BY STEVE QUINN Roman Made Mother DRUMBEATS >>> ON THE > > > SWIMBAIT SCENE Other categories of swimbaits included internally of lure styles and uses for them. At the annual ICAST weighted boot-tail baits, such as Storm’s WildEye series, Show last summer, industry veterans were wowed In-Fisherman published the first expose on swimbaits in 1995, with Field Jackall’s Swimmin’ Ninja, and Berkley’s PowerBait Swim by several gigantic new soft swimbaits, topped by Editor Matt’s Straw’s feature, “It’s a Trout; It’s a Submarine!” It chronicled the garage production Shad, to name a few. These originated in California as the 16-inch Savage Gear Mads Mega Pre Rigged of giant wooden jointed swimbaits, such as Alan Cole’s A.C. Plug, beginning around 1987. Ken Huddleston adjusted internal weight to alter the Trout. Though it’s rigged with a leader, so likely Rate Of Fall (ROF). Huddleston motivated the move intended for giant pike, muskies, or offshore toothy ¶ We’ve covered the rise of hollow-belly swimbaits, heralded by Bruce Porter’s Basstrix Fat toward massive softbaits, sometimes labeled “big rub- critters, some California big bass hunters were drool- Minnow Paddle Tails with a slit belly that enabled lifelike action and made hooking bass easier. ber.” His Deluxe line ranged from 8 to 12 inches, with ing as they draped the giant lure across their palms. YUM’s Money Minnow, Berkley’s Hollow Belly Swim Bait, Strike King’s Shadalicious, and others larger models weighing more than half a pound. Other Looking all the world like a 2-pound rainbow trout, notable baits included Castaic Soft Baits Platinum Series, it’s fit to fry. followed and anglers recorded great catches with them. Today, this category has declined in Alan Cole’s A.C. Plug Casitas, Jerry Rago’s Line Through George Coniglio of Mission, Viejo, California, popularity, though I still catch loads of big bass on them, Texas-rigged in shallow cover or on Series, and several models from Optimum Baits. These knows how to catch big bass. His largest weighed 19.7 lures continue to tempt many of the year’s largest bass pounds, caught on Lake Mission Viejo in California. jigheads around deep structure. When Berkley ceased production of the Hollow Belly a couple across the country. And when the Alabama Rig exploded Though he plucked that one from a bed, he’s been a fan years ago, I made sure I had cases of baits stored. The attraction of these lures does not go away. on to the scene, small swimmers became the rage, imitat- of swimbaits for many years, fishing many models in Nor does the attraction of solid-body boot-tails. Witness the success of Alabama-born Scottsboro ing a school of small baitfish on umbrella setups. These the lakes of the West Coast and beyond. “Many of the baits also fish extremely well on a jighead or as trailers jointed soft swimbaits I fished produced realistic action Tackle Company’s Swimbait, which Tennessean Jay Kendrick parlayed to victory on Lake on spinnerbaits, swim jigs, or bladed jigs. only in a narrow window of retrieve speeds,” he says. Guntersville in Alabama at an FLW Series competition early last spring. “Some looked good on a slow pull, but started to flap Soft Swimmers Today wildly in a S-wave when you cranked faster. If you look Anglers have embraced the swimbait category to at trout, shad, or other preyfish, their movements are a greater extent than ever, and we see a wide range highly efficient but subtle. I JUNE 2016 IN-FISHERMAN.COM 21 with a guard, and a 7/16-ounce jig became clear that the key to these in Lake Biwa. He used a Mother erratically, in the manner of a walk- with 8/0 Mustad for the Monster so lures lies in their ability to direct to catch the 18-pound former lake the-dog surface bait. But, depending SWIMBAITS it can be Texposed. This one can be the flow of water around them,” record there. He and other swim- on design, they perform that deadly “I started working on a lure motion, packaged with a treble hook retrieved steadily or worked with Takeyama says. “The head region bait experts emphasize that the very action near the surface, mid-water, over two years ago. My neighbors and slipsinker for rigging. Its vertical a pull-pause cadence to tease big is particularly important as it parts size that turns many anglers off has or down deep. When I designed the undoubtedly thought I’d lost it, as and horizontal control planes can be predators into striking. As with the the water. But the other jointed seg- the potential to turn on the biggest BBZ-1 for SPRO, I made lures with I stood for hours on my dock, mak- adjusted