the first "3" swimbaits............

[RMANZO]

if you were asked to name the first "3" swimbaits that came to your mind, what would they be>>>>> seriously,,,"swimbaits"

[Phil]

huddleston------castiac-------bass harasser by reaction strike

[BMX Bassin]

SASSY Shads back in the 80's when I was a little kid, they were the ****!!!

[green_monster]

Huddleston
LA Slider
Slammer

[DeltaDan]

SASSY Shads back in the 80's when I was a little kid, they were the ****!!!

Word as an answer in 110% truth right there ~!!


Mister Twister was THE SNIZZLE !! They even came on spinner/swim blades straight out of the package....... but cost a tad more than a spinner blade back then in the mid '80's.


Cant tell you how many bass were ripped off of DB Docks back then on a craw color Wiggle Wart back then -- Size of your thumb... and the bill was one piece with the body with the lip painted.


They also had black with sparklies that was a KatchAll. -- The eyes no moatter the color "back then" is what I thought did it the most.

[Steve]

I concur, sassy shads flat out caught fish. I still to this day call any soft plastic body looking thing a sassy shad. That includes fish traps and big hammers. And speaking of the so called sassy shads, what ever happened to the Renosky baits? Why dont we use them anymore?

Castaic baits (not including the originals) are junk (every single one of them), as are the bass harrasser. Even to mention them its obvious somebody is trying to push selling baits they have at their shop.

Top 3 in no particular order: Hudd, 3:16, MS Slammer. Thats all one needs.

[FISH2WIN55]

hudd, osprey, river 2 sea

[Ray B]

Tied for #1 is Huddleston and Mattlures then a huge gap down to 3rd place might be 3:16 or MSSlammers but I dont think thats what this post was asking. I think he was asking which were the first ones made.
Which would be the Worm kings. sassy shads, renowskys or even the old creek chub wiggle fish, check it out it looks like a swimbait. AC claims credit for the first but I dont buy that.

[miklanderson]

Mattlures, Huddleston, shellcracker...not necessarily my favorites, but the 1st 3 that came to my mind...

[RMARX]

1. Huddleston ROF 12
2. Huddleston ROF 5
3. Huddleston ROF 16
4. Huddleston ROF 0
5. Original Optimum 6", 7", 10"
6. Osrprey 6" and 9" and maybe bigger ( Hi John )
7. Stocker Trout
8. Mission Fish

Hard Baits:

1. Slammer
2. Rago - Raptor
3. Rago - Tool

All of the Hud imitators are JUNK - You can not imitate the perfect bait.

[Phil]

I WILL TELL YOU WHAT HE IS ASKING. WHAT FIRST THREE SWIMBAITS COME TO YOUR MIND THAT YOU WOULD USE IN THE BIG BASS SLUG FEST....I AM ASSUMING WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. SO COME TIME SINCE ALOT OF PEOPLE CAN'T SEEM TO DISTINGUISH WHAT IS A SWIMBAIT, I WILL BET THAT ROBERT WILL TELL YOU WHICH SWIMBAITS YOU CAN USE AT THE SWIMBAIT TOURNAMENT IN JANUARY ?? JUST MY GUESS !!
IF SO, SO FOR ROBERTS SWIMBAIT SLUGFEST I VOTE FOR
1.HUDDLESTON
2.OPTIMUM
3. LA SLIDER OR (LITTLE ANTHONY) OR THE LIKE RIVER2SEA

JIGS

AND YES I AGREE, I CAUGHT MY FIRST SWIMBAIT FISH ON A SASSY SHAD BACK IN THE 70'S AT LAKE MENDOCINO, AND THEY WERE SMALLMOUTH.

JIGS

[BIG DADDY BLUE RANGER]

#1 Hud's........ nobody can argue with results.

#2 Mission Fish.....probably the most commonly used of all

#3... any wake bait... Slammers, 3:16, Optimum to name a few

Ther are sooooooo many other good ones, it seems almost unfair to list only 3

[Matt Moreau]

Here are my top 10;

Hud
Tripple Trout
Basstrix
Swim babe
Black Dog Baits = ANY
SPRO BBZ
Osprey
Slammer
3:16 = ANY
AC plug

[Sacto John]

Hudd
Triple Trout
MS Slammer

[bassenvy]

.....ya them sassy shads could on a given day kill the smallies on Sammamish and Lk. WA back in the 80's

as for a top 3 it's hard to say for bottom bouncing hudds are a no brainer. The rest of the water column is a BIG playground I enjoy experimenting with.

[fish_food]

I think he's asking what we think were the first three swimbaits that appeared on the market (a historical/chronological question) NOT what we think are the best three swimbaits...

So yea, Mr. Twister's Sassy Shad was definitely one of the first nationally recognized swimbaits. And don't forget the Little Fishee plastics from the same era...

