# swim baits



## rapalahunter (Oct 13, 2007)

In hookjaws report at BFT he said that he found a 6" rainbow in the stomach of his monster. That got me thinking about how to target the big boys when the soft water returns. I know these are primarily big bass lures from the west coast, but I was wondering how they would fair for targeting bigger trout. Anyone ever use a swim bait like these for trout?


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

fatbass said:


> It's time somebody tried! I remember about 20 years ago when Flaming Gorge was giving up huge browns, the guy that caught the biggest one (and many more close to it in size) used to use the biggest rapalas he could find and hand paint them to look like the local rainbows. Rapala didn't have any patterns that were as lifelike and detailed as the customized ones that were killing 'em at FG so that's when they started the super detailed patterns we can buy today. The point is that the fishing tackle industry is always giving us new stuff that some innovative angler designed and it sometimes revolutionizes fishing as we know it. That rainbow swim bait should be just the ticket for 10 pounders! I'll have a couple in my tackle bag come ice off!


I know you ain't planning on using them for trout once there is no more ice. Now I'm curious what you plan on targeting with them.


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## JAT83 (Sep 9, 2007)

Looks like it might work pretty good


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## rapalahunter (Oct 13, 2007)

I'm totally gonna use em' on trout. I've been checking out some forums devoted to swimbait use (mostly bass guys). I posted my trout idea there and a few people informed me that not only does it work, it scores some huge trout!

Check out http://acplugs.com/browns.htm to see what a kind of trout a big swimbait can score you. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I'm gonna give it a try. After the billion... no trillion fish i caught in 2007, I just want big ones now! :wink:


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

Makes me curious to see how long you'll have to fish with one before you catch a fish big enough to take that. You'll have to let us know, but I'm sure if you do great, it's going to be a secret. ha ha. Good luck, something has to work!


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## scott_rn (Sep 11, 2007)

fatbass said:


> It's time somebody tried! I remember about 20 years ago when Flaming Gorge was giving up huge browns, the guy that caught the biggest one (and many more close to it in size) used to use the biggest rapalas he could find and hand paint them to look like the local rainbows.


I read a book by a man named Ray Johnson, he still holds some of the state records, but not on Brown Trout. He trolled really, really slow in the winter with huge homemade plastic lures that were similar to rapalas.

Doug Miller did a show about stripers that would devour truckloads of planter rainbows - wasn't it somewhere in Nevada? They were using 8-10" plastic rainbow imitations. I think trout are much less aggressive when it comes to hitting big lures like that - it will be interesting to see if you get any takers.

It makes me wonder what is more successful, swim baits or real minnows. Any thoughts?


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## rapalahunter (Oct 13, 2007)

> It makes me wonder what is more successful, swim baits or real minnows. Any thoughts?


Since using live bait and using trout for bait are strictly forbidden we may never know. 8)

If you mean a little red side shiner you can buy frozen at a tackle shop then that is a different question. I pretty sure that you can catch trout the size of the swimbaits I'm talking about with a little minnow. If you are targeting trout of any size than the minnow would work better for sure. (see LOAH's posts for confirmation of minnow effectiveness)

If you are just going after the big boys... well I don't know yet. I'll get back to you in the spring! :wink:

I have caught plenty of trout on pointer 100's (4") and rapala f13's (5 1/4"). Both are pretty big baits so I don't think a six inch trout swimbait will be too big.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

A few years ago, I actually tried some rainbow pattern swimbaits. They were built like a jig with a hollow spot between the eyes and a small hole for entry of a big jig head.

I tried them at Strawberry, but I was only on the shore. If I had a tube then or a boat, I most likely would've gotten into them a little better.

I noticed quite a few larger fish chasing it upon retrieval and had several bites, but the nips were at the tail end and the hook was up by the "dorsal". 

If you try it, rig some sort of stinger at the tail end and you may very well land some chunky fish.

Just like a rapala, it's all about presentation with them. A simple cast and retrieve will get chasers, but some jerky action will get strikes.

The ones I used were about 5 to 6 inches and pretty skinny toward the tail. I bought them at SW.

Good luck.


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## rapalahunter (Oct 13, 2007)

I posted this same excerpt from an article I read on the equipment page. It doesn't get nearly the amount of traffic that the general fishing page does so I posted it here because it has some interesting info. It is about strawberry's cutthroat population and ties in to why I plan on giving swimbaits a try.

Here's the excerpt:

"And, as our surveys show, the regulations are working," said Ward. "We saw it here in the gill nets. We caught only five year- old chubs where we used to catch 40 and 50. There was even a reduction in adult chubs. What we've found is a 22-inch cutthroat will take a fish up to 8 inches."

Unfortunately, the cutthroat trout are unable to distinguish between so-called trash fish or chubs, and game fish, which in this case are smaller rainbow and cutthroats.

"That was the most alarming thing we found. We saw a low number of smaller game fish. We're not seeing the fish we stocked this year," he explained. "We're concerned they're getting eaten by the large cutthroat, especially the young rainbow. They're even hitting the smaller cutts. We're hoping some of the smaller fish will show up in our fall survey."

The fact is, the smaller rainbow and cutthroat trout have been on the decline for the past couple of years, which can be linked to the increase in more and larger cutthroat.

"The larger cutthroat have no trouble eating an 8-inch fish -- chub, rainbow or cutthroat. When they reach 8 inches we see higher survival. They're larger, but they're also smarter and know how to avoid being eaten," said Robinson.

Apparently the larger cutthroat have "no problem eating an 8-inch fish".

Here's a link to the whole article. It's an interesting read.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20070621/ai_n19327978


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

Dang it Rapalahunter, now you have me considering buying one of these things. 
This pic is certainly enough to get me greedy enough to give em a try.
[attachment=0:3r1r50hq]26lbbrown.jpg[/attachment:3r1r50hq]


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## rapalahunter (Oct 13, 2007)

do it! we'll hit up strawberry at ice off and see what happens?!


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

Sounds like a deal. I just got a new float tube as well.


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

I know a guy that says the walleye hit big rainbow plastics at DC as well. He's used big 4 inch plastic jerkbaits up there to really slay the smallies and walleyes. I didn't believe him until I tried it and wow.... that was my first experience with plastics but I was sold. This is another reason I use them pretty much everywhere I can for trout... they will hit em, you just have to figure out what colors and what "action" they're looking for. The huge swimbaits... well, like LOAH said, you might be better off rigging with a trailer hook because it sounds like what he was seeing was territorial instead of hunger strikes. Will the big fish hit a big minnow out of hunger?? Sure, they might. But you might do better, especially early on in the year when the minnows are smaller to downsize your offering. I'd imagine the big minnows would work better in low light conditions (ie, night or very overcast days), giving the fish more of a silouhette to strike at or in the fall when the young of the year have had the summer to grow into 6 inch forage. Just my thoughts on it, but I am intrigued and am interested to see what you guys turn up come springtime and the thaw.


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## Christopher30 (Nov 9, 2007)

I'm a satisfied customer of swimbaits, i've caught two big macks using an AC. The color and size i will not discuss (not rainbow or perch), but you would be surprised. They lose their effectiveness if the fish are deeper than about 20 feet, unless you're using one of those rubber castaic ones that sink. I think one of the smaller skinny's or the originals would be killer on browns and big rainbows, you have to see them run they look so lifelike it's amazing. The price tag is a kick in the butt, but after my experience them i' had no problem throwing down about 200 bucks to stock up.


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