Winter Swimbait Retrieves

So you’ve decided its finally time to throw a swimbait. You head to your local lake and begin casting the bait around your favorite haunts. You visit a point or two, that break you caught those jig fish on last week, but its been 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 3… make that 4 seconds and you STILL haven’t had a bite!
In the back of your mind you start wondering if you’re doing it right. Maybe you have the wrong bait, Maybe the fish moved, maybe the fish in this lake don’t eat swimbaits, WRONG!
Odds are you simply aren’t fishing the bait slow enough. Welcome to December! If you want to throw a swimbait in December (and you should) there are two kinds of retrieves. The first retrieve is slow, the second is so slow it hurts.

Big bass are inherently lazy. (Thus the belly that helps them get above the 10 lb mark) In most cases they aren’t out roaming around hunting food, least of all in the Winter months. If you want to play the odds go back through the places you just fished and start slowing down. You may be surprised by what happens next!

How to Modify a Swim Jig

Saying that the big swim jig and switchblade jig have “caught on” would be a gross understatement. Almost overnight everyone seems to be throwing them. Of course, this brings up a whole new assortment of bait and technique related questions. One that has been coming up lately is how to modify the jigs to improve or change their action.
This video discusses what you can do to both the swim jig and the switchblade jig to get different actions.
The baits fish very well “as is” if you use the trailers I recommend but if you start using other trailers, brands, weights, etc… you will need to make these changes to keep your baits swimming properly.

I hope you find this video helpful and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving from Tacticalbassin! We are so thankful for each one of our readers. You are what makes this blog a success and we are so greatful to have you here. We wish the best for you and your family on this holiday weekend. Be safe if you’re traveling and best of luck catching the fish of a lifetime on your next outing!

My 17 lber... the untold story

Every successful angler sets goals to help stay on track but somewhere out there in the distance, even farther than the tangible is the intangible. The intangible consists of things too far fetched to even be called goals, they are left in the realm of dreams. One of my dreams was to someday log on to bassmaster and see a picture of me holding a giant bass. Thanks to Dan O'Sullivan I got to see one of my dreams come to fruition. Thank you DanO for doing a great write up and telling the untold story of my biggest bass. A lot of people know that I caught her but even some of my close friends didn't know the details of the catch. I'd like to think I've come a long way from then but then again, maybe not. Afterall, I've hooked a lot of big bass with a rod and reel but none as big as her. DanO wrote it best when he titled the article "Help From Above." There is no doubt in my mind I was meant to catch that fish. I did everything wrong! From the single size 1 treble to the light line, to the light action rod, I couldn't have made poorer decisions but it just goes to show you that when its your time, there is no stopping the inevitable. All I can say is while I did everything wrong, I still managed to be in the right place at the right time, during the right feeding window. Bassmaster.com Article Check it out, I'd love to hear your thoughts! And yes, I assure you the story is true.