Big baits catch big bass; small baits catch little fish right?  Not necessarily, especially when you are talking about swimbaits.  The great thing about swimbaits is they bring something completely different to your arsenal of fishing lures you may not already have.  While the majority of hard swimbaits come in one size-BIG, a few lure companies are starting to produce smaller sizes that anglers in the Midwest or eastern part of the United States can use confidently to catch bass with.

Although the swimbait craze began on the west coast, anglers all over the United States have began to experiment with these unbelievable, realistic baits on their local reservoirs.  Nevertheless, for novice swimbait anglers casting and fishing a 12-inch swimbait is still a relatively new skill to learn.  Lure companies have reduced the learning curve by introducing smaller, multi-segmented swimbaits for novice anglers to learn the skills of catching bass with swimbaits.
For two west coast swimbait experts, the 4-inch Tru-Life Swimbait is their lure of choice.  In fact, Ishama “Yo, Ish” Monroe and Matt Newman know all about this lure since they helped design the lure for Tru-Tungsten. (See www.tru-tungsten.com for more information on Tru-Tungsten products.)  This 4-inch swimbait is a four segmented, three jointed, hard body bait that comes in two different models; along with two versions that can change the lure’s action by adding or taking away weighted balls into the cavity of the lure.

Both of these professional bass anglers believe that the 4-inch Tru-Life Swimbait is a very versatile lure that has a natural presentation; in addition to being designed for anglers to fish year round with.  “For me, this swimbait has replaced a spinnerbait in certain situations, especially in shallow water,” Monroe revealed.  In April or May, Monroe likes to fish bluegill patterns when bluegills are eating the eggs out of the spawning bass beds.  To catch these bass, Monroe will reel the swimbait in the bed of the bass and let it sit still, if the bass does not react to the bait, the next cast he will just cast out and reel back past the bed fast to initiate a strike.

For Newman, springtime is also a prime time to fish a swimbait.  “The key is to have active bass in the lake,” Newman continued, “novice anglers fishing a swimbait should not just reel in the bait, try reeling then popping your rod tip a couple times to initiate a strike.”  Newman believes its important for anglers to learn the intricacies of fishing a swimbait with a small 4-inch version compare to the larger baits, due to the increased number of bites an angler will have with the smaller size.  Early in the season, Newman likes to fish the 4-inch swimbait in a slow, steady retrieve during pre-spawn in March through April; however, later in post spawn he will start reeling faster with more erratic movements.  Casting a swimbait for the first time most novice swimbait anglers will find the splash it makes alarming.  Not for Newman, “That big splash is a dinner bell for bass,” he explained.   Another tip that Newman gave for fishing with a swimbait was once you get a strike use a sweep set to drive the hook into the bass and reel the bass in quickly; never play with it, otherwise the bass can throw the bait.   Both pros also agreed that anglers should not limit themselves to when, locations, or time of year for fishing with a swimbait.
If you are looking for that big fish, try casting a smaller swimbait. It may surprise you how big a bass they catch.