Swimming For Numbers

The Zman SwimmerZ is the perfect compromise when it comes to targeting big bass and catching your limit.  

There is no doubt that targeting larger than average sized bass requires a different approach than fishing for numbers of fish.

One of the best examples of a technique that is geared towards catching bruiser bass is Swimbait fishing.

Swimbaiting has probably provoked a bigger underground following of big bass specialists than any other technique, and with the increasing numbers of these loyal big bait fans, there are an endless amount of bait designs that are geared toward one goal- the one big bite.

 Now, since I am first and foremost a tournament angler, I unfortunately don't have the time or the patience to focus on fishing days upon days for one life changing bite.  Instead, my goal is to find the biggest concentration of quality bites that I can in a day's time.  With my goals of catching quality and quantity in mind, I have found the perfect swimbait to accomplish both.

Let me tell you why the Zman SwimmerZ is my favorite Swimbait for filling my livewell with better than average fish.

The Three Bass

Traditionally, the challenge with Swimbait fishing is that when you throw the biggest of the baits, you limit the number of bites you get, and conversely, if you throw the smaller baits, you limit the average size of the fish you are catching.

To combat this delicate balance, I have found that the 6" SwimmerZ is a perfect compromise between offering a bigger bait, while also being accessible to average sized fish.  

Clear Water Powerhouse

One of the biggest challenges for clear water is finding a reaction bait that fish will actually like.  

Usually as a rule, the clearer the water, the less effective baits like spinnerbaits, crankbaits and Chatterbaits become because they have too much movement, flash and vibration for the picky clear water bass.  

With the SwimmerZ, I can cover clear water and pull fish from a long distance and still get them to commit because it is such a realistic presentation.  

Suspended King

As a rule, one of the most difficult fish to catch is a suspended one.  

Fish that relate to the middle portion of the water column are notorious for being difficult to catch, primarily for the simple reason that most techniques don't excel at targeting that part of the water column.  

The SwimmerZ is a big exception to that rule because you can manipulate the depth at which it runs by changing the jig head, the line size or the speed of the retrieve, to match the depth that the fish are relating to.  

Swim Gear

Another great thing about the SwimmerZ is that I don't need really specialized gear to fish them. 

Generally, I am going to use a very similar setup than I would when I fish a worm or a jig.  I like a 7' medium-heavy power, fast-action baitcasting rod, a 6.3:1 baitcasting reel and 12-20lb Vicious Pro-Elite Fluorocarbon.  

As far as the bait itself, I keep it very simple and almost always throw a Bad Shad colored 6" SwimmerZ and pair it with a 1/2oz HeadLockZ jig head, which is a great size for a wide variety of depth zones.  To top this package off, I add a dab of super glue to the shank of the jig head to keep the SwimmerZ from sliding down the shank, and you are good to go for dozens- if not hundreds- of fish on one bait because of the durability of ElaZtech.

If you are wanting to step up your big fish game but don't want to sacrifice a good majority of your numbers, the SwimmerZ is a perfect compromise and is an excellent way to get started with Swimmbait fishing.  

It has quickly become one of my favorite power fishing techniques, and I know it will become one  of your's too!

Happy Catching!

-Sonar

Athleticism In Fishing

When you think of sports and the talent someone must have to compete at a high level, you think of such things as, football, basketball, baseball, and many other competitive sports. You think of the incredible physical specimens that actually have the certain skill set that it takes to compete. A very small percentage of humans truly are gifted enough to compete at the highest level of there selected sport. Very rarely will people relate fishing to an athletic event or something that takes coordination or skill to become above average at, but trust me just like all the other competitive sports fishing is not as simple as the average person might think. This can be very easily recognized if you take a look at the standings and records for the Bassmaster Elite Series Tournaments over the last three years. The consistency of some anglers is absolutely amazing, you will find that many of the same anglers are repeatedly in the top, time and time again having the mental, as well as physical ability to compete and put themselves in a position to win.