[brambo0311]

I just picked up 3 basstrix I found hidden in a corner of the tackle store. The heads have turned white in the box they are so old. they are a 10" silver trout. Havent seen a basstrix like it before, looks like one of the first.

[dgoldston7]

definitely the sassy shad, We used to slay the stripers in the port of sac. on those things

[blackcloud]

2 OF THE FIRST 3 SWIMBAITS WERE UNDOUBTEDLY THE SASSY SHAD (EARLY 80'S) AND THE AC LURE (LATE 80S). AT THAT TIME THEY WEREN'T CLASSIFIED AS SWIMBAITS BUT THEY DEFINITELY WERE. THE SASSY SHAD MAY HAVE BEEN TOO SMALL TO BE CONSIDERED A SWIMBAIT BY TODAYS STANDARDS BUT THE AC LURE WOULD HAVE BEEN, DEFINITELY.

SWIMBAITS AREN'T NEW, THEY ARE JUST BIGGER AND PRETTIER THAN THEY USED TO BE

[John Harper]

I would have to list the ones I know that Marxmiller can't get his hands on........

1) Custom Color Tournament Talon by Osprey

2) 12" Osprey

3) 14" Osprey

(Hi Robert) If your nice I might let you borrow one

John

[bassenvy]

taken from the southern board......



Back in the days it started out as

1. RedFin, 2. J-Plug, 3. Big Sassy Shad, and then as we found out that we can truly target the Stripers and the Big Bass we started
with what some remember as.

1. Home Made "Wood "
2. Worm King ( needed for the tail section of the "Wood " baits, and for the boot tail swimbaits )
3. in any order you would like to remember Z-Plug, BS Plug, A/C Plug, Renoski boot tail, Castaic, Tru-Trout, Deadly Duo ( Tubes/swimbaits ), Optimum, Hat-Trick Plug, TNT Plug and a bunch of home made soft baits from local fishermen.

The Swimbait thing started with the Striper Boys in the early 80's and My Dad and I were shown how to make the "Wood" plugs buy a Asian guy up at Pyramid lake in 85 with two of the true old school guys ( Tim and Bob ).

Just my 2 cents Razz

Bill Siemantel

Keep it in the BBZ

[Slippy]

slientkiller
punker
shell cracker
hudd
slammer
spro

[Brian Linehan]

Siemental's post is dead on. All other baits were made a decade or two after the ones he listed. The swimbait craze took a while to reach up North.

[fish_food]

The Swimbait thing started with the Striper Boys in the early 80's and My Dad and I were shown how to make the "Wood" plugs buy a Asian guy up at Pyramid lake in 85 with two of the true old school guys ( Tim and Bob ).

I thought the popularity of huge wooden swimmers for striped bass preceded that by decades on the east coast amongst ol' time surf guys (and a bit later by the west coast surf striper guys)?

[bassindon69]

I remember back in 78 I friend had what I thought were Tuna swimbaits. They were about 6 to 8" with a sassy shad or paddle tail. They looked like they had kind of a frog hook style hook on them. Looking back I am sure they would have worked LOL! Then again I did not bass fish till 1985. Would these count? It is unreal how far lures have come. I think the guy that caught my eye back then was Dana Rosen from So-Cal (stickin pigs!)

Don.

[bassenvy]

The Swimbait thing started with the Striper Boys in the early 80's and My Dad and I were shown how to make the "Wood" plugs buy a Asian guy up at Pyramid lake in 85 with two of the true old school guys ( Tim and Bob ).

I thought the popularity of huge wooden swimmers for striped bass preceded that by decades on the east coast amongst ol' time surf guys (and a bit later by the west coast surf striper guys)?

I make no claim to what Bill posted just the messenger.

One thing is for sure is when I lived in Washington we knew in the mid 80's guys were throwing monster baits for monster florida strain in Cali. Just never thought I'd be doing it 20 years later. I feel fortunate to be here to say the least.

[Tobe]

Castaic baits (not including the originals) are junk (every single one of them), as are the bass harrasser. Even to mention them its obvious somebody is trying to push selling baits they have at their shop.

Top 3 in no particular order: Hudd, 3:16, MS Slammer. Thats all one needs.

I'm with ya on the Castaic's, but I've done very well on the Reaction Strike Bass Harrassers, very well.

[Phil]

Castaic baits (not including the originals) are junk (every single one of them), as are the bass harrasser. Even to mention them its obvious somebody is trying to push selling baits they have at their shop.

Top 3 in no particular order: Hudd, 3:16, MS Slammer. Thats all one needs.

I'm with ya on the Castaic's, but I've done very well on the Reaction Strike Bass Harrassers, very well.

WE HAD BASS HARASSERS IN STOCK FOR A YEAR AND WOUND UP GIVING ALL 50 OF THEM AWAY TO TOURNAMENTS. NEVER COULD SELL ONE WOW !!

JIGS

[Tobe]

Sorry to hear that Jigs.

I can't tell you how well they sell up there but I can tell you how well they work.