i was talking to a guy and he said he prefers fish traps over big hammers, can someone tell me the advantages and disadvantages of each of the brands and which one they prefer?

Blasphemy! JK. I used to fish FTs. Over the years i have swithched to the Big Hammers for various reasons. They have better action because of the square tails. This allows for more kick at slower speeds. The BHs seem to be able to catch more fish before being absolutely chewed up. I like the colors better, they seem to be more realistic and there are more of them. They are constantly trying to find new and better colors. Another reason i like hammers better is a little more biased. The companie is now located in Santa Barbara and is owned by my friend peter and on top of that my best friend Brian is working for him. So naturally i am a die hard hammer fan. But i want to clearify that for the above reasons i started fishing BHs exclusively before Peter bought the companie. Its a great bait, made by a great companie, made by great people. I give BHs an A+.
Dan

Fish both and go with which ever one catches more fish for you. We talk up the big hammers a lot on this site because a lot of us are involved with the company, besides the fact that they really are great baits. They do have great action and lots of new colors, but base your opinion on your own experience not necessarily what you read on the internet. I'm confident you'll end up liking big hammers better than FT once you fish both, but that should be your call. I think all of us who are associated with BH are in it for the quality of the product rather than our buddies' involvement, for what it's worth.
-Brian

the BH colors seem more realistic....they are sharper. The FTs seem to have a more dull color. Also I see a differance in the 3" baits. BHs seem smaller.

well i'm not associated with the company at all and i would choose the Hammers hands down. the color choices are simply amazing! i'm also a big fan of the Big Hammer brand jig heads. the hooks are of the highest quality and seem to never get dull (unlike most of the cheaper ones which seem to start out dull)

What Brian said is exactly what I did several years ago when getting into swimbait fishing. Actually, it was this site and Rob's article on halibut fishing that got me started. I bought some of each, fished them for a while, watched what they did in the water and drew my own conclusion that the BHs have better action and will swim at slower speeds. I believe it is because of the square tail. Both are great baits and in most circumstances they will catch fish. But I believe that the better action of the Hammers gives me that extra little edge in touchy situations.

I am an unbiased source of information. I have used both but have found that at least 80% of my swimbait fish have been caught on Big Hammers. I don't know why this seems to be the case, all i know is that they work and i highly recommend them.
Charlie

Don't forget the other stuff. The Mondo baits, Jerk-Itts, Zooms, and Whams friggin rip too. The Fish Traps aren't as nice as the Hammers, and for a larger profile swimbait the Hammers are the only thing I fish, but the other jerkbait style stuff has been working so well for me lately it's hard to beat. By the way, guys at BH, consider making some jerkbait style stuff for us finesse calico fisherman. A Zoom or Slug-go style bait in a Calico Hunter color would be the first thing in the water for me. Thanks.

Jake

Jake,
How are you rigging/working these other baits? and for what species? I got some of the superfloating 3X Zulu baits (a soft jerkbait) and was thinking I might try them on a Carolina rig for Hali's.

Tight lines,
Wade

wont they roll? i know swimbaits do and their shape isnt that much different.

Wade,
I rig these sort of baits on leadheads, just like you would a Hammer, just with a different style and weight head. For the Zooms, the head is sort of torpedo shaped, like elongated into a bullet style. I just use darter heads on the Jerk-Itts and Basstrix. Hope this helps.

Jake

Thanks for the tip. I've C-rigged them in freshwater and with a 3/0 EWG Gammie they still rise off the bottom and it acts like a keel so they don't spin bad if you rig them straight to begin with. I'm thinking that they might be able to float a 4/0 in saltwater. With a 1oz egg I should be able to hit bottom fast, fish with the lure 1-2' off the bottom on a 3-4' leader and they're durable enough to handle repeated attacks from little rockfish etc. without being torn up. My only remaining problem is that Halibut don't hit like bass and I'm wondering if I'll be able to get a good hookset consistently.

Tight lines,
Wade

I fish big hammers but too but I really wanted to comment on the jerk baits and carolina rigging for halibut. I have always been a saltwater fisherman but the more I learned about freshwater bass fishing the more techniques that I have carried back over in to salt.

For halibut, rockfish, sand, calico, and spotted bay bass I have found that freshwater bass jigs (white, variations of green, and ox blood/ brown) work great in salt water. You can fish them with a twin tail trailer, or a pigskin trailor, in the winter it's hard to beat a whole or stripped squid trailor. For halibut I drag the bottom , for bass I work the water column and then work the structure once I reach the bottom. I also use it to work the bottom for rockfish. Another deadly to technic for all the species I have mentioned but especially halibut is fishing a texas rigged worm. Drag it slow for halibut. I've had a lot of luck with oxblood. The carolina rig is also excellent for dragging but for halibut I think I prefer the texas rig.

Next is soft and hard jerk baits. They work great on the calico's but with the soft jerk baits it becomes a challenge to hook fish if you rig it weedless for fishing in the weeds. It doesn't get humg up and it gets bit great but saltwater fish just ussually don't inhale the lure like a largemouth. It seems like no matter how many techniques exist there are always new ones that come along. We are always looking for new and better ways to catch fish.

JerryG

I hate fish traps the colors are off and they are dull..Stick with big hammer or AA..

StriperKIng
Stephen

The BH swimbaits do have better action at slower retrieval speeds. If I'm using a jighead the swimbaits are on it. I often like a slower and weedless presentation and for that, the soft jerkbaits (Bass Assassin, Zoom Super Fluke) on a wide gap hook (5/0) or a back-weighted hook are the ticket. I rig them weedless and have confidence that they will "stick" and come through rocks/kelp well. I haven't caught anything on the Zulu jerkbait. It is stinky and very grippy on the hook. Even though I cut a slot for the hook, it seems to not slide through the super plastic well.

BillH

Try nose hooking the skinny Zoom Jerk Bait like you would a live bait. You can twitch it right on the surface, behind a split shot or one a drop shot rig. It's not weedless when rigged the this but if you rig the hook like you would when drop shotting a small plastic it will swim up right and it will also have some crazy action when you twitch it. Sometimes the very slow steady retrieve or retrieve and pause works too. Use the slow retrieve method when the current is slack (ussually slack current is a tough bite but sometimes finnesse will make it happen).

JerryG