(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Veteran pro Buddy Gross says that he loves swimbaiting more than he loves ice cream and cake, and his appreciation for them stemmed from his lack of patience. “I was a big spinnerbait guy,” he said, but after playing with this newer category he realized that in many situations they could replace not only his spinnerbaits, but also several other types of lures.
“I’m a soft swimbait guy,” he said. “I have a few hard baits that I throw.” His two go-to models are the hollow belly from Scottsboro Tackle Company and the Zoom Swimmer. “Sometimes it’s a one-two combination,” but each plays different roles. The Zoom has a wider kick, so he tends to rely on it more heavily in warmer or stained water.
He rigs his lures three different ways—weedless, with an internal head, and with an external jig head. Now that the 8/0 Owner Beast comes in weights up to 3/4-ounce, he no longer needs to peg a tungsten weight in front of lighter models to fish deep or in current. He also likes the same hook in the “Flashy Swimmer” model. One secret is to take an X-Acto knife and cut a slit down the belly of the bait (if it does not already have one) and then the money tip is to add Smelly Jelly or some other attractant, not necessarily for the scent, but rather to increase hook penetration. In heavy grass he’ll fish this rig on 50-poundbraided line, but in clearer water with lighter cover he tends to rely on fluorocarbon.
For an “insider” weight, he’ll often use a 3/4-ounce Ledgehead model, which has a good keel so the bait doesn’t roll. He said that rigged this way he can often catch 50 fish before the bait wears out. One downside to the internal rigging is that it deadens feel, so it prevents him from recognizing changing bottom compositions. When that’s important, he’ll switch to the externally rigged leadhead. A Scrounger-style head is also a big part of his game plan, especially early in the post-spawn when bass are just starting to group up offshore. Most of his swimbaits are shad-colored, but early in the morning or in the evening, he’s likely to touch them up with a chartreuse tail or stripe.
Over the years, Gross has learned to count down his lures to a desired depth, or to stop after a certain number of cranks, in order to keep them in the strike zone as long as possible. It also helps him to figure out changing bottom depths on humps and points. He can adjust running depth by altering speed and line size. He’s also learned to resist setting the hook on halfhearted strikes. “It’s kind of like a ChatterBait bite,” he said. “Let the rod load up.”
If you want more information about how Elite Series champion Gross uses swimbaits across the country, including some of his favorite rods and reels for different presentations, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
