Swimbaits are growing in popularity, and they are known for catching monster bass. These big bass lures catch some of the largest bass, which is why more and more anglers are trying out swimbaits. Swimbait fishing can take time and patience, but it’ll be worthwhile when you catch big bass and break personal records or even the records on your preferred body of water.Â
Top Bass Fishing Swimbaits
There are a variety of swimbaits, from soft bodied to hard bodied and more distinctions within those categories. We’ve compiled the best swimbaits, known for their strength and ability to catch big bass. Our list includes various types of swimbaits, so some are more suitable for certain environments, bass, and styles of fishing.
These are the Best Swimbaits for Bass
- Live Target Sucker Soft Body Swimbait
- Spro BBZ 1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait
- River2Sea S-Waver 168 Swimbait
- Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout
- Strike King Shadalicious Swimbait
- Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait
- Huddleston Deluxe 68 Special Swimbait
- Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait
- Bassdash Multi-Jointed Swimbaits
- Spro BBZ1 Rat Swimbait
Live Target Sucker Soft Body Swimbait
As the name implies, the Live Target Sucker Soft Body Swimbait has a soft body construction. It is a full body swimbait with a top hook, but there is an accessory pin for adding more hooks or spinner blades. The Live Target Sucker Swimbait is a perfect anatomical reconstruction of a sucker, which will lure in big bass.
This realistic swimbait has 3D eyes, protruding fins, and side-to-side kicking motion that is sure to attract bites. It has a weedless, wide gap hook, so it can be fished in heavy cover with great hooksets. The Live Target Sucker Soft Body Swimbait has a medium-slow sink rate, and comes in two sizes from 4 ½ to 5 ½ inches long and ⅞ to 1 ⅓ ounce weights. It also comes in two natural colors.
Spro BBZ1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait
The Spro BBZ1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait is “the most realistic swim bait on the market today” according to the manufacturer. This model is available as a slow sinking, floating, or fast falling swimbait. It has a hard body and is double jointed for realistic swimming action that triggers strikes.
With protruding fins and realistically painted scales, the Spro BBZ1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait looks real enough to attract even the smartest bass. It has two treble hooks for hooksets, weighs 8 ounces and is roughly 8 inches long. The Spro BBZ1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait comes in 5 life-like colors. While it’s on the expensive side, this durable lure will be worth the price when you catch a trophy sized bass.
River2Sea S-Waver 168 Swimbait
The River2Sea S-Waver 168 Swimbait is a hard-bodied, single jointed swimbait. Its elongated design and single joint allows for a wider S-shaped swimming action, making this lure a glide bait style swimbait. The River2Sea S-Waver is slow sinking, but if you keep your rod tip up it can work as a floating swimbait as well.
This swimbait has a seductive action that is sure to attract bass and other fish. The River2Sea S-Waver 168 Swimbait has a soft PVC tail for added swimming action, and it comes in 8 realistic and enticing colors, some natural and some flashier. This swimbait is 6 Âľ inches long, weighs 1 â…ť ounces, and comes fitted with treble hooks.
Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout
The Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout fishing lure is another great swimbait known for catching bass. This swimbait is soft with a full body, but is also double jointed and has a paddle tail to attract bites. It has a line thru design that allows the lure to move up the line and save it from being chewed apart by your catch and improve hooksets.
The Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout has exaggerated fin details and incredibly life-like action that triggers strikes. It is based on a 3D scan of a real trout, so it is incredibly detailed and can be used in clear water presentations. The Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout is extra large in size and features an internal jig head with an ultra-sharp hook. It is available in light trout and dark trout colors.
Strike King Shadalicious Swimbait
The Strike King Shadalicious swimbait is a soft, hollow bodied swimbait. It has a paddle tail, creating realistic swimming action. Because the Strike King Shadalicious lure has a hollow body, it is softer and will compress more easily when bitten, improving hooksets. This lightweight swimbait has amazing action that is sure to drive bass wild.