to maintain stability at any Dominion Swimbait, check the web- ments also create currents in differ- bass in any body of water, sometimes three sink rates for that reason.” ing short casts; then tweaking the speed. I’ve tested this 4½-inch lure site for videos. ent ways.” Roman Made offers eight even summoning schools of giants. Several other jointed baits have lure; with nary a fish in sight and and it does indeed possess a unique swimbait styles, each with a unique Lure designer and veteran lunker gained fans as well, including the my Ranger tied to the dock! I felt ability to mimic a fish at a wide Jointed Glide Baits manner of swimming and gliding hunter Bill Siemantel of Castaic, Cal- Deps Slide Swimmer, River2Sea that a moderate-size lure would range of speeds. Packs include extra Perhaps the hottest swimbait cat- through the water. They range in ifornia, also has spent lots of time S-Waver, Evergreen International have the greatest application across control planes and instructions. egory is the large trout-shaped baits cost from $140 to $450. The most rec- studying lure designs and how Timberflash, 3:16 Bait Company Glide the country, and would appeal to Mann’s Bait Company has intro- of wood or plastic, with a joint to ognized is the 11.8-inch, 10.5-ounce physical properties cause lures to Swimbait, and Megabass I-Slide. New bass of all sizes that feed on shin- duced another unique soft swim- allow lifelike motion. Jointed swim- Mother, hand-carved like a salmo- move, which is what causes bass to for 2016 is the DUO Realis Onimasu, ers, shad, and other baitfish. mer, the Reel ’N Shad, originally baits are far from new, as the classic nid. Each one is tank-tuned to run bite. “The power of swimbaits lies the first product in company owner “I studied fluid dynamics to designed by Ron Walter. Looking A.C. Plug was of this basic design, perfectly and takes 12 hours to pro- in their large sphere of influence,” and designer Masahiro Adashi’s Pro- understand the forces that cause a superficially like a fluke-style lure, though with a soft-plastic boot-tail duce. This lure became a favorite for he says. “That’s particularly true metheus Project, which promises lure to move under water. I learned it has a key feature—a slot that runs and lacking the ultra-realistic scale Manabu Kurita, co-holder of the all- for articulated baits that glide from more exciting swimbaits in the near that inserting clear plastic con- from top to bottom in the middle details and coloration of today’s tackle record largemouth, caught one side to the other when retrieved future. Onimasu is a shallow-run- trol planes vertically and horizon- of the lure. When pulled, the slot baits. One spur for the recent rise in ning lure that slowly rises when the tally into the body creates a natural opens, and water generates a natu- their popularity was the appearance retrieve is halted. Company repre- swimming action at slow, medium, ral swimming action and tail kick of the Roman Made baits in 2009. Jointed Gliders sentative David Swendseid explains: and fast retrieves. With my partner on a straight retrieve. Mike McPher- These beautifully painted wood › “Most glidebaits are built for working at Dominion Lures, Marc Estrada, son, Operation Manager at Mann’s, lures were designed by owner Toshi- we began working with a patent explains: “When Walter showed me nori Takeyama, a lifelong angler attorney. We have a patent covering his video, it was an ‘aha’ moment,” who grew up near Japan’s legendary the insertion of clear plastic control he says. “Its action was amazing. We Lake Biwa. As an avid fish watcher planes in each segment of a soft-plas- tweaked the original design to go and angler, he studied the fluid Biovex Joint tic swimbait and more patents in the from concept to product, lengthen- movements of fish and began to try Bait 142 SPRO BBZ-1 works. While field-testing it, I was ing the slot, slimming its side-walls designing lures that moved natu- Shad fortunate to catch what’s now the all- and adjusting durometer of the plas- rally, unlike many mechanical-act- tackle length record for largemouth tic to achieve maximum action.” ing hardbaits he tried. He established bass (65 cm from nose to fork), iron- The company released 3.75- and his company in 2006. ically surpassing one caught by lure 5.25-inch versions in 2015 and 9-inch “After working with lure shapes designer Patrick Sebile in Florida.” Monster Reel ’N Shad for 2016. Baits and observing their movements, it This double-jointed lure is made come with a specially designed jig- SPRO BBZ-1 Jr.