Swimbaits are a great lure for catching bass, and in many situations, they are replacing the crankbait. Swimbaits come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but MLF pro David Dudley only employs a handful of shapes and colors. Watch this bass fishing instructional seminar on fishing soft plastic swimbaits to catch more bass and catch bigger bass out of schools.
- 0:09 Swimbaits, David Dudley's bass fishing lure obsession
- 1:19 What swimbaits do, and what they DON'T do, and why some swimbaits just don't work
- 6:09 David Dudley's super-specific jig head weights for exact depth zones for swimbaits
- 12:13 Flukes (straight-tail swimbaits)
- 14:33 Bucktail jigs
- 16:13 Swimbaits colors and painted jighead colors
- 20:39 Hollow-belly swimbaits, the best brands
- 22:00 Fishing schools with swimbaits and catching 5lb bass out of 2lb schools
- 28:11 David Dudley's favorite colors of the Keitech Swing Impact Swimbait, and other Keitech swimbaits, and when he fishes them
- 28:55 Fishing line choice for swimbaits
- 39:52 David Dudley shares an impassioned speech about rod action
- 44:22 How does David Dudley feel about big hard-bodied swimbaits?
Doing Swimbait Research
The reason you'll want to learn from David Dudley is because he's taken the time, in an Olympic-sized pool (not a tank or a small 30ft pool) to investigate what different baits do. I'm talking about when you bomb a swimbait out, like a real cast, and let it sink 20ft toward the bottom. Trust David Dudley, that bait is not doing what you think it is, or what you see it doing 30 ft from the boat. Not only do you need the right swimbait, but you need the right jighead to get to the right depth and achieve the proper bass-catching action.
Other Baits
There are other baits that David Dudley includes in swimbait fishing, a fluke (specifically on an underspin) and bucktail jigs. While these are not traditionally swimbaits, Dudley talks about why he includes them and tips for catching bass on them.
Other Swimbait Styles
In this seminar, and in his swimbait fishing, David Dudley spends most of his time on the Keitech family & style of Swimbaits in the 3.3" to 4.8" sizes. He has strong opinions about swimbaits, and he shares his thoughts on hollow-body swimbaits and big hard-bodied swimbaits. One them he won't fish at all, the other is great for loading the boat in a school of bass.
Swimbait Colors
There are scores of colors of swimbaits, even within the Keitech line. David Dudley shares his tips for keeping it simple and being successful with just a handful of colors. He primarily uses 4 colors. In this bass fishing master class on fishing swimbaits, he shares those 4 colors and the situations when they perform well for him.
Equipment for Swimbait Fishing
Dudley focuses mainly on fishing line and rod choice for this technique. There are varying opinions on what is best, but David fishes it 1 way all the time, and offers some very compelling arguments for why his equipment is a different than a lot of other anglers for this finesse technique.
