Cover Water, Locate Hungry Bass with Swim Baits

Answer: They look like a baitfish, swim like a baitfish, and some even smell like a baitfish.

Question: Why do bass eat swim baits?

Swim baits — typically soft-plastic lures that mimic baitfish in appearance and movement — are extremely effective bass fishing lures. Like most soft plastics, swim baits can be fished in a variety of ways: weightless, on a jig head and some come pre-weighted.

>>VIDEOS: Watch more Beyond the Bait Powered by Streamlight episodes

Those attributes make swim baits great for finding bass, Game & Fish’s Dr. Todd A. Kuhn says in Episode 5 of the bass-fishing video series, "Beyond the Bait Powered by Streamlight.”

If you’re not fishing where the bass are, as they say, you won’t catch any bass. Swim baits cover a lot of water and make great search baits for bass.

Learn more about catching bass with swim baits in the video above.

Beyond the Bait Powered by Streamlight is a 13-episode video series on gameandfishmag.com that focusses on the best baits for bass fishing. Join Game & Fish’s Dr. Todd A. Kuhn every Tuesday this spring as he goes deep into how bass lures work, what bass find irresistible in them, and how you catch more on your next trip.

Beyond the Bait Powered by Streamlight

Scheduled videos

Episode 1: Soft Plastics — Flukes, Worms and Lizards

Episode 2: Soft Plastics — Tubes & Creature Baits

Episode 3: Rigging Soft Plastics — Texas & Carolina Rigs

Episode 4: Rigging Soft Plastics — Jig Heads

Episode 5: Rigging Soft Plastics — Swimbaits, Live March 10

Episode 6: Selecting the Right Soft-Plastic Hook, Live March 17

Episode 7: Spinnerbaits from Top to Bottom, Live March 24

Episode 8: Technical Topwater, Live March 31

Episode 9: Choosing the Right Bass Rod, Live April 7

Episode 10: All About Lines, Live April 14

Episode 11: Baitcasting Vs. Spinning, Live April 21

Episode 12: Find More Fish with Search Baits, April 28

Episode 13: Weighting Your Bait, May 5