swimbait basics

anyone know of a site with completely noob instructions on how to work swimbaits for lings and halibut? i have absolutely no idea how to work these things, just reel in or what! thanks for dealing with my nooby questions ill stop soon i promise!

www.fishtraplures.com  www.swimbait.com

on your other question, I would just get a 3 or 4 millimeter wetsuit, some 7mm booties, and paddle out and start fishing the
stuff you can't reach from shore. start simple and work up.

J

If your fishing for Halibut on the flats (sandy area), cast as far as you can,  as soon as the swimbait hits bottom, "hop it" on the bottom till you get it back on the yak.

For Lings: simply drop it to the bottom and "yo-yo"

You are attempting to immitate a fish, hopefully a wounded vunerable fish.

Think what a wounded vunerable fish does...Swims erratically with starts and stops and depth changes, and that is how you work a swimbait.

There is no "right" way to do it, you just need to experiment.

MolBasser

For semi-pelagic rockfish in shallow (blues and blacks) I find a nice steady retrieve works well.  When you get a bite, resist the urge to "set the hook" and simply reel through it the fish will set itself.  I've heard people make the analogy to playing tug-of-war with dogs, if you pull quickly you can yank it out of their mouths, but if you give it a steady pull the dog will bite down harder and pull back.

I've heard people make the analogy to playing tug-of-war with dogs, if you pull quickly you can yank it out of their mouths, but if you give it a steady pull the dog will bite down harder and pull back.

Very interesting...  Nice tip!

MolBasser

I like to set the hook and reel in - especially if you have a lot of line out.
1) a hooked rockfish will tend to swim towards cover - pinnacle or kelp bed
2) their mouths are pretty tough, so a sharp hook + a good hookset will almost guaranty a fish on the deck

....just my 2 cents 

Setting the hook is great, assuming they have the hook part in their mouth.  The problem with swimbaits is that a lot of times they just bite the tail and a hook set will get you nada, where as a continued steady retrieve will allow them to take a bigger bite (this is where the dog analogy comes in) and find the hook.

Another option is a stinger hook in the tail.

The problem with swimbaits is that a lot of times they just bite the tail

True...then I would downsize my swimbait. I actually had that problem at the HMB Derby. I had some blacks follow my fish trap and "mouth" the tail end - but since I did not have any smaller swimbaits, I switched to a light iron and hooked a few.

The Stinger is a great idea - jmairey posted some pics with a stinger hook right on the tail of his fish trap - I may rig a few of those for the Elk Deby...which I plan to win and take over bsteves reign 

Note to self:  Stop giving out good tips and tricks and consider a campaign of misinformation until after Elk

Hey Joel, For catching big lings, I find that dull hooks work pretty well.  Oh, and you really want to use a finese approach, light line (2-6 lb test), small lures (1/16th - 1/4oz), and consider something like a hula popper in leopard frog... gets em every time.

I hear the Big Lings at Elk like to hang out in sandy areas...in around 5 feet of water...right where the surf breaks 

Well, mooch has probably caught more fish on a single lure than I've ever caught on all mine put together, but I have been
able to catch fish in santa cruz on swimbaits, where mooch declares himself stymied, so I feel qualified to say something.
mooch please pardon me for my little moment of ego,  .

For me, I usually do the steady retrieve, I get a lot of short hits. Mooch, the stinger does work, but it's a pain to rig and
mostly they will eat the whole thing if you let them. definitely worth having a few on hand tho.

If Elk is biggest fish then sounds like a place where mondo iron (maybe try a lighter metal in a huge size?) or
10" grub or other huge lure is good, or live rockfish bait, and save those swimbaits for the places with more fishing pressure?
for ELK, what about one of those huge wahoo plugs, maybe:
 

looks like a 10" rockfish doesnt it?. you could slow troll over all the reefs?

pretty expensive, but you have to pay to play.

back to swimbaits:

If this dude is catching fish from shore near vandenberg, he's probably in a pretty good spot, I bet anything will get smacked.

I am thinking swimbaits are good in shallow areas that are fished more heavily, like santa cruz (or so-cal).

a swimbait has a lot of action. It will entice some hits. but for me, lighter jig heads are definitely better if you can use them so I think
in a lot of nor cal spots, iron rules.

When I get a short hit, I pause the retrieve for a half second, and then start again. often the fish has the whole swimbait in his mouth
after the pause. I like to think they hit it, and try again if they see it falter. maybe just slowing the retrieve would work better.
often you get a solid hookup on the main hook after re-starting after a short hit.
I don't set the hook hard with the cast and retrieve swimbait.

If nothing hits mid-column, and the bottom is the kind of 'weak' reef you see in santa cruz, just a few little rocks down
there maybe, then bouncing the swimbait off the bottom is pretty good.

maybe I should get a fishfinder and actually fish over decent structure some time? That would be novel!

Also, mooch, when you say 'yo-yo', I assume you mean just jig, not actually reel all the way to the surface and then drop
again like they do for yellowtail? Dude, you will always fish better than me, but I think I will always read better than you,  .

norm pointed out how he casts downdrift, then reels up before too much line gets scoped out behind him. he was using
a lighter iron, but this works pretty well with a  swimbait too, it's hard not to lose contact with it tho.

J