Vertical Fishing Swimbaits for Rockfish/Lingcod?

I am becoming beyond frustrated trying to figure out how to work a swimbait with a vertical presentation. I have jigging metal down and I just fish twisters on lead heads by almost dragging them across the tops of reefs and both methods score well, but how do you present a swimbait?!?!?!? I'm begging here guys. I have a box loaded with Fish Trap and MC Swimbaits and won't use them because I don't have any confidence in them.

Thanks!

Tight lines~!

rob
jrsyboy

Work them the same way you're working your iron and grubs and they will produce just the same.

Swimbaits are super fun to fish. In deeper water I prefer Iron but for most of my kayak fishing I use swimbaits because I feel they work better in the shallow depths and have the added benefit of being less snaggy.

When targeting rockfish I think the most important thing is to maintain contact with the bottom. Sure you can catch lots of schoolies and the occasional lincod fishing the mid depths but for me the bottom is where the quality fish are. That's where all the hardheads are found like the china's, vermillion, grassies, black and yellows, coppers etc etc.

I think the second most important thing is to slow down your presentation compared to iron. Sometimes the fish bite best when you barely give it any action at all. Just the slow kick of the swimbait tail as your jig drifts by is all it takes to get a bite. Other times the fish like a faster more aggressive retrieve but never as fast as you can fish an iron.

I like to drop down hit the bottom, reel back up a couple feet and then slowly raise and lower the rod tip always staying in contact with the swimbait so you will feel the strike. Sometimes the strikes are savage and other times they are barely a tick. If you don't get a strike after a minute or so I like to reel up quickly about ten or fifteen feet and then drop it back down to the bottom and repeat. I feel this helps to grab the attention of any nearby fish that wouldn't otherwise see your lure.

I also like to smack the jig right into the bottom on the drop and sometimes hop it along in the less snaggy areas.
Again I think this helps to make a little sound and draw in the nearby curious fish.

Mix it up and try it all until you find what works for you. Everyone has a little different style and they all work. I have one friend who seems to always hook up on a nice ling or cabazone whenever he is eating a sandwhich. It's weird to see them hitting the deadsticked bait but I swear it happens more often than not for him.

Maybe some day when you already caught a couple keepers with your normal methods you can switch to swimbaits for the rest of the day. Once you have confidence in them I think they will be your go to for shallow water light tackle type of fishing.

Sorry for the long reply but I really do love fishing the swimbaits 

-Eliot

There is nothing I can add to Otters awesome reply except this. Halloween 7inch swimbait at Stump Beach

Nice vermillion Craig! Bet you got some nice fillets off that bad boy.


-Eliot

I've got several rock fish on swim baits the regular plastic ones don't produce the numbers of squid on a dropper loop. They do produce better quality rock fish though, I'd say they produce similar numbers to an iron/luccanus/scampi tail.

Generally I'll fish them similar to the formentioned lures, but i add a wiggle as they have a good looking profile. I basically let it fall out hit the ground, reel up 3 feet, bounce it once or twice with a full lift, then wiggle it with 6 inch lifts for 5 or 10 seconds and repeat with finding the bottom again. If after the 4th of 5th cycle i don't get a bite i move till i see fish or structure on the fishfinder, unless i'm drifting over/along known structure.

I fish gulp a little differently, I've found Gulp swimbaits work as well as squid when there is alot of swimming type food around, sardines, shrimp, squid, ect. The gulp I fish similarly, though at the end of the wiggles I'll let the bait sit on the bottom 10-15 seconds before picking it up again. You will snag the bottom more often than if you pick it up instantly, But Ive had lots of rock fish pick the gulp up while it was not moving on the bottom, Ive not had the same pickups as much on the regular plastics.

  I like to give them a fast 3 or 4 foot yank every so often, and then go to just twitching  a few inches off the bottom. The tail vibration I think is exciting, and it gets them to behave  like the wounded baitfish on the nature shows sometimes do.

Halloween 7inch swimbait at Stump Beach

Bighammer Halloween is my favorite color as well.   This off season, every time I go into OPS I pick up 2 or 3.  Least untill they run out.      There are several other colors I have had success with as well tho.

I rig it with a red lead head, usually 3 oz or so, with a shrimp fly, smaller grub or maybe a hoochie about a foot and a half above it.  (I also generally tie the leadhead on as opposed to using a swivel or clip but everyone does it differently)  Then just drop it to the bottom,  raise it up a few feet and drop again.  Rip it up 20 ft.. drop again.  Mess with one a bit on the surface where you can see it and you will get a feel for how the swimbait works.   In a good drift I also sometimes just try and keep it a bit above the bottom like its swimming along.    They are a blast to use.

I also struggle a bit with swimbaits. I use them in low swell and shallow water. I use on (up to) a 3oz heads (ideally 1.5 - 2 oz) when the conditions allow. For 4 oz and 6oz heads I use scampi tails (root beer and white glow). I am working on a sluggo type plastic (just finished the mold today). I also use a small shrimp style above when the bite tough. If its red hot I use just a the bigger set ups.

Thanks for everyone's input. I believe that confidence is 90% of the battle with the last 10% being a little lucky. I think that I've been fishing them too fast and have to slow down my presentation. I have the same issue with Senko's just letting them sit there but have been spanked by friends while I insist on whipping them out and working them back for zippo while they just let it sit on the bottom and catch fish after fish.

I will try swimbaits again this spring (like May 1, 2011) and give a full report!

Tight lines~!

rob
jrsyboy

It always helps me to picture a wounded fish struggling on the bottom. That's how you want to work a swimbait vertically. Quick snaps upward and a slow fluttery drop...as the poor wittle fishy struggles for life attempting to thrust itself forward off the bottom of the oceanfloor, only to stop short and slowly descend back to the bottom...broken and ready to be put out of its misery... {ps I searched youtube for a visual example but no dice}
Like you said, slow-trolling them or drifting them works great too, as long as the tail keeps thumping along. Then again, I've got a lot of nice fish just deadsticking with the rod under my leg or in the holder...while eating a slimjim or talking on the phone but those were probably tipped w/squid lol.

Just have confidence in yourself and swimbaits will produce.  They are my personal favorite for swallow water.  Check out our great catch with swimbaits during an awesome trip at EKG this summer.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,25888.0/topicseen.html

I like to troll them slowly around and between likely structure spots, and for moving in between spots.  Shallow water, of course.

One nice thing about swimbaits is that the position of the hook (facing up and in a fixed position) keeps it from snagging as much. I like slow trolling 'em in areas where small rocky structures meet small patches of sandy bottom. Caught a variety of fish using this method.

*There are times when I simply drag (and not jig) the swimbait along the bottom on a slow drift. I just keep an eye on the fish finder and make sure I'm not drifting over "snaggy" areas or if the depth changes dramatically. Basically just trying to follow the bottom contour.

I love swimbaits. 

Don't forget you can change up the normal orientation to really change the look.  Put the swimbait on your leadhead sideways to give it a wounded minnow look.  Let it flutter sideways to the bottom to really get the fish intrested.

I also make a little spinner to attach to some of my swimbaits, it gives a little flash and vibration.


I too like to bounce the leadhead off the rocks occasionally.  You loose a few more heads, but it really seems to draw strikes. 

Matt