Putting yourself in a position to win is not an easy thing to do. Many professional anglers never actually win an event throughout the course of their career. In comparison to baseball, competing in an eight tournament season with 3/4 of your finishes in the money would be equivalent to winning close to 3/4 of your games in a baseball season. One of the main reasons this is the case is that in almost all sports the playing field is the same each and every time, and with that being said the person with the most physical talent, strength, or skill, is going to win the majority of the time. Now take fishing, traveling from lake, to river, to reservoir all over the country with different mother nature curve balls being thrown at you every step of the way. Now this is something that can take the very most skilled talented angler in the world, chew him up and spit him out. Like so many sports that simply take physical talent with a little game planning, fishing is the opposite, making mental toughness and decision making just as important, or possibly more important than the physical ability. The best anglers are tough, hard working quick thinkers that can adjust at the drop of a hat. But don't get me wrong they are physically skilled and coordinated as well.

The physical side of fishing takes extreme hand eye coordination. As every angler knows quite often fish will position themselves up underneath cover such as docks or trees. Reaching these fish is practically impossible if you don't have extreme skill with either a baitcaster or a spinning reel. It is a true art form to be able to skip a 1/4 ounce jig 50 feet up under a boat dock effortlessly positioning the bait silently in front of a waiting fish’s mouth. If you don't think it takes skill just give it a try and you will be shocked at how much timing and coordination it requires. Another physical aspect is the long consecutive days that fisherman endure. Many anglers will go weeks at a time fishing 12 hours days in horrific weather conditions that would send most people running for the air conditioning or in some cases the nice warm fire place. Professional anglers don't get to choose the days they compete, whether it is 100 degrees or 20 degrees they are out there trying to figure out how to trick a little green fish into biting their artificial lure, while all the while the fish have thousands of live natural food options swimming nearby at any given time.

Based on these comparisons it is easy to see that fishing not only takes physical skill, but also requires incredible mental ability and toughness. Now obviously equipment is important as well. You don't see the best golfers in the world using wood clubs in a professional tournament and fishing is the same way. There are always new innovations in fishing equipment and lures that can affect your success as an angler. Reels and rods are getting lighter, smoother, as well as faster year after year. Most brands and models of reels offer a wide variety of speeds based on their gear ratios. Where 15 years ago you didn't have many options, now you can get the exactly what you need from a 4.7:1 all the way up to an incredible 8.0:1. All speeds of reels have their time and place based on what you want to use them for. 

Fishing is clearly my sport of choice. I truly love the athletic side of fishing as well as the mental side that often outweighs the physical. With the direction bass fishing is going through high school and collegiate teams it is only a matter of time until tournament bass fishing is recognized as a sport on the same level as all of the rest! 

I'll see you on the water!

Joey Nania

All The Chatter About Color

It's no secret- I'm a big Chatterbait fan!

It has become one of my go-to techniques in fishing, especially when I'm fishing shallow, dirty, water with plenty of cover.   

Being known as a Chatterbait aficionado through Sweetwater, I get the question from fans quite often- "what are my favorite colors for the Chatterbait?"

Though there is a wide variety of color patterns that Zman produces, I'm a big fan of keeping it simple, so here are the three color patterns that I use to cover all my Chatterbait fishing:

Green Pumpkin

Green Pumpkin is an excellent choice when fishing around grass, and for bass eating bluegills.

If I were to be forced to choose one color for the Chatterbait it would have to be some shade of Green Pumpkin.  

The reason that GP is so effective is primarily due to the sort of places that Chatterbaits excel at catching fish, which is usually around some sort of grassy cover.  I really like to fish around submerged vegetation like hydrilla, or milfoil, and the forage that usually inhabit these areas tend to blend in with the green environment.  It also has the ability to be visible, as well to look natural, in many different water clarities.  

Another reason I think GP is so productive is because it is a great imitator of a bluegill, which big bass love.

So, in general, if I'm fishing around grass, or I believe the bass are feeding on bluegill, Green Pumpkin is going to be my choice.  

White or White/Chartreuse

White is excellent for bass feeding on shad, and for fishing around hard cover in muddy water.

While Green Pumpkin is best for fish feeding on bluegill in grassy environments, a white, or white and chartreuse combo is best for situations when schooling baitfish (like shad) are prevalent.  

If I am faced with a situation where bass are using hard cover, like wood, or dock pilings, to ambush shad, some sort of white combo is an excellent choice.  

Black and Blue

Black and Blue is perfect for dark, tannic, stained water.

My final choice is probably my least used color, but it nonetheless needs to be part of your arsenal because there are situations where it will outmatch the other two colors.  

