Fall 2018
®
waiting for a
BIG
SWIMBAIT WIN
by
Pete Robbins
A
s I walked the dock before Day One of the
2014 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Guntersville,
I thought to myself “This is it.” “It” in this case would be a non-western tour-level tournament won on a
hard swimbait or glide bait.
At Guntersville, I didn’t see any Triple Trouts, Roman
Made Mothers, MS Slammers, or Deps Slide Swimmers, but I
saw enough Triton Mike Bull Shads and comparable jointed
lures to know that the true monsters were probably in the
rod box – and ready should a big bait brawl break out.
Alas, it was not to be. Randy Howell won the
tournament on a selection of “conventionally-sized”
crankbaits.
Four years later, I’m still waiting.
It’s been that way in the decades since those of us in
the east first heard about the western hammers throwing
the big baits. We recoiled, figuring that “tennis shoes” must
be something that only work on trout-stocked lakes, until
we saw Byron Velvick win on troutless Clear Lake – not once,
but twice – throwing large soft plastic swimbaits. Those two wins bookended Steve Kennedy’s then record-setting Elite Series victory on Clear Lake, in which he used not only a 6-inch Basstrix, but also an 8-inch Huddleston Deluxe.
How long could it be until they spread east? Clearly, they don’t just work in the west.
Anyone who’s seen the famous “Southern Trout Eaters” DVD knows that big baits, including hard baits, can be used successfully throughout the country, even on shallow, weedy fisheries like Lake Okeechobee.
If you scour YouTube and various fishing websites, you can find pros including Brandon Palaniuk and Chris Zaldain throwing big glide baits for bass on lakes like Guntersville.
We almost got our unicorn win in 2015, once again at Guntersville, when Skeet Reese won an Elite Series event with a total of 92-11. He wasn’t throwing a hard swimbait, but rather a 7-inch Basstrix. Nevertheless, it was once again proof that lures larger than “tournament-sized” models could win outside of the west.
Skeet Reese became the 2015 Elite Series champ on G-Ville with a total of 92-11. Credit: B.A.S.S.
page 68
Randy Howell became the 2014 Bassmaster Classic champ on a selection of “conventionally-sized” crankbaits. Credit: B.A.S.S.