration of its belly is said to replicate the contours of the belly of a threadfin shad, or an alewife, or a creek chub.

The dimensions of the torso diminish as it slopes towards the junction with the tail. The tail is endowed with a boot, which some folks call a paddle.

The top of  its back and top of its head are adorned with a fish-scale motif.  The rest of its head and torso is featureless with a smooth and somewhat shinny skin. The folks at Zoom say that it possesses "ultra-natural characteristics."

Midwest finesse anglers will affix it to a mushroom-style jig with an exposed hook. And as we have discovered across the years, a lightweight jig is more effective than a heavy one.

When Midwest finesse anglers affix a proper size jig to the four-inch Zoom Swimmer, it will exhibit the unique and alluring movements of the traditional-size swimbaits, which some power anglers have raved about for years on end.  And it will execute these movements at any speed that an angler needs to employ with the standard Midwest finesse swimming retrieve.

They are said to be surprisingly durable.  In fact, one angler reported on the Internet that he worked with two of them, and those two tangled with approximately 40 largemouth bass. What's more, at the end of that 40-bass endeavor, those same two Zoom Swimmers were still firmly affixed to their jigs, and on their last casts and retrieves, they were exhibiting the same alluring movements and gyrations that they exhibited on their first casts and retrieves.

It is available in the following colors: Tennessee Shad, Ayu, Hitch, Lanier Shad, Guntersville Shad, and Crystal Shad.

Anglers can purchase a package of four for $7.50.  They are housed in a clamshell package. This package keeps their torsos and tails perfectly straight, which is a necessary factor in allowing it to swim correctly when an angler is retrieving it.

Endnotes

(1)  Virginia Guide Bait Company possesses an inventory of all of the baits and all of the colors of the baits that Zoom Bait Company manufactures.  Anglers can acquire them by calling Judie Henry of Chesterfield, Virginia, at 804-590-2991 or email her at info@virginiaguidebaitco.com.  Her inventory also contains baits that are no longer manufactured by Zoom.

(2) For more information about the standard Midwest finesse straight swimming retrieve, see the Midwest Finesse column at this link: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/.

(3) Here is the link to Zoom's website: https://zoombait.com/4-zoom-swimmer.

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