Im looking to find an effective swimbait, that is readily available, and that can be slow rolled in 15-20 foot of water. Ive been eyeing the 3D generic, in the 6.75 and 7.5 inch models. I know nothing about this bait, anybody have any reviews or other feedback? Some of you know Jerry, so you may be able to provide insight into their long-term availabilty. At this time, they dont seem to be overly available.

I am also looking at the Optimums probably the 8 inch model. These are the swimbaits I cut my teeth on and have lots of confidence in them. LA sliders look intrigueing, but not big enough.

I cant stand the Stocker, Osprey (they dont go deep enough), Storms, Castaics, or the Basstrix (or whatever the one with the wavy underside is called).

What about hudd's or the new 22nd second century triple trout.

Well, the Hudds are why Im asking the question to begin with. I want something that is effective and is READILY AVAILABLE.

And arent the 22nd century trout a hard wood bait? I need a bait that doesnt float or have a bill, and one that I can slow roll in 15-20 ft of water.

The Hudds are readily available from ebay,its just going to cost you more than retail.The 3;16 I have will sink that deep but you have to wait a few minutes for it to get down there.The slider is too small for me too,otherwise they would be sweet baits.
tight lines, brian

Jerry effectively fishes his baits that deep, but he spends a lot of time trolling them. But if he can troll them, I'm sure you can slow roll them. I just don't know how long it would take them to get down there?

I dont support fellow anglers taking advantage of shortages by jacking prices. However, I should mention my friend got a Hudd on e-bay for $36, and since the guy lived in the same town as us, he went and picked it up thus avoiding shipping. This means he actually got the bait for less than if he ordered direct. I almost got one from the guy also for $36, but at the last second he panicked and said he had better keep one:(

Come on Rob, I know you can provide feedback on the 3D:-)

There are a couple ways you can get the 3D down deep. One is take the harness out, cut the nose off, and thread it on a 1.5oz Hammerhead leadhead. Greg Vella showed me that trick a few years ago. I tried it and did have one gorilla bite on it but I missed the fish. The teethmarks on the bait after that bite were almost as wide as the 7.5" lure x( The only problem with this mod is that the rubber is so heavy it wants to slide off the hook so you need to use a lot of superglue to affix it, and then you have to figure out a stinger hook, or use a x-heavy rod and hope the fish eats the whole lure. Its what you might call a labor intensive mod :)

Another way would be to put an egg sinker on the line ahead of the bait or try weighting it with mojo weights. Those are marginal ideas that may or may not work out. Hard to tell on each bait if it will work until you try it.

Ok, so as best I can tell the 3-D doesnt sink like a rock, its more of a shallow bait that needs mods to get it to roll deep? That stinks, based on weight I thought for sure it would sink relatively quickly. Guess Ill have to go back to the think tank.

I held the LA Slider 6 inch for the first time today. Small, but I bet it would work.

If I were you I would use the Stocker trout looks like crap but has killer action and catches lots a fish!

i.e., I hate Stockers, and they dont catch lots of fish. At least for me in the lakes that I fish.

I realize it is kind of the red-headed step child of swim baits but the original Castaic soft swim bait sinks like a stone and you might be able to fish it slow and deep. They do produce fish and can be found everywhere for cheep. Just a thought.

Hey man,
Hope the fish are still treating you well. I thought I'd pipe up about the LA slider. It gets bit but you're dead on, its too small. The result is that I haven't gotten anything over 7 or talked to anyone who has. Good looking little bait, just too small. You could throw the castaic 8" sinker but it swims pretty ugly, aside from that I've got my thinking cap on too and I'll let you know if anything comes to me.
Matt

No offense dude, but that's just supply and demand in a free market. There's nothing dishonest or unethical about re-selling a product for more than you paid for it. It's called capitalism.

What annoys me is I can't get the prices I need for my baits because guys are too used to paying $4.95 for a crankbait. It takes me 1 to 3 hours just to finish a single crank.

Would you want to make $1.50 an hour for a lure you made with your own hands??? I don't. I'd rather just give 'em to my friends. The good karma is worth a lot more.

In a perfect world, handmade crankbaits costing $30 and swimbaits costing $100 would be the norm. And guys would be happy to get them at all.

Chris

I know you mentioned you dont like the basstrix baits,but would you be interested in this one ,which is sililar but not from basstrix,its from trophy technologies i think ,i have 2 of them one is 8" the other 12 the 12 is a huge bait , the biggest in my box for sure.they have a rattle imbedded in the tail and they weigh enough to get you to any depth.this bait in the pic has the hook on top wereas i have treble hooks on the bottom.If interested email m eand i will send you more pics that are too big for this mesage board.
Brian

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/3793-ff_1_b.jpg

Hey Chris, I never said it was unethical, I said I dont support it. Big difference. And I have no problem paying good money for a hand made, effective bait.

Fever, thats a great looking bait. But the problem still exists, availability. You only have two of those, what do I do when they are all chewed up? I have swimbaits that are working very well, but they are not readily available. Thats the problem.

And there is a reason nobody is mentioning anything about the 3D. Usually that means its a good bait and nobody wants to talk about it.

Urban did you read the Rob's review of the Generic swimbait, sounds like what you are looking for, a bait that you can fish deep.

http://www.calfishing.com/reviews/swimbaits/generic_live_trout_softbait.html

EDIT: Sorry just read that I is a deep/fast bait not deep slow

There is an error on the review page where it shows the same picture for the live trout softbait as it does for the generic swimbait, I need to fix that.

The live trout softbait = deep and FAST

The generic swimbait = shallow and medium retrieve

Fishing the generic swimbait deep is not possible without modifying the bait or waiting a very long time for it to sink out. The natural action on the generic swimbait on a medium retrieve is 2 to 5 feet deep. I don't think its what you are looking for Urban.

Ok, thats the answer I was looking for, thanks Rob. The one with the bill wont work cause its got to be worked fast, and the 3-D wont work cause it wont go deep enough.

Man, Im gonna have to figure out a way to get my stocker to start catching fish.

How about a BIG big hammer I know they work? Also you can get the storms there real cheap and good mabey just not big enough?

what about the megabait charlie, sr? it comes in 8 and 10 inch sizes...

Here's one for sale on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7164858794&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

Urban I found the bait you need! River 2 Sea bottom walker I think they come up to 7 or 8"

or anything close to that. Got any links TM?

7 7/8" 7.99 what a deal I just bought some of the 5 7/8" from here only took a day to get em' and they look great and swim great hopefull I will fish em' hard tomarrow.

http://www.pcservicesplus.com/secureshop/view_product.php?product=R2S_LEBWSP000

IMO this is the best deal on a swimbait of this size and detal can be fished at any depth

Hey Urban,
Knowing you and what I think you're up to, they may not be what you want. THey are pretty good kickers though, they'll move some water. Not sure how you'd rig a trailer on them without ruining the bait on the first fish but they're worth looking into. If you want them fishermans warehouse in roseville has them all in stock, dont know about the other fishermans warehouse.

Matt

The other one is no longer carrying them. You can rig a stinger off the main line tie either off the top or bottom just crush the barb and strighten the hook up and it will just pop out when you hook a fish. I dont know exactly how you gonna use em' but I assume slow rolling in deeper water if you have to use a stinger I guess it would have to be on top.