Best Swimbaits for Bass of 2022

Pete Robbins

Best Overall Swimbait		Mike Bucca Bull Shad	Check Price	LEARN MORE	Summary Versatile, readily available, and easy to fish.
Best Bargain Soft Plastic		Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper	Check Price	LEARN MORE	Summary A versatile soft plastic excels on its own and as a trailer.
Best Bargain Hard Bait		G-Ratt	Check Price	LEARN MORE	Summary A high-quality hair bait at a reasonable price.

The cliched identity of a “swimbait angler” is someone with a go-for-broke attitude, willing to fish for one big bass. The best swimbaits, however, don’t all fit that mold. Sure, some are as big as a tennis shoe and expensive as your first car. While swimbait culture has made scarcity and high prices a virtue, plenty of readily-available lures catch fish and won’t break the bank. Here are my top picks for catching numbers of fish and your new personal best. 

• Best Overall: Mike Bucca Bull Shad
• Best Glide Bait: Storm Arashi Glide
• Best Hollow Body Swimbait: Zoom Swimmer
• Best Bargain Soft Plastic Swimbait: Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper
• Best Rigged Soft Plastic Swimbait: Megabass Magdraft
• Best Wakebait: Gan Craft Ripple Claw
• Best Bargain Hard Bait: G-Ratt

Types of Swimbaits

There are two main categories of swimbaits: hard baits and soft plastics. Within hard baits, there are those made of wood, plastic, and resin: both single-jointed “glide” baits and multi-jointed “swimmers.” Then there are the soft plastic varieties—some come pre-rigged with single or treble hooks, and on others you need to add your own. These choices may serve as a gateway to more costly options, but truth be told, many of the best professional bass anglers in the world rely on these over-the-counter solutions to pay their mortgages.

Best Overall Swimbait: Triton Mike Bull Shad

Triton Mike

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Key Features

• Sizes: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11 inches
• Triple-jointed
• Natural brush tail

Why It Made the Cut

This is the best overall swimbait because it’s versatile, readily available, and easy to fish. 

Pros

• Runs true at any speed, even burning it
• Replicates a wide variety of baitfish
• Many size options

Cons

• Limited color options at basic price point

Product Description

At $50-100, the Bull Shad is a good entry into the world of high-priced prestige baits. The Bull Shad does the work of a spinnerbait and swim jig and often lands bigger fish than both. There’s no way to retrieve it incorrectly, but many of the most vicious strikes come when reeling it at warp speed. Smallmouths love it as much as largemouths. It also comes in a stubbier Bull Gill version and a more elongated Bull Herring version. 

Best Glide Bait: Storm Arashi Glide

Storm Lures

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Key Features

• Size: 7.5 inches
• Weight: 3 1/8 ounces 
• Slow-sinking

Why It Made the Cut

This is the best glide bait because, with very little practice, you can learn how to make bite-triggering wide turns and even 180s.

Pros

• High-end features at a reasonable price point
• Comes with extra tail
• Paint jobs closely resemble most common baitfish

Cons

• May require heavier than normal tackle for most bass anglers

Product Description

Two-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year, Brandon Palaniuk, had a heavy hand in helping Storm develop the Arashi glide bait. Storm and Palaniuk, managed to create a bait with features of baits that cost three times more. One notable feature is the swiveling hook hangers that prevent monster bass from spitting the lure. It also runs true right out of the package, and a beginner swimbaiter can tie it on and immediately work it like a pro. At 7 ½ inches, it’s bigger than anything many bass anglers have thrown previously, but it’s not so large that you can’t catch 2- and 3-pound fish. It’s best fished when the water is clear to slightly stained, and it’s not a good muddy water bait. 

Best Hollow Body Swimbait: Zoom Swimmer

Zoom Bait Company

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Key Features

• Sizes: 4 and 5 inches 
• Salt-impregnated
• Realistic eyes

Why It Made the Cut

The Zoom Swimmer is the best hollow body swimbait because the hard thumping paddle tail attracts fish at any speed. 

Pros

• Consistent 
• Soft-yet-durable construction
• Universal baitfish shape

Cons

• Limited color palette

Product Description

Zoom didn’t invent the hollow body swimbait, but every Zoom Swimmer swims with consistent excellence right out of the package. It thumps its tail and runs true whether you rig it on a weedless and weightless hook to swim it over grass, on a belly-weighted hook to bring it across flats and points, or on a heavy jig head to bounce ledges. The soft plastic maximizes hook-up percentage, and if treated properly, each Swimmer can produce more than one fish. They come in a clamshell package to ensure that the bodies and tails remain straight.