The Strike King Shadalicious Swimbait comes in 10 life-like colors with fine details to trick bass. Its eyes are also realistic looking. This swimbait is best fished on a jig head or a weighted hook, with a straight retrieve reeled in slow and steady.
Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait
The Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait is a paddle tail, soft swimbait. It has a solid body, made with a two-tone injection process using different types of salted plastics for perfect balance and action. This design helps the Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait achieve amazing action for a life-like swimming motion at any retrieve speed.
This swimbait’s tapered design and ringed body gives a more natural appearance, triggering strikes from bass. It has a strong squid scent to further attract bites. The Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait comes in a range of sizes from 2.8” to 6.8”, and is available in over 40 enticing colors.
Huddleston Deluxe 68 Special Swimbait
The Huddleston Deluxe 68 Special Swimbait is a soft, full bodied swimbait. This lure is top-rated by anglers, and Huddleston swimbaits are known for making great catches. It has a top hook for a weedless design, but additional hooks can be attached to improve hooksets.
This swimbait has a soft body with a realistic swimming movement. The Huddleston Deluxe 68 Special Swimbait has protruding fins and extremely life-like details, painted to look like real prey to entice big bass. It is 6 to 8 inches long depending on your choice of size, and comes in three realistic colors.
Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait
Berkley is a trusted fishing brand, and the Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait is a top-tier swimbait sure to help you make an impressive catch. This swimbait is made with the highest quality materials, and designed to look as real as possible. It has a super life-like shape, with extra noticeable protruding fins.
The Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait has amazing action that mimics the swimming movement of a sick or injured baitfish. That action lures in bass, improving hooksets. The Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait comes in 8 realistic colors, all with holographic eyes to further attract fish. It is four inches long.
Bassdash Multi-Jointed Swimbaits
The Bassdash Multi-Jointed Swimbait is a hard bodied swimbait with 5 joints, for superior swimming action. Made with ABS high quality material, this swimbait can withstand wear and tear from heavy duty fishing. Since its body is broken into 6 sections, it creates an intense side-to-side swimming action and it is harder for bass to shake it off during a fight.
The Bassdash Multi-Jointed Swimbait comes in 6 realistic colors with extremely life-like detailing. It is also available in packs of four or six multi-colors. The Bassdash Swimbait is fitted with two ultra-sharp treble hooks, and its body is 3.5 inches long.
Spro BBZ1 Rat Swimbait
The Spro BBZ1 has another great swimbait in its series, this one being a hard bodied, single jointed swimbait. This swimbait is modeled after a rat, and has a single jointed body as well as a hinged tail to entice bass. The Spro BBZ1 Rat Swimbait has a foam injected body, so it is made of plastic but feels like wood.
This swimbait is a versatile topwater lure. It features a large, square bill that helps it dive and stay underwater. The Spro BBZ1 Rat Swimbait has two sticky-sharp Gamatsaku hooks for improved hooksets. It comes in 6 colors to attract bass.
Types of Swimbaits
Swimbaits come in a variety of styles, but the two main distinctions are hard bodied vs. soft bodied. Both types are great for catching bass, but differ in presentation, style, and other factors. Learn how to use the different types of swimbaits to your advantage when bass fishing.Â
Hard Swimbaits for Bass
Hard swimbaits have hard bodies, typically made of plastic or wood. These swimbaits are often larger to attract larger bass, and the good ones have extremely life-like detail to trick fish into biting. Hard bodied swimbaits are often on the more expensive side, and serious anglers will pay extra for custom made swimbaits.
Hard swimbaits typically have treble hooks and are better used in areas of light cover or clear waters. They are not weedless normally. Since swimbaits are all about swimming action, most hard swimbaits have one or more joints for better movement.
There are single jointed hard swimbaits, multi-jointed swimbaits, and glide baits. Glide baits are single jointed, but with a longer, thinner profile that create an S-shaped swimming motion.
Soft Swimbaits for Bass
Soft swimbaits are typically different from other soft plastics. Many soft swimbaits are made with rubber, but there is a diverse amount of soft swimbait styles.
