Not all swimbaits were designed to be fished on the surface. Don’t get me wrong, I love to slow wake a big swimbait across the surface and watch a monster bass crush it; however, there are times when bass will not feed on the surface and you have to fish on the bottom or around cover. Swimbaits with treble hooks sticking out of the belly section are not the best choice when slow rolling on the bottom or around brush. That’s why anglers are so excited about the new Top of The Line swimbait by Optimum Baits.

The Top of The Line (www.optimumbaits.com) doesn’t have a treble hook hanging from its belly like the Baby Line Thru series of Optimum Baits, but a special rigging system inside the swimbait cavity allows the treble hook to be connected on the backside of the lure. Both the Baby Line Thru series and Top of The Line series has the special rigging system, but the Baby Line Thru the hook comes out the belly area. The rigging system not only allows the angler the ability to customize their swimbaits, but designed to break away from the lure keeping the fish from shaking loose or tearing up the swimbait.

For a swimbait to catch fish it has to look real. It cannot lie down on its side or run crooked. A swimbait should also stay parallel to the bottom no matter where it is in the water column. The Top of The Line was designed with input from Joe Crumrine of Bullet Weights (rigging system, Ryan Mansell of Mansell (medical) Designs (CAD) and lure experts with Optimum Baits. Together they were able to create a soft swimbait that can be bottom bounced, hopped around cover, dragged over ledges, and fished about anywhere you would other lures without thinking you are going to get it hung up all the time. Another feature that makes the Top of The Line an effective lure is its swimming action. The boot style tail moves effortlessly thru the water when retrieved and Tungsten weight provides ballast that balances the body. The Top of The Line can also be reeled up to three-times the speed as the Baby Line Thru that can result in violent strikes.

One angler who knows how to catch big bass is Kurt Dove. Dove, a professional tournament angler, guide (see www.swtexasbassguide.com for contact information on Dove’s guide service on Lake Amistad) on Lake Amistad, rated as the #1 bass fishing reservoir by ESPN, loves to fish with swimbaits on this big bass fishery. “Just like other reservoirs across the United States there are key times to fish with swimbaits for bass on Lake Amistad. The spring and fall are really productive times and it all focuses around water temperature. In the spring when the water temperature gets to the upper fifties to low seventies and the bass are moving up to spawn casting a swimbait can really be an effective way of catching big bass shallow. The fall restarts a feeding frenzy when the water temperatures drop to lower seventies down to the low fifties. During these periods the only time fishing with a swimbait is ineffective will be in muddy water,” said Dove.

Dove fishes bass tournaments all across the United States on numerous bodies of water he knows the challenges to catching bass on strange reservoirs. When fishing a swimbait like the Top of The Line, Dove likes to start off fishing with the smaller 4-inch version. “I like to see how the bass are relating to the bait first then go to the larger version when fishing for quality bites not quantity,” explains Dove. Not only does size of the swimbait make a difference for Dove, but the model. “The Baby Line Thru has a small weight in the nose section of it that makes it swim in the mid-range to surface area while the new Top of The Line swimbait’s weight is located in the middle section allowing it to be fished in deeper water. Plus, the hook is located on the back side so it is less likely to get hung up around grass, trees, brush, or other shallow water cover and structure,” said Dove. Like other anglers who fish swimbaits Dove likes to fish with fluorocarbon line. “I use 20 pound test Blackwater Toray fluorocarbon line in open water situations and 25 pound test in cover,” said Dove.

The Top of The Line series come in 4-inch (1.3-ounces), 5-inch (1.7 ounce), and 6-inch (2.2 ounce). Each one includes a treble hook to be used when rigging the Top of The Line lure. It will be available in a number of color patterns that can match any forage fish in both saltwater and fresh water.

When it comes to soft plastic swimbaits the Top of The Line is really the top of the line. Its innovative rigging system keeps the bait from ripping up saving anglers money while allowing for a better hook set, but it’s really having the treble hook attached to the back that allows anglers to fish it in grass, brush, or on the bottom that makes it special.