Best Bargain Soft Plastic Swimbait: Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper

Reaction Innovations

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Key Features

• Size: 5 inches
• Holds a hook up to 6/0 hook
• Tail thumps at any speed, even on the fall

Why It Made the Cut

Versatile soft plastic that not only excels on its own, but also as a trailer.

Pros

• 5-inch size splits the difference between finesse and “oversized” swimbaits
• Belly slit maximizes hook up percentage
• Incredibly wide range of sometimes comically-named colors

Cons

• No eyes or other realistic features

Product Description

The Skinny Dipper’s paddle tail moves a ton of water, whether inched along the bottom or buzzed on the surface. By itself, it’s a superior baitfish imitator, but it serves double- or triple-duty as a trailer for swim jigs and vibrating jigs. It’s also a popular soft plastic for castable umbrella rigs. The Skinny Dipper also comes in Little Dipper and Big Dipper models, which are 3.5 inches and 6 inches, respectively.

Best Rigged Soft Plastic Swimbait: Megabass Magdraft

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Key Features

• Sizes: 6, 8, and 10 inches
• Molded around an internal harness to prevent tearing
• 3D eyes

Why It Made the Cut

You can just pop open the package and start catching both numbers of fish and giants, which is why it’s the best rigged soft plastic swimbait. 

Pros

• Super high-quality hardware
• Realistic multi-colored pours
• Streamlined body less likely to hang up

Cons

• Not durable
• Expensive for its limited lifespan

Product Description

The Magdraft brings Megabass’ legendary JDM quality to the soft swimbait market, and they’ve left no detail unaddressed. These include an internal harness that keeps the bass of a lifetime from tearing the bait apart and a high-grade swivel, which allows the treble hook to rotate. There’s even an internal magnet to hold that hook in place, limiting snags and creating a realistic presentation. Two molded fins on the Magdraft keep it swimming straight and prevent snags by pushing away cover. That’s why this has in recent years become the not-so-secret bait of the pros, one responsible for several major tournament wins.

Best Wakebait: Gan Craft Ripple Claw

Gan Craft

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Key Features

• Size: 7 inches
• 1.6 ounces
• Replaceable Tail

Why It Made the Cut

The Gan Craft Ripple Claw’s ultra-realistic baitfish pattern provokes huge blowups, which is why it’s my pick for best wakebait. 

Pros

• Can be waked slowly or cranked down
• Quality Owner ST-36 Trebles
• Replaceable lip

Cons

• Pricey

Product Description

For decades, a slowly-crawled wake bait has been the secret weapon of big bass hunters, starting with anglers in the Ozarks who modified Bomber Long A’s to stay on the surface and leave a telltale trail. They fished them at night, but the Gan Craft is equally effective in daylight thanks to its very realistic paint jobs. It wobbles erratically, and while it’s not a light lure, it’s still within the realm of reasonableness for tournament-class fish.

Best Value Hard Bait: G-Ratt 

G-Ratt

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Key Features

• Models: 5-inch Pistol Pete, 8-inch Sneaky Pete, 10-inch Poppa Pete
• Single jointed
• Slow sinking

Why It Made the Cut

This easy-to-fish bait is the best value hard bait for new swimbait anglers. It has an action and quality comparable to “garage” baits, at a fraction of the price. 

Pros

• 4X strong treble hooks
• Rotating hook hangers
• Reasonable price

Cons

• Limited color selections

Product Description

The Sneaky Pete quickly became one of the favorite glide baits of veteran Bassmaster Elite Series pro Steve Kennedy, who has an arsenal of more expensive “garage” baits, but still likes this one in many tournament situations. It has the features found in many other premium baits but at a fraction of the price. It’s easy to get it to walk, pause and rotate, and it creates a light knocking sound during the retrieve to attract fish.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

I limited my best swimbaits list to readily available baits. The swimbait world is loaded with limited-quantity “drops,” and bait flippers who look to make money on their ability to acquire rare lures. There’s a time and a place for those special lures, but for someone just getting into the game, it makes sense to invest in lures that you won’t be afraid to get snagged. 

At the same time, I didn’t want to settle for baits aimed at beginners. Every lure in this summary has real-world applications for even the most sophisticated anglers with seemingly unlimited budgets. The goal was to provide an assortment of best-in-class lures that wouldn’t require a master’s degree, heavy modifications, or hundreds of hours on the water to get them to work properly. Every one of these is ready for the fish of a lifetime straight out of the package. 

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By: Pete Robbins
Title: Best Swimbaits for Bass of 2022
Sourced From: www.outdoorlife.com/gear/best-swimbaits-for-bass/
Published Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2022 20:00:00 +0000