Butch brown swimbait gear for catching trophy bass

butch brown fishing rod and reel for big swimbaits, glide baits deps slide swimmer

Hook changes are another modification Brown makes. He swaps out the stock hooks with a bronze 2/0 Gamakatsu Round Bend (#47112) in the front and a 1/0 (#47111) in the back.

“I was given one of these baits from a guy I met on the lake who was from Japan,” he said. “I started throwing it and the drawing power was incredible, my first trip with it I lost six fish over ten pounds.”

Once switching to the round bend style hooks his hookup ratio increased dramatically.

“They are lighter hooks and they tuck under the bait much better,” said Brown. “The stock hooks work and are what you need for a big fish like striper, but the color stands out. The silver hooks are too shiny and the black nickel color contrasts too much with the swimbait.”

He added that bronze is his top hook color for all swimbaits.

Another modification some anglers make is to add scent to their baits. Brown warns against adding scent to this bait to avoid eventual cracking in the rubber.

Weighting the bait can also get the bait to deeper depths and change the action of the bait. Deps makes a tuning weight that fits directly under the chin of the bait to get this effect.

ROD AND REEL

There are many great swimbait rods on the market and Brown has used several he likes.

“The key is something with an extra- heavy action, around eight-feet long and something that is light enough to throw all day long,” he said. “I use the Low Down Customs in an 8’ extra-heavy. I have also used several built on the Loomis 957 blank and they are very light.”

When it comes to reels, Brown uses a Shimano Calcutta 400B.

“The reel is a workhorse and doesn’t break,” he said. “I also think the 5.1 gear ratio is key. “It really helps me from working the bait too fast.”

LINE SELECTION

Brown relies on 20-pound Seaguar AbrazX when using this lure.

SUMMER 2017

“It sinks with the bait and you can use it all day long without getting the stretch,” he said. “Mono will have flat spots in it and those little ‘curly Q’s’ and that scares me with big fish.

Brown believes fluorocarbon over mono is also a cost-saving approach.

“You can fish two weeks straight with fluorocarbon, if you just cut a little off each day,” said Brown. “With mono, I use to replace it every day.”

Brown ties the bait directly to the fluorocarbon with a Palomar knot and avoids any connecting knots. While 20-pound line may seem light for such a large and expensive lure, Brown says it is essential for getting the best action.

“Twenty-pound test is the best, 25-pound is right on the edge of killing the action of the bait,” he said. Thirty-pound kills the action and prevents the bait from gliding right.”

COLOR SELECTION

There are many colors of this swimbait and all have their time and place. Deps and Brown continue to add more limited release colors, yet three remain among his most-used colors: the Butch Brown’s Natural Trout, Golden Carp and Bluegill.

Butch Brown is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to big bass and swimbaits. His motto of Swimbait 24/7 is how he lives as a swimbait- only angler. His accolades and videos speak for themselves and when the water warms, he is fishing a Deps Slide Swimmer 250.

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