Full body soft swimbaits are generally large and heavy, solid rubber baits. Because they are soft, they’ll have a realistic swimming action. Full body soft swimbaits often come without hooks attached, but some will feature treble hooks and others feature weedless top hooks above the fish’s head.
There are also “line through” swim baits, which means that there is a hole through the body of the bait to pull your line through. This allows for easier hooksets, and prevents the bait from getting damaged in the fight since it can slide up the fishing line.
Aside from full body soft swimbaits, there are also paddle tail soft swimbaits. These are generally smaller in size and weight, and resemble a soft plastic worm. Paddle tail swimbaits are weedless, so this style is better for areas with heavy cover and vegetation. They are typically attached to a jig head or a weighted swimbait hook.
Among paddle tail swimbaits, there are hollow bodies and solid bodies. Hollow bodies allow for improve hooksets, because they compress when fish bite and expose the hook further. Solid bodied paddle tail swimbaits aren’t as easy to hook, but they are more durable.
How to Fish a Swimbait
Swimbaits are typically fished with a straight retrieve, often on the slower side. Their realistic action is designed to lure in big bass and other gamefish. Some erratic action can help to trigger a strike, but in general, the slower, the better when swimbait fishing.
Some swimbaits float while others sink, so your style of fishing depends on the swimbait you choose. Aim to use a swimbait that mimics the appearance and action of a baitfish that is native to the waters you’re fishing in. Bass will be more likely to bite a lure that resembles their standard prey.
Swimbaits are larger, heavier lures, so your other fishing gear should match this. You’ll need a stronger bass fishing rod, reel, and line to cast these bigger lures. Since swimbaits tend to catch bigger bass, you’ll also need that strength to reel in a trophy sized catch.
Fish swimbaits in clear to slightly muddied water, but not in super muddy conditions.Â
All credit for these awesome tips goes to Fish Masters.
Swimbaits are growing in popularity, and they are known for catching monster bass. These big bass lures catch some of the largest bass, which is why more and more anglers are trying out swimbaits. Swimbait fishing can take time and patience, but it’ll be worthwhile when you catch big bass and break personal records or even the records on your preferred body of water.
Table of Contents
Top Bass Fishing Swimbaits
There are a variety of swimbaits, from soft bodied to hard bodied and more distinctions within those categories. We’ve compiled the best swimbaits, known for their strength and ability to catch big bass. Our list includes various types of swimbaits, so some are more suitable for certain environments, bass, and styles of fishing.
These are the Best Swimbaits for Bass
- Live Target Sucker Soft Body Swimbait
- Spro BBZ 1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait
- River2Sea S-Waver 168 Swimbait
- Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout
- Strike King Shadalicious Swimbait
- Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait
- Huddleston Deluxe 68 Special Swimbait
- Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait
- Bassdash Multi-Jointed Swimbaits
- Spro BBZ1 Rat Swimbait
Live Target Sucker Soft Body Swimbait
As the name implies, the Live Target Sucker Soft Body Swimbait has a soft body construction. It is a full body swimbait with a top hook, but there is an accessory pin for adding more hooks or spinner blades. The Live Target Sucker Swimbait is a perfect anatomical reconstruction of a sucker, which will lure in big bass.
This realistic swimbait has 3D eyes, protruding fins, and side-to-side kicking motion that is sure to attract bites. It has a weedless, wide gap hook, so it can be fished in heavy cover with great hooksets. The Live Target Sucker Soft Body Swimbait has a medium-slow sink rate, and comes in two sizes from 4 ½ to 5 ½ inches long and ⅞ to 1 ⅓ ounce weights. It also comes in two natural colors.
Spro BBZ1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait
The Spro BBZ1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait is “the most realistic swim bait on the market today” according to the manufacturer. This model is available as a slow sinking, floating, or fast falling swimbait. It has a hard body and is double jointed for realistic swimming action that triggers strikes.
