Being post # 3000, I figured I'd make it a good one.
About a year ago, I told myself I would make an effort to throw the swimbait as much as I could stand it. At first, it was extremely difficult. I kept telling myself "This bait is so **** big, I know if I put on a trickworm, I'll catch a fish here." And many times.... I would, so I'm not so engrossed with the swimbait that I won't try something different if I can't get them to bite it; however, I've also realized that by targeting fish that will bite the swimbait, I've caught fish I otherwise wouldn't.
As I began to learn a bit more about how to fish the swimbait, I gained confidence in throwing it with the payoff being a "better than average" size fish even though the bites didn't come as frequently. Earlier this year, I started fishing with a club again and found myself rarely picking up the swimbait and reverting back to my "numbers" techniques, so I really haven't fished it as much as I had hoped this year. I fished an average of 3 times per month this year (way too little :evil: ) and most of those were tournaments. With what remained, I spent most of that time with either a jig or a swimbait and really tried to hone my skills with each, at least as best I could with only a dozen or so "fun fishing" trips.
That said, if I decide not to fish tourneys next year, I'd really like to sell 90% of my tackle and invest it into a few quality swimbait setups. I have grown content with only getting a few bites a day with the swimbait, because the bite is so good and the quality of fish is better. I still haven't caught a monster (over 10lbs), and I've caught plenty of small fish too. But my average 5 swimbait fish will almost always be at, or above, 15lbs (which for me is about 3-5# better average than my tourney results). As I grow older, I've embraced becoming more content with less bites, in return for a bigger size average.
Before really throwing swimbaits, I was advised on another forum to chose a lure and stick with it, and learn it as best you can. Naturally, there is more to it than that, but this bit of advice has had more impact on my mindset in throwing them than all others. I latched on to one lure, and for the most part throw it 90% of the time I throw a swimbait. I know it's not always the best choice, but it has forced me to learn to fish it different ways and under different conditions. That said, I would advise anyone contemplating the technique to do the same. I'm not always good at posting my fishing reports, so I thought I'd just throw up some of the swimbait fish I've caught and share what I've learned thus far.
About a year ago, I told myself I would make an effort to throw the swimbait as much as I could stand it. At first, it was extremely difficult. I kept telling myself "This bait is so **** big, I know if I put on a trickworm, I'll catch a fish here." And many times.... I would, so I'm not so engrossed with the swimbait that I won't try something different if I can't get them to bite it; however, I've also realized that by targeting fish that will bite the swimbait, I've caught fish I otherwise wouldn't.
As I began to learn a bit more about how to fish the swimbait, I gained confidence in throwing it with the payoff being a "better than average" size fish even though the bites didn't come as frequently. Earlier this year, I started fishing with a club again and found myself rarely picking up the swimbait and reverting back to my "numbers" techniques, so I really haven't fished it as much as I had hoped this year. I fished an average of 3 times per month this year (way too little :evil: ) and most of those were tournaments. With what remained, I spent most of that time with either a jig or a swimbait and really tried to hone my skills with each, at least as best I could with only a dozen or so "fun fishing" trips.
That said, if I decide not to fish tourneys next year, I'd really like to sell 90% of my tackle and invest it into a few quality swimbait setups. I have grown content with only getting a few bites a day with the swimbait, because the bite is so good and the quality of fish is better. I still haven't caught a monster (over 10lbs), and I've caught plenty of small fish too. But my average 5 swimbait fish will almost always be at, or above, 15lbs (which for me is about 3-5# better average than my tourney results). As I grow older, I've embraced becoming more content with less bites, in return for a bigger size average.
Before really throwing swimbaits, I was advised on another forum to chose a lure and stick with it, and learn it as best you can. Naturally, there is more to it than that, but this bit of advice has had more impact on my mindset in throwing them than all others. I latched on to one lure, and for the most part throw it 90% of the time I throw a swimbait. I know it's not always the best choice, but it has forced me to learn to fish it different ways and under different conditions. That said, I would advise anyone contemplating the technique to do the same. I'm not always good at posting my fishing reports, so I thought I'd just throw up some of the swimbait fish I've caught and share what I've learned thus far.
