Fishing big baits means you have to have the right equipment.
The average bass or inshore-type fishing rod is designed to handle lures that weigh up to 1 ounce, but the smallest swim-baits usually weigh double that —and the larger ones weigh anywhere from 5 to 7 ounces. Some are even heavier.
That kind of weight will load up the tip of your rod and cause it to fail you when you hook up with a big fish, so heavier tackle is in order.
Mike Herrmann bought a salmon rod off of ebay that was rated for up to 6 ounce lures, and that worked fine until he started building 11 inch baits that weighed 14 ounces.
So he had a tuna rod custom made, spiral wrapped and rated for 40- to 60-pound line. Since then, Daiwa started producing a big swim-bait rod in their Zillion line that handles 6- to 7-ounce baits without a problem.
But you’ll also need a reel with a lower gear ratio to go with that rod. Herrmann likes the Daiwa Luna and Lexa 200 reels, which are big-bait reelz with a high capacity spool similar to the Shimano Calcutta 200 series.
The lower 5:1 gear ratio provides plenty of torque, and the slower speed is precisely what you want when slow-working the swim baits.