With protruding fins and realistically painted scales, the Spro BBZ1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait looks real enough to attract even the smartest bass. It has two treble hooks for hooksets, weighs 8 ounces and is roughly 8 inches long. The Spro BBZ1 Slow Sinking Swim Bait comes in 5 life-like colors. While it’s on the expensive side, this durable lure will be worth the price when you catch a trophy sized bass.
River2Sea S-Waver 168 Swimbait
The River2Sea S-Waver 168 Swimbait is a hard-bodied, single jointed swimbait. Its elongated design and single joint allows for a wider S-shaped swimming action, making this lure a glide bait style swimbait. The River2Sea S-Waver is slow sinking, but if you keep your rod tip up it can work as a floating swimbait as well.
This swimbait has a seductive action that is sure to attract bass and other fish. The River2Sea S-Waver 168 Swimbait has a soft PVC tail for added swimming action, and it comes in 8 realistic and enticing colors, some natural and some flashier. This swimbait is 6 Âľ inches long, weighs 1 â…ť ounces, and comes fitted with treble hooks.
Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout
The Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout fishing lure is another great swimbait known for catching bass. This swimbait is soft with a full body, but is also double jointed and has a paddle tail to attract bites. It has a line thru design that allows the lure to move up the line and save it from being chewed apart by your catch and improve hooksets.
The Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout has exaggerated fin details and incredibly life-like action that triggers strikes. It is based on a 3D scan of a real trout, so it is incredibly detailed and can be used in clear water presentations. The Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout is extra large in size and features an internal jig head with an ultra-sharp hook. It is available in light trout and dark trout colors.
Strike King Shadalicious Swimbait
The Strike King Shadalicious swimbait is a soft, hollow bodied swimbait. It has a paddle tail, creating realistic swimming action. Because the Strike King Shadalicious lure has a hollow body, it is softer and will compress more easily when bitten, improving hooksets. This lightweight swimbait has amazing action that is sure to drive bass wild.
The Strike King Shadalicious Swimbait comes in 10 life-like colors with fine details to trick bass. Its eyes are also realistic looking. This swimbait is best fished on a jig head or a weighted hook, with a straight retrieve reeled in slow and steady.
Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait
The Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait is a paddle tail, soft swimbait. It has a solid body, made with a two-tone injection process using different types of salted plastics for perfect balance and action. This design helps the Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait achieve amazing action for a life-like swimming motion at any retrieve speed.
This swimbait’s tapered design and ringed body gives a more natural appearance, triggering strikes from bass. It has a strong squid scent to further attract bites. The Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbait comes in a range of sizes from 2.8” to 6.8”, and is available in over 40 enticing colors.
Huddleston Deluxe 68 Special Swimbait
The Huddleston Deluxe 68 Special Swimbait is a soft, full bodied swimbait. This lure is top-rated by anglers, and Huddleston swimbaits are known for making great catches. It has a top hook for a weedless design, but additional hooks can be attached to improve hooksets.
This swimbait has a soft body with a realistic swimming movement. The Huddleston Deluxe 68 Special Swimbait has protruding fins and extremely life-like details, painted to look like real prey to entice big bass. It is 6 to 8 inches long depending on your choice of size, and comes in three realistic colors.
Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait
Berkley is a trusted fishing brand, and the Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait is a top-tier swimbait sure to help you make an impressive catch. This swimbait is made with the highest quality materials, and designed to look as real as possible. It has a super life-like shape, with extra noticeable protruding fins.
The Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait has amazing action that mimics the swimming movement of a sick or injured baitfish. That action lures in bass, improving hooksets. The Berkley Havoc Sick Fish Bait comes in 8 realistic colors, all with holographic eyes to further attract fish. It is four inches long.
Bassdash Multi-Jointed Swimbaits
The Bassdash Multi-Jointed Swimbait is a hard bodied swimbait with 5 joints, for superior swimming action. Made with ABS high quality material, this swimbait can withstand wear and tear from heavy duty fishing. Since its body is broken into 6 sections, it creates an intense side-to-side swimming action and it is harder for bass to shake it off during a fight.
