SWIMBAIT CENTRAL
Deps Slide Swimmer
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NEW The Deps Slide Swimmer is the original baddest of the bad, straight outta’ Japan, big-body hard swimbait. Deps is known throughout Japan as one of the premiere lure manufacturers and these baits are a must for anglers that demand the best! A magnum sized swimbait that attracts huge fish, the Slide Swimmer 250 (10”, 6.5 oz.) is completely silent as it swims. Even the hinges of the jointed body are precision engineered to not make a sound. The Slide Swimmer 175 (7.5”, 3 oz.) emits a faint knocking acoustic with faster retrieves and provides a subtle vibration on the pause. These lipless swimbaits also feature extremely realistic detailing, including accurate coloring, 3D eyes, as well as, life-like scale patterns and gills. The inner core is made out of ABS plastic and the outer shell features a soft silicon skin. Deps Slide Swimmers are now available at Oak Ridge for $179.99 and $109.99. (Jointed Hard Body) |
Gancraft Jointed Claw
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NEW Gan Craft’s Jointed Claw is a hard-body lipless segmented swimbait with a single joint dividing the body into two segments. This design delivers a wide and slow S-swimming action. These baits are packed full of Japanese detail and quality such as ultra-lifelike 3D eyes and an interchangeable rubber tail. Gan Craft’s Jointed Claw is available in the Magnum 230 (9”), 178 (7”) and 148 (5”) sizes. They are priced at $119.99, $69.99 and $65.99. (Hard Segmented Body) |
Deps Bullshooter
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160 (6.3"), $109.99 (Hard Body) |
Megabass I-Slide
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262 (10.3"), 185 (7.3") and 135 (5.3"), $94.99, $59.99 and $44.99 (Hard Segmented Body) |
BullShad
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Triton Mike Bucca's Bullshad three-jointed slow-sinking swimbaits accurately imitate gizzard shad. They are available in sizes ranging from 9" to 5", with prices from $89.99 to $49.99. (Hard Segmented Body) |
Imakatsu Gillroid
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Imakatsu's new Gillroids and Bassroids bring realistic imaging to your hard body swimbaits. These baits come with replaceable tails in both flat and boot-tail versions. Depending on the tail, they are 6.2"-5.5" long and weigh 2.6 oz. They are priced at $79.99. (Hard Segmented Body) |
6th Sense Flow Glider
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NEW The 6th Sense Flow Glider is a 5.5”, 1.9 oz. slow sink glider swimbait made to entice big fish with its s-curve swimming action. As fish follow this bait, you can give a quick turn of the reel handle to cause the bait to turn and glide creating reaction strikes from followers. Every swimbait is custom painted by lure artist and owner, Casey Sobczak and then clear coated with some of the finest clear on the planet. 6th Sense Flow Gliders are available at Oak Ridge for $69.99 and $59.99. (Hard Segmented Body) |
6th Sense Speed Swimmer
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NEW The 6th Sense Speed Swimmer Swimbait was designed for burning and twitching at an erratic reaction rate of speed. Weighted heavily to cast further and cover more water. This swimbait was made to fish quickly over grass or along rock similar to areas you would work a lipless crankbait or burn a swimbait. This swimbait was strictly made for speed and not to swim at slow speeds. Cover water, speed up the swimbait and catch active fish. 6th Sense Speed Swimmers are 7” long, weight 2 oz. and are available at Oak Ridge for $49.99. (Hard Segmented Body) |
Jackall Gantarel
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6.3", $39.99 (Hard Segmented Body) |
Biwaa SEVEN
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Biwaa's SEVEN swimbaits offer a photo-realistic bait image on a seven-segmented hard swimbait. They are available in 7" and 5" lengths, priced at $35.99 and $29.99. (Hard Segmented Body) |
Biwaa S'Trout
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7.5" and 5.5", $34.99 and $29.99 (Hard Segmented Body) |
Megabass Mag Draft
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10", 8" and 6", $29.99 to $12.99 (Soft Pre-rigged Body) |
Huddleston 68 Special
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NEW at Oak Ridge, from one of the true veterans of swimbait design, Ken Huddleston, are the Huddleston 68 Specials. These soft plastic pre-rigged swimbaits are the result of a unique combination of a paddletail from an 8” bait on a swimbait that is only 6” long. The finished product is a hard-kicking bait in a 6” package that catches fish! The 6" Huddleston 68 Specials are available at Oak Ridge in both top-hook or weedless configurations in both ROF5 and ROF12 for $24.99. (Soft Pre-rigged) |
Savage Gear 3D Glide
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8" and 6.5", $24.99 and $17.99 (Hard Segmented Body) |
Mattlures Ultimate Gizzard Shad
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NEW The Mattlures Ultimate Gizzard Shad from swimbait veteran Matt Servant is one of the most realistic Gizzard Shad baits ever made. They swim well at speeds from low to fast while running true with a good thump while moving a lot of water. These baits are 5” long, weigh 1.8 oz. and are available at Oak Ridge for $22.99. (Soft Pre-rigged Body) |
Mattlures Ultimate Bluegill
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NEW The Mattlures Ultimate Bluegill from swimbait veteran and taxidermist Matt Servant is one of the most realistic Bluegill baits ever made. It sits nose down and has pectoral fins that actually move with the bait. At rest, the fins flair out and sway back and forth. The Bluegills are 5” long, weigh 1.8 oz. and are available at Oak Ridge for $22.99. (Soft Pre-rigged Body) |
Mattlures Ultimate Crappie
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NEW The Mattlures Ultimate Crappie baits from Matt Servant are some of the most realistic Crappie baits ever made. They sit nose down and have pectoral fins that actually move with the bait. At rest, they flair out and sway back and forth. They are 5” long, weigh 1.8 oz. and are available at Oak Ridge for $22.99. (Soft Pre-rigged Body) |
