Fishing With The SwimmerZ™

The swim bait has become a very popular and effective lure for catching extremely large bass. Starting on the west coast, the swim bait has found its way many a bass fisherman's tackle box. The first thing you want to check when choosing swim bait is its action. There are many styles and types of swim baits on the market but not all are the same. All of the ElaZtech™ SwimmerZ have what I would call a "tri-axis action". When retrieved you want the swim bait to wobble from side to side, the tail to waggle from side to side, and the "boot or tail" part to paddle in a up and down motion. Swim baits come in many different sizes. The most popular and commonly found in the tackle shops are the 4" and 6". Both of these sizes seem to be the best producers.

Pro tip 1: Rigging swim bait is a critical part of using this lure. There are various types of swim bait hooks on the market that work well with these baits. Some you thread thru the head as you do when rigging a worm and some have a barbed keeper or "cork screw" that allows you to stick or twist the keeper into the nose of the bait and then bury the hook into the body of the bait. All Z-Man SwimmerZ™ come with our patented TriggerHook™. This new innovative hook allows for quick rigging and a higher "hook set to land ratio".

Pro tip 2: Z-man's ElaZtech™ is formulated and manufactured of a material that allows them to float. By using a standard off set hook with little or no weight, you can fish this SwimmerZ™ as a top water lure. The hook acts like a keel on a sailboat and keeps the lure in an up right position. When the bass are on a top water bite, this is an excellent way to fish this lure.

Pro tip 3: By adding a little more weight to the hook, you can swim the ElaZtech™ SwimmerZ™ just under the surface using a slow steady retrieve. With the correct amount of weight, you can vary the retrieve by twitching your rod tip to give the swim bait a darting action much like that of a jerk bait.

Pro tip 4: If you have sufficient weight on your swim bait hook, do not hesitate to fish these SwimmerZ™ on ledges or deep water structure. By letting the bait go to the bottom and then slow reel them in, you cover fish holding areas that most fishermen won't find. This is a very effective way to catch some really large trophy bass.

Pro tip 5: This is a tip that most bass fisherman would like to keep to themselves but one that I would like to share with you. By using a weighted swim bait hook and then adding a standard bullet shaped slip sinker, you can first, reel this bait at a high speed retrieve without it wanting to spin or turn on its side. This high speed retrieve can trigger strikes when the normal retrieve is not working. Using the same rig, fish it slowly over and thru deep water structure. By just adding a slip sinker you expand you ability to cover a greater range of water and structure.