“The fish are always looking up at them, but they are never looking down at them. Before swimbait fishing was really popular, they’d see something swimming and they’d go up and grab. But now they are more conditioned to that.”

The swimbait craze began more than 20 years ago in Southern California. The technique stayed pinned to the region until a few years ago, when anglers throughout the West began tossing the lures. As the fad spread, bass in states to the north have become conditioned to trout-like swimbaits. But the fishing pressure in Northern California, Oregon and Washington has been minimal compared to Southern California.

Regardless of where they fish swimbaits in the West, anglers have to try new techniques, alter baits and toss the expensive swimbaits in areas they normally wouldn’t, said tournament pro Gary Dobyns.

“You can’t worry about losing $40 baits anymore,” he said. “You are going to have to fish that swimbait through the rocks and trees and you are going to lose some.

“That’s part of the game. You’ve got to fish it in the places you don’t want to because you don’t want to lose the bait. But it’s what you are going to have to do to catch fish.”

TRASH THE TRAILERS?
Trailer hooks have become another vital part of increasing success with swimbaits. Historically, anglers littered the baits with large treble hooks, some on multiple portions of the bait. Due to immense fishing pressure on well-known bass waters, standard trailer hooks can decrease catch rates.

“Those fish are conditioned now,” said Dobyns. “We were putting an extra three trebles on the swimbaits, but the fish won’t bite it anymore. “We have to use smaller hooks. We can’t modify it the way we were.”

Dobyns recommended that anglers use lighter line and fish the way that SoCal guys do.

“We’re going to have to fish them uphill, through brush -- heck, in places we would have never fished them before.”

The days of throwing them, reeling them right across the top and watching bass jump all over them are gone, he said. “They don’t do that stuff anymore.”

THINK OUTSIDE
THE BOX
Swimbaits -- especially the better-looking models like the Huddleston and Castaic Platinum baits -- still convince trophy bass to feed. The difference between now and a few years ago is most of the trophy bass have seen every swimbait on the planet cruise by their faces, repeatedly. These bass are educated.

As an angler, you’ll find success by presenting a swimbait to the bass in a way they haven’t seen before says Steve La Russa, who has successfully managed a popular West Coast tackle shop for several years.

“It is getting a lot tougher to catch fish on swimbaits,” said La Russa, “but guys are still doing it every day. Guys are throwing a lot more swimbaits as a rule now. Instead of just a few days doing it, everyone is throwing them. Right now, it’s ridiculous how many swimbaits we sell. I try to still think outside of the box.”

Your traditional swimbait guy is going to go to a point and fish it. You have to mix it up. Vary the retrieve. Instead of just reeling it in, twitch it. Reeling it in and twitching it a little bit will really cause a reaction from bass, said La Russa.