Jackall Giron
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4", 3/4 oz., $21.99 to $19.99 (Hard Segmented Body) |
Lucky Craft Real Blugill
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5.9", $19.99 (Hard Segmented Body) |
Savage Gear 4 Play
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7.5" and 5", $19.99 and $14.99 (Hard Segmented Body) |
Rago Weedless
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NEW from master lure designer Jerry Rago are the Rago Weedless swimbaits! Quite simply, these swimbaits are gorgeous and in a league all of their own! The paddle tail delivers so much action the entire body moves as it swims lazily through the water. The embedded hook pocket supports a 10/0 hook buried in the pocket to allow for an excellent hook set every time! 6.5", $17.99 (Soft Body Hook Pocket) |
Smash-Tech Convict
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NEW The Convict is a hand-poured 7" full-bodied swimbait with a hook pocket in the body. The molded hook pocket matches the 10/0 Owner Beast hook perfectly, so you don't have to set the hook through a bulky plastic body. Sold in packs of two for $16.99. Hand-poured, 7", $16.99 for pack of 2 (Soft Plastic Body with Hook Pocket) |
Mattlures Tournament Series
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NEW 6", $15.99 (Soft Body) |
Biwaa Sub Kicker
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7", $14.99 (Soft Segmented Pre-rigged) |
Biwaa Sub Swimmer
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7", $14.99 (Soft Segmented Pre-rigged) |
Biwaa Sub Mission
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8", $14.99 (Soft Segmented Pre-rigged) |
Smash-Tech Line-Thrus
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Warden (9"), Felon (7") and Trespasser (5"), Hand-poured, $16.99, $14.99 and $10.99 (Soft Line-Thru) |
Optimum Titan
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NEW Take an Original Optimum Swimbait, add some bells, whistles, details and a weed-guard hook and what do you get? A swimbait you can fish in the slop called the Optimum Titan! The 6” Optimum Titan swimbaits are available at Oak Ridge for $12.99. (Soft Pre-rigged) |
Optimum Top of the Line
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NEW If you’ve ever fished a line-thru swimbait with a treble hook on the bottom, you know that that set up can hang up a LOT. One solution is to take a coffee straw and feed the line up from the belly and out the top so the treble hook is out of harms way. Well, Optimum came up with a better solution! If you can feed the line from the mouth to the belly, why can’t you use feed the line from the mouth out the top of the back? And the Optimum Top Of The Line was born! The 6” Optimum Top Of The Line swimbaits are available at Oak Ridge for $11.99. (Soft Line-Thru) |
Basstrix Paddle Tail
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NEW 8", 7", 6", 5" and 3.5", $10.99 to $9.99 (Soft Plastic) |
Basstrix Fat Minnow XVT
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Basstrix's Fat Minnow XVT (eXtreme Vibration Trix) are a paddle-tail swimbait with a slight twist to entice finicky bass. They feature a wider body in a short 4” frame, producing a wide wobble high action bait in a compact package. Combine this bait with your favorite weighted hook or rig it on an A-rig and hang on. They are priced at $9.99 for a 3-pack. (Soft Plastic) |
Mark Perry Hand Pours
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Hand-poured, 7" and 5", $7.99 and $3.99 (Soft Plastic Split-belly) |
The ORIGINAL Optimum
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NEW The Original Optimum Swimbait has been catching double digit bass for 20 years now. It has contributed to many anglers first 10 pound bass and also getting 1,000's of anglers hooked on swimbaiting. It was the first swimbait of its kind with an internal Jighead poured within the body. These swimbaits have the ability to cover a relatively wide spectrum of the water column, especially with a little practice and familiarizing yourself with how these baits fall. The Original Optimum swimbaits stand out as the best swimbait because they produce rapid, drastic changes in direction, and quick flaring when pulled off structure or cover. The 5” Original Optimum baits are currently available at Oak Ridge for $7.99. (Soft Pre-rigged) |
Optimum Opti Shad
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NEW TOptimum Bait Co. and Lucky Craft combined their talents to create the Opti Shad. The series adds an exciting NEW Double Diamond's tail with the "Wandering fall" of Lucky Craft's Wonder hard bait. Unlike other lures in its gene, the deepest part of its body is also the widest part of its body. The bulge creates a distinctive body roll and frantic kicking motion even at ultra-slow speeds. Opti Shad are available at Oak Ridge in 7” and 4” sizes for $6.99 and $4.99. (Soft Plastic) |
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Soft-Plastic Swimbaits
The simplest swimmers are the soft-plastic fluke-style baits. You can find these baits from many manufacturers in several sizes between 2” and 7” with a few variations. The primary variation is in the tail: (1) straight tail, (2) split tail, (3) paddle tail, (4) boot tail or even (5) curl tail. The first two provide little to no action, the other three create a lot of swimming action. You may also see these baits with a ringed body. These swimbaits don’t usually come with a hook and you have a ton of options available in terms of rigging them. They can be fished on a carolina rig, on a drop shot, on a swim-jig or swim-jig head, or texas rigged with a weight, split shot or even weightless. One of the challenges of fishing these baits is making sure that you have enough hook for the plastic to get out of the way on the hookset. If you can’t get the hook through the plastic and into the fish’s mouth, you’re not going to have much success. This issue has, in turn, led to several different designs of soft-plastic swimbaits.
