You need a good swimbait to catch fish consistently. There are so many types of swimbait out on the market, making it tough to know what swimbait to use and when to use it. I have found the 5 swimbaits listed below to be great for “Kraken” bass, helping me have great success after several years of trial and error. This article will walk you through what you need to look for in a swimbait. Plus, it’ll give you a strong baseline of swimbaits to use to consistently outperform all the others. Hopefully, this information on soft plastic swimbaits will help eliminate some confusion for you. In addition, there are several tips and a video of each of these swimbaits in action to help you become a better swimbait fisherman. Enjoy the post!
Table of Contents
What Makes A Good Swimbait
A swimbait can be one of the best lures to use for bass fishing. They allow you to cover a lot of water and-best of all-bass crush them! Unfortunately, not all swimbaits are created equal. Almost every fishing brand has one kind of swimbait or another. What separates the effectiveness of a swimbait is its size, swimming action, and the colors.
Fortunately, I’ve spent a lot of time on the water, and boiled the mass amount of products down to 5 good swimbaits that will consistently catch you big bass all year long. Feel free to leave a comment below if you disagree with any of the swimbait listed. I’m always open to try new gear and techniques. Plus, don’t forget to check out the video at the bottom of the post to see these swimbaits in action and see proof of why these are the best. Soak in the stoke!
Keitech Easy Shiner Swimbait
One of the all-time best swimbaits is the Keitech Easy Shiner. This swimbait is awesome because the tail will wobble perfectly without barely any movement on the retrieve. Plus, the thin body is a perfect baitfish imitator. The best way to fish this swimbait is with a 1/8oz. darter jig head on a light spinning rod. You can cast it a mile and the darter jig head will help keep the swimbait horizontal as you retrieve it through the water. Prepare to reel in the bites with this awesome lure.
Rigging Up Keitech Easy Shiner Swimbaits
4″ Ayu Keitech Shiner
1/8oz. Gamakatsu Darter Jig Head
7′ Medium Heavy Spinning Rod & Reel Size 30
Basstrix Paddle Tail Swimbait
I have found the Basstrix Paddle Tail to be a great swimbait on the market. Its action is incredibly unique compared to any other swimbait. The entire body wobbles as the tail kicks. This extra vibration in the water from the Basstrix swimbait’s body wobble helps draw some serious strikes. The Basstrix needs to be retrieved a little faster than other swimbaits to get the right action, but it still crushes bass. Plus, the hollow body enable some cool rigging options to keep the bait from catching in the weeds. This swimbait is a definite must-have in your arsenal.
Rigging Up Basstrix Paddle Tail Swimbaits
1/4oz. gamakatsu swimbait jig head
5″ Basstrix Ayu Paddle Tail Swimbait
7′ Medium Heavy Baitcasting Rod & Reel
Jackall Rhythm Wave Swimbait
The Jackall Rhythm Wave is one of the best swimbaits because of its perfect finesse presentation. I love how the Rhythm Wave’s tail will kick on the slowest of retrieves. Plus, the body has a good rocking action to give it a little more presence in the water. Another cool feature about this swimbait is the scale imitation body style stripes that go down across the entire swimbait. This helps give it a natural baitfish appearance in the water. The bass never fail to choke this swimbait down with some serious stoke!
Rigging Rhythm Wave Swimbaits
3.8 Prims Shad Jackall Rhythm Wave
1/8 Oz Gamakatsu Darter Jig Head
7′ Medium Heavy Spinning Rod & Size 30 Reel
Megabass Spark Shad Swimbait
I like the Megabass Spark Shad swimbait for a variety of reasons. It swims incredibly straight and the body style is a perfect representation of a small fish with the extra front fins. The tail will kick easily on a slow retrieve, and this swimbait comes in some awesome natural colors. The only downside to this swimbait is the eyes will fall off; however, this doesn’t detract the bass from chomping it down. The holes in the top of the bait also help make sure you get the bait rigged up perfectly straight every time. The Spark Shad swimbait really gets those bass “Kraken.”
Rigging Megabass Spark Shad Swimbaits
4″ Real Megabass Spark Shad
3/8oz. Megabass Body Balance Jig Head
Baitcasting 7″ Medium Heavy Rod & Baitcasting Reel
Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait
The Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait is really useful to keep ’em biting. I love the action on this swimbait. It is incredible. The body kick and the tail wag is perfect at the slowest of speeds. This swimbait works amazing as a trailer on a spinnerbait or a swim jig. Traditionally, this swimbait is used a lot on umbrella rigs too. Yet, it still crushes sitting straight on a lead jig head, slowly retrieved through the water. This swimbait is a bass-killer all season long.
Rigging Keitech Swing Impact Fat Swimbaits
4.8″ Ayu Keitech Fat Swing Impact1/4oz. Dirty Jigs Bluegill Swimbait HeadBaitcasting 7″ Medium Heavy Rod & Baitcasting Reel
Swimbait Fishing Video Demonstration
Here’s some footage of these 5 effective swimbaits being tested by me in one morning of fishing. Each of these swimbaits produced some decent bass. Hopefully, you can pick up a few tips from these clips on how to fish these lures as well. A good swimbait and some nice lures are, hands down, one of my favorite ways to catch bass. I hope these videos get you stoked to see how well a swimbait can work for you. Enjoy the vid!
Hopefully, this video and information will help you level up your game to catch more bass on a swimbait. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and follow @Krakenbass on all the main social media accounts to keep you up to speed with new posts and information to help you catch more big bass! I’d love to hear from you in the comments below to learn some of your favorite soft plastic swimbaits. There is something magical about these swimbaits that really get those bass “Kraken!”
As Always,
Stay Stoked!
