Getting your bait to swim straight..

aquadementia

Sealiner
A while back I swam a small grey (6kg) at 'raggy hole', looking for one of those 150+ bags....

It went out but it stopped around 80-100m and hit a hard right and swam about 500m north before a large reef stopped it..... I followed it, cos I could.

I noticed a hard bump down the line would get sharky swimming once he slowed down.... It took one hell of a run and then it drowned almost instantaneously....

So ja im not gonna swim that size fish again....

What do you guys do when your swimbait doesnt wanna go where you want it to?
 

Enigma

Moderator
I find pulling it back toward you or at times freespooling it will get it changing direction.

unfortunately current and then of course available shelter "Reefs" will look attractive to a pinned bait as it's a place for it to hid and always a place for it to get away.

If you're going to swim a shark the best is to go overkill with the tackle used to catch it, crank it and if possible don't even remove from the water before pinning it as a swimbait

Have used many 5-8kg Grey's and Hammers and never had one die on me (unless chowed) always had opportunity to release them with a small tear in the dorsal if not taken by a big toothy critter

Best swimbaits by far remain Pompano / Garrick and Big Bull Mullet, swim far and keep high in the water.

I find a hammer to be a better bait than a grey as it swims higher in the water, swims fater and stronger and takes way longer to tire.
 

steve m

Sealiner
Enigma wrote:
I find a hammer to be a better bait than a grey as it swims higher in the water, swims faster and stronger and takes way longer to tire.

Interesting guys!

Enigma its strange how it can be for differant places with differant people

 

most of the small hammers ive caught (only about 3 or 4) and other guys aswell but in plett off the beach there ive struggled to revive and have seen manymany beach them selfs after the release.

but the small grey i caught swam a way like a bullet(this isnt swim baiting just releaseing them though)

both have been out of the water for pretty much the same amount of time and were mostly hooked in the jaw.

strange hey
 

Enigma

Moderator
What I have seen with hammers is that a lot of people grab them behind the T-Bone and they grip hard as the hammer's writhe around a lot.

These hammers dive straight to the bottom or beach themselves. What the guys don't realise is that grabbing and holding tightly behind the hammer you are crushing the gills causing the fish to suffocate.

Change to holding by the hammer with the fish on the ground and it to will swim off like a bullet.

Pinned Greys have a habit of diving behing the first piece of broken reef they can find.
 

Trophy

Sealiner
Hiya Aqua,

Have to agree with Enigma on the Grey Shark. 1/10 go like a bullet, but the other 9 are bad and dirty swimmers.

Talking about large Bull Mullets, myself and Mango put two out about three weeks back with great results. Both were well over 1kg and took about 200m of line out on heavy setups. 400lb steel, 12/0 hooks, 2m 200lb steel, 9m 1.7mm leader and 0.60 mono on the reel.

We had them out for about two hours before they tangled with each other. When we got them back in both were still alive and strong!

I like swimming out Smooth Hounds, these buggers are tough, take a while to recover after you land, pin and send them off...when they get going they swim well. Down side is that they also dive for cover!

I have not swam a large Hammer, all mine have been under 5kg, but I also find them to be soft and drown quickly. Will try and handle them better and see if it makes a difference.

Best swimbaits are flat fish...they go for hours without any problem and I have never had a single one die. Only problem is that they hug the bottom and WILL snagg you up on everything out there.

Don't be put off by them swimming skew, they have to find the best spot to get over the outer banks and normally they do. Once behind the bank you want the bait to swim left to right and right to left about 200 - 300m out...Strike Zone!

I work the swimbait on fee spool keeping the line straight so that the swells and shore break does not place to much loop on the line adding drag. Once behind the shore break I still keep the reel on free spool, but put the clicker on.

Once about 200 - 300m I put the drag on so that the bait would have to pull to get some line. This forces the swim pattern from side o side and covers more ground looking for Mr Toothy!
 

Arno Nel

Sealiner
This is very interesting reading. These are things that we as new swim baiters need to take into acoount. I also think that it is very important to do this with somebody that knows what he is doing and can coach you threw the whole proses of rigging up the swim bait and how to control it.

Thank you for this info Trophy and Enigma
 

Mango

Sealiner
Personaly I think the best swim bait is a small bronzie.

the flat fish that I have swam just cause havoc off a beach i think this would be a diffrent story .Seen a guy swim a verry large springer that was a good swimbait and then off course a large elf would work aswell.
Have to agree with T swiming a hammer have not worked once .
 

Mango

Sealiner
what about some ability to stear the fish

ignore the paint skills
 

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Mango

Sealiner
swim2

for when it goes left or right its head can be guided in a direction
 

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RichardG

New member
Enigma wrote:
What I have seen with hammers is that a lot of people grab them behind the T-Bone and they grip hard as the hammer's writhe around a lot. These hammers dive straight to the bottom or beach themselves. What the guys don't realise is that grabbing and holding tightly behind the hammer you are crushing the gills causing the fish to suffocate.
Interesting reading this, saw a doccie on Hammers, they reckon the actual design of the hammers head works like the wings of an aircraft. The "t-bone" itself is hollow with no organs, and a slight tilt up or down of the "wings" make it the most agile shark in the ocean. Also, because the eyes are on the side of the head, it needs to move it head from side to side in order to see the "full picture" in front of him. Is it possible that when we handle these sharks by the "t-bone"  as you said, that we in fact bugger up the alignment of these bones, thus the fish dive straight to the bottom?
 
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