Soft-Plastic Split-Body Swimbaits
One way to increase the hook-up ratio is to put less plastic between the hook and the fish. This can be accomplished by splitting the body of the soft-plastic bait and laying the hook up inside the body of the bait. With this approach, there is less plastic to bulk up on the hook and interfere with the hookset. To maximize hookups, most anglers will run the hook up through the back of the bait and skin-hook it on the top. While this is typically done on the belly of the bait, some manufacturers actually offer split-body baits where the split is on the back of the bait. This approach completely eliminates the plastic interference and allows to hook to pop up out of the back of the bait.
Soft-Plastic Line-Thru Swimbaits
Another class of soft-plastic swimbaits are described as “line-thru”. A line-thru swimbait usually has an insert inside the body of the bait that runs between the nose and the belly. The insert can be plastic, tin, lead or brass and has a hole running through the length of it. To rig this bait, you put the line into the nose of the bait, push it down through the insert and out of the belly of the bait. Then, you’re typically going to tie a large treble hook hanging below the belly. The benefit of this approach is that when a fish is hooked, the bait can slide up the line out of harms way. This technique works well in a lake with little cover. However, in a lake full of trees (like Lake Fork), it can hang up. One work-around is to run a coffee straw from the belly up through the back of the bait and relocate the treble on top. This allows the bait to be more snag-resistant but also reduces the likelihood that the bait can slide up the line when bit. You will find some line-thru baits where the insert runs from the nose and out the back. This allows you to put the treble on the back and still get the benefit of the bait sliding up the line.
Soft-Plastic Pre-Rigged Swimbaits
Another way to improve hook-ups is to put an exposed hook sticking out of the surface of the bait. This approach actually integrates the hook into the plastic body of the bait. This is typically, but not exclusively, done on the back of the bait. Naturally, an exposed hook is going to increase the possibility of getting hung up on something but the top of the bait is probably less vulnerable than the bottom. There are many manufacturers that offer swimbaits pre-rigged with hooks on the top.
Get the most out of
soft-plastic swimbaits
Soft plastic baits are prone to being damaged by all of the abuse the bass heap on them. When the baits get expensive, it’s important to get the most use out of the bait. One way to do that is to keep some lure glue such as Mend-It!, Spike It Fix-a-lure or super glue to repair damage to the bait and keep it in action.
Oak Ridge Swimbait Selection
Some of the swimbaits that can be found in the Oak Ridge Tackle Store are shown below. We go to great lengths to bring in new products and give you the best selection of swimbaits on the lake. Make no mistake, these are some of the hottest swimbaits on Lake Fork this year!
Swimbaits? At Lake Fork???
Yep. It’s true! 2014 showed us and 2015 confirmed that swimbaits can be HOT on Lake Fork. Bass will hit swimbaits year-round but, in March and April, the swimbait bite was CRAZY in 2015. Weather patterns may push those dates around a little but the short story is that there are a BUNCH of pre-spawn and post-spawn bass looking to feed up quickly and what better way than with a BIG meal. For 2016, we brought in the biggest selection of swimbaits that Lake Fork has ever seen! You’re not in California anymore, Dorothy…
Rate of Fall
Often, you’ll find baits described as floating, slow-sink or fast-sink. However, a better way to define this characteristic is rate of fall (ROF). Rate of fall defines how many feet the bait will sink on slack line in ten seconds.
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Hard-Body Swimbaits
A completely different breed of swimbaits can be found in hard-body swimbaits. These baits range from single one-piece minimal cosmetic hard lures to multi-segmented, photo-realistic bodies designed to look and act like real forage in the lake. These also can be found ranging in size from a couple of inches to a foot or more! Some of these baits offer a number of features including replaceable tails and multiple tie-points for different attitudes in the water.