Usually, I fish black and blue in the same type of waters I fish the Green Pumpkin Chatterbaits, however, when I am fishing water that has a very dark, tannic, stain to it, I will go to the black and blue baits because they really imitate the forage in those darker waters well.  

In the end, color choices come down to confidence, and even though these three colors are guaranteed to catch you fish in almost any condition, the best thing you can have confidence in when it comes to color, is confidence in your color selecting abilities and not the colors themselves.  

Learn what colors tend to maximize success under various conditions and use that experience to recognize similar situations in the future and you will begin to unlock the key to choosing the right colors.

Keep Fishing!

-Sonar

Weightless Baits Catch Big Bass

In this day and age there are numerous of ways that an angler can rig a soft plastic bait. To name a few you have the, Carolina Rig, Texas Rig, Shakey Head, Drop Shot Rig, Mojo Rig, and more. These are all great options in the right situations throughout the year. But one way to fish soft plastics that gets less attention than the rest is fishing them weightless. In this case the only weight you have is the hook and the bait, and trust me this is a great way to catch big bass.

Some of my best tournament finishes I've ever had came from fishing with light tackle and weightless baits that have a slow, almost irresistible fall.

Zman Jerk Shadz

One of my go to baits that works great in the spring and also in the fall is a weightless Zman Jerk ShadZ. When rigging a Jerk ShadZ I use a 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG Hook and I do what is called the texpose method in order to make the bait completely weedless. What I do is rig my bait just like a normal texas rig worm, where I come all the way straight through the plastic and then slightly burry the point of the hook into the bait. This results in a hook that is ready to release and stick the fish, as well as making the bait perfectly straight. Figuring out how to rig your fluke bait as straight as possible is very important, if the bait is off center on the hook just the slightest bit then the bait will spin and not swim like it's supposed to.

To see how to rig the bait in detail you can check out our video on our Sweetwater Fishing TV Facebook Page! 

One great thing about a weightless Jerk ShadZ is that it is a very versatile presentation. I like to very my retrieve when fishing it. Specifically, I will at times work the bait extremely fast making it twitch like a fleeing shad on the surface of the water and then when I come over a piece of cover or have a fish roll on the bait I can stop it and just let it slowly sink, which will trigger a lot of strikes. So weather they are extremely aggressive and chasing or if they want a slow falling presentation this bait is going to cover it all. It works near lay downs, docks, rocks, and seawalls, as well as in open water situations! It's definitely something that all anglers need to have in their arsenal.

Zman Zinkerz

Another excellent bait that was truly designed to fish weightless is the Zman ZinkerZ. This bait looks like nothing but catches fish like crazy! Rigging it weightless is by far my favorite method and I rig the bait exactly the same as I rig my Jerk ShadZ, using the texpose method. The key to the ZinkerZ is generally the less you do with the bait the more fish you catch. I like to let the bait do the work 90% of the time, just casting it out and letting it sink slowly. The way it falls and wobbles on the way down parallel to the bottom is just to easy of an opportunity for a bass to slowly swim up and inhale the bait.

When fishing the ZinkerZ or any weightless bait you always need to watch your line looking for a little twitch when the bass takes the bait or for your line to swim off if the bite was too light to be detected. Now occasionally I will twitch and pause the Stiko just like I fish a Jerk ShadZ, I do this specifically when I'm fishing around shallow scattered or matted grass, when doing this don't be surprised if a fish blows up on the bait just like they would on a topwater Spro Frog!

So whether you spend your time fishing big lakes and reservoirs, or small private ponds you will be blown away at the success you can have fishing weightless baits. I generally like to fish them using a 6'10" or a 7'3" TFO Tactical Series Spinning Rod, accompanied by a Quantum Smoke Speed Freak Reel, spooled up with 8lb to 12lb Vicious Pro Elite Fluorocarbon. The spinning tackle makes for easier casting with light weight baits as well as the opportunity to skip these baits like a stone way up under cover such as docks or overhanging trees. If you are fishing extremely heavy cover and are very talented then a bait caster can be used, but your simply not going to be able to get as far up under the cover as you can with a good quality spinning setup. So head over to Bass Pro Shops where you can get everything you need, because the weightless soft plastic bite is on now!

I'll see you on the water!!!

Joey Nania