I will be throwing them at Riffe.  I mean what the hell, nothing else works on that lake.  Might as well elliminate another lure for there also.   ???

mark

So, for the "uninitiated", could someone provide a brief explanation as to what a swim bait is and how it is fished? ???

Swimbait are your large  6" to 12" long plastic baits that resemeble trout.  They were originally made in So Cal by guys fishing the San Diego impoundments for Large bass.  Can you say 60lb stringer for 5 bass.....  Alot of guys down there can.  Over the years many variations have come and gone.  Some with hard plastic nose and diving bills and a soft plastic body.  Some that have lead head jig built in , some are homemade from rapala bodies.  Caistaic is the biggest produces.  I recently did buy some for fishing at clear lake.  6" long by storm and 8" by panther martin and yes I am going to try them at Riffe.

Mark

Ah yes, I saw a show some time ago where a guy was using home-made soft plastic rainbow trout immitations (about 12" long, if I remember correctly) and catching huge largemouths at some lake in California.  Those must be swim baits. 8)

Rob,

Wow! I never thought those swim baits would work up here. I just odered one of each of 7 colors of Castaic 10" swim baits from tacklewarehouse.com. They were $13.99 each, but if they work that well, I think it will be worth it.

Here is the link to the site: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/swimbaits.html

Thanks!
Stu

Hey'  Russ thats we used at Clear Lake the last Day and did real well with them.  Our Pre- fish we caught fish every day over 8 lb's with them.. Since we have got back my buddy Mark has been throwing them and catching fish up  here. 5 to 8 fish a day in the 3 to 5lb range and loveing it.  We fished with the mission fish in the shad color the 6" size the web site is www.316lurecompany.com ; Up here he's fishin the trout color and the Ayu color .  Call me, you have the number.  Let the fish load up the rod before setting the hook it takes two or three hits most the time before they have it,   good luck.  These things will make on hell of a Musky bait like I told Mark Wells.  Good luck and tight lines.
Harley

Check here for an example of a swimbait. http://www.mattlures.com/aboutus.htm
They have a bluegill shown, but there's a "baby bass" and a Crappie. I think a 5" or 6" grub rigged on a ballhead jig will do just fine, if you pick the right color. I've used a 5" Kalin in Rainbow with success. Throw it out, reel it back, mostly. There's a good article on Swimbaits in the  April/May '04 Bass West. A big tube bait is another alternative.