The Bassdash Multi-Jointed Swimbait comes in 6 realistic colors with extremely life-like detailing. It is also available in packs of four or six multi-colors. The Bassdash Swimbait is fitted with two ultra-sharp treble hooks, and its body is 3.5 inches long.
Spro BBZ1 Rat Swimbait
The Spro BBZ1 has another great swimbait in its series, this one being a hard bodied, single jointed swimbait. This swimbait is modeled after a rat, and has a single jointed body as well as a hinged tail to entice bass. The Spro BBZ1 Rat Swimbait has a foam injected body, so it is made of plastic but feels like wood.
This swimbait is a versatile topwater lure. It features a large, square bill that helps it dive and stay underwater. The Spro BBZ1 Rat Swimbait has two sticky-sharp Gamatsaku hooks for improved hooksets. It comes in 6 colors to attract bass.
Types of Swimbaits
Swimbaits come in a variety of styles, but the two main distinctions are hard bodied vs. soft bodied. Both types are great for catching bass, but differ in presentation, style, and other factors. Learn how to use the different types of swimbaits to your advantage when bass fishing.
Hard Swimbaits for Bass
Hard swimbaits have hard bodies, typically made of plastic or wood. These swimbaits are often larger to attract larger bass, and the good ones have extremely life-like detail to trick fish into biting. Hard bodied swimbaits are often on the more expensive side, and serious anglers will pay extra for custom made swimbaits.
Hard swimbaits typically have treble hooks and are better used in areas of light cover or clear waters. They are not weedless normally. Since swimbaits are all about swimming action, most hard swimbaits have one or more joints for better movement.
There are single jointed hard swimbaits, multi-jointed swimbaits, and glide baits. Glide baits are single jointed, but with a longer, thinner profile that create an S-shaped swimming motion.
Soft Swimbaits for Bass
Soft swimbaits are typically different from other soft plastics. Many soft swimbaits are made with rubber, but there is a diverse amount of soft swimbait styles.
Full body soft swimbaits are generally large and heavy, solid rubber baits. Because they are soft, they’ll have a realistic swimming action. Full body soft swimbaits often come without hooks attached, but some will feature treble hooks and others feature weedless top hooks above the fish’s head.
There are also “line through” swim baits, which means that there is a hole through the body of the bait to pull your line through. This allows for easier hooksets, and prevents the bait from getting damaged in the fight since it can slide up the fishing line.
Aside from full body soft swimbaits, there are also paddle tail soft swimbaits. These are generally smaller in size and weight, and resemble a soft plastic worm. Paddle tail swimbaits are weedless, so this style is better for areas with heavy cover and vegetation. They are typically attached to a jig head or a weighted swimbait hook.
Among paddle tail swimbaits, there are hollow bodies and solid bodies. Hollow bodies allow for improve hooksets, because they compress when fish bite and expose the hook further. Solid bodied paddle tail swimbaits aren’t as easy to hook, but they are more durable.
How to Fish a Swimbait
Swimbaits are typically fished with a straight retrieve, often on the slower side. Their realistic action is designed to lure in big bass and other gamefish. Some erratic action can help to trigger a strike, but in general, the slower, the better when swimbait fishing.
Some swimbaits float while others sink, so your style of fishing depends on the swimbait you choose. Aim to use a swimbait that mimics the appearance and action of a baitfish that is native to the waters you’re fishing in. Bass will be more likely to bite a lure that resembles their standard prey.
Swimbaits are larger, heavier lures, so your other fishing gear should match this. You’ll need a stronger bass fishing rod, reel, and line to cast these bigger lures. Since swimbaits tend to catch bigger bass, you’ll also need that strength to reel in a trophy sized catch.
Fish swimbaits in clear to slightly muddied water, but not in super muddy conditions.
All credit for these awesome tips goes to Fish Masters. https://fishmasters.com/swimbaits-for-bass/
