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How do you choose the right size swimbait for different water temperatures?
When choosing the size of a swimbait for different water temperatures, there are several factors to consider. These factors include the combination of water temperature, water visibility, the size of the bass in the lake, the average depth that the fish are using, and the lake you are fishing in.
In the dead of winter, when water temperatures are at their coldest point, it is often beneficial to use a smaller profile swimbait. This is because the fish tend to be less active during this time and may prefer a smaller meal. As you progress into the pre-spawn period and the water temperature starts to rise, the size of the baitfish in the lake also increases. This is when using a larger swimbait becomes more effective.
Water visibility is another important factor to consider. In clear water conditions, where there is good visibility, using a smaller swimbait can be more successful. On the other hand, in muddy or stained water, where visibility is reduced, using a larger swimbait with more vibration and movement can help attract fish.
The average depth that the fish are using at a particular time of year is also crucial. Understanding the depth at which the fish are holding can help determine the appropriate size of the swimbait. For example, if the fish are shallow, in the five to ten foot range, using a smaller swimbait like a four-inch spark shad on an eighth ounce head can be effective.
It's important to note that the information provided is based on the video context and the opinions of the anglers featured in the videos. If you have specific questions or need further clarification, please let me know.
Related videos
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Video02:47
05:26
Water Level/Temperature/Visibility...Which Is More Important? by Intuitive Angling With Randy Blaukat → the swim bait is going to work over spoon a lot of different variables to that in the winter time water level is not that big of a variable because very seldom do you have high water levels in the winter time precipitation levels are normally low in the winter most of the time the lake levels are normal or low so that's not that big of a factor as you move into spring time of the year that's when the combination of water temperature water level and water clarity in my opinion is the most important because you have fluctuating water levels in the spring greatly to a large degree you also have fluctuating water clarities with that rain that comes into it and then you have warming temperatures that add a variable to that so those combinations of unstable water levels uh you know water clarities that are also unstable and change a lot and warming water that tends to put fish shallow for the most part and that's a big you know deciding factor in the technique that you want to fish in the summer time of the year the water level and the water excuse me the water level and the water temperature plays much less of a roll to the water clarity because in my opinions the water temperature in the summertime is irrelevant because i think when that water temperature gets above 75 degrees and and it doesn't matter how hot it
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Video01:11
03:29
How to Choose The Correct Swimbait Profile | FTM Live Stream #74 by Bass Fishing Declassified → and i have a bunch of things that i focus on when i'm fishing offshore with swim baits but i know that randy has other things that he focuses on when he's fishing up shallows so we're going to kind of cover both spectrums there and give you guys some good stuff to think about but starting off here randy do you just have some high level guidelines on profiles maybe just take a one minute just quick summary just to kind of get us started here yeah i think a lot of it depends on like i said it's the combination of a lot of different things it's a combination of the lake you're fishing the size of the bass in the lake in general the water temperature water visibility and the average depth that the fish are using that time of year another thing that's really key in my opinion from what i found out all over the country is when you're in the dead of winter like we are right now where like right now our water temperatures all across the country are about at their coldest point right now it seems like to me that they want a smaller profile swim bait during those super cold times of the year but as you progress more into the pre-spawn when that water temperature starts rising up another five to ten degrees that's when the gizzard shad and the threadfin shad are the largest that they are
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Video07:20
09:44
Easy Way To Pick The Right Swimbait Size (November-March) by Intuitive Angling With Randy Blaukat → visibility and you have a 15 20 mile an hour wind and you've got overcast or if it's raining those fish will become more aggressive and they'll hit a larger swim bait in those situations the small one like i said really shines on tough conditions where it's bright not a lot of wind clear water but this will catch the more aggressive fish and it will catch the bigger one too obviously just because of the size size ahead on this i go usually go up a little bit i'll use a quarter to three eighths ounce depending upon the wind and how deep i'm fishing it and it's the same rule of thumb that i use for the little one i'm graphing to get a feel for uh you know the depth that those fish are using and i try to target that depth now another way that i'll fish this too the bigger one is say for example uh it's you know late fall water temperatures are not at their coldest say the water temperatures are still in the 50s and if you get one of those windy nasty days a lot of times those fish will pull up shallower on those points and they'll get into that five to ten foot zone and when they're like that i'll take the four inch spark shad i'll put it on an eighth ounce head and i'll simply cast it out there and just reel
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Video02:25
04:59
Easy Way To Pick The Right Swimbait Size (November-March) by Intuitive Angling With Randy Blaukat → well not just winter all year long but really this time of year is where they shine and there's some keys to catching fish on them based upon the size that swim baits use so what i'm going to do today i'm going to talk about three of my three favorites and the first one is the three inch megabass spark shad the four inch megabyte spark shad and the uh the zoom z swim a swim bait three and a half inch so each one of these has a little bit different application and i'm gonna go over each one of them to sort of let you know how i decide um a lot of your swim bait sizes it has to do with a lot of different variables has to do with the water clarity in the lake you're fishing has to do with the predominant species of the bass you're fishing and the water depth that you're targeting and for the most part when we're talking about fish and swim baits this time of year we're talking about fishing basically out off the point ends and sides um sometimes paralleling bluffs uh steep banks and fishing them maybe in ditches you know the middle of coves and that's type of stuff particularly over like if they're standing timber in a lake like a lake like say lake hartwell in south carolina lake lanier and georgia some of the lakes here in the ozarks so
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Video17:44
20:33
How To Choose The Right Swimbait! (Underwater Swimbait Footage) by TacticalBassin → it's that hard aggressive thump so it's got to be a warmer day when fish want to eat it just has to be and I will insist that in the really cold water you stick with the six inch rather than the five inch it just has a better swim the five inch is a tighter vibration I crush with it in the spring and the summer but that does not Shine for me in the winter I want that longer bait with a little bit more tail movement now the last category that I want to talk about is if your fish do move up that same thing talking about throwing like an S waiver 168 out here on the river there are fish to get up in three to five feet of water in the middle of winter here they do it's not like everywhere else they're also fishing 15 to 30. but some of these fish are shallow a great place to Target those fish or a great bait to Target them with is a MAG draft the mag draft you've got a couple Styles you've got the standard mag draft and then you've got the freestyle okay think of the the main mag draft as up and over think of the freestyle as down and through what I mean is when fish get up around shallow cover whether that be moving up on a rock bar moving up on a shallow Point getting around
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Video10:54
12:02
Fishing Swimbaits for Big Bass in the Winter by Wired2Fish → water down there and 20 foot of water and you're winding super slow it still has a really good action that obviously made the fish bite today so check it out four inch swimmer the fish a little more active the water gets up in the high 40s 50s you know you might up size 2 to the 5 ounce and if your to the 5 inch and if you're going to want to fish a little bit deeper I might you know go up to a three-quarter ounce head on that bigger bait because it does have a harder kick which is going to cause it to lift more so a heavier head will keep it down there on the bottom when you're trying to reach those fish in 24 the water
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