Swimbait Mayhem
A fishing technique that has been around for over two decades has now boomed thanks to social media. While some people may have wished its stayed secret, it has exploded. It’s an industry dominated by high dollar custom baits and even bigger attitudes to go with those baits. The allure of throwing a bait sized for a musky, attempting to lure the bite of a giant bass of a lifetime. Most anglers are instantly hooked on these big baits as if they came off a bad infomercial promising you a fish on every cast no matter what. I bet someone reading this is currently thinking about buying the Mighty Bite since it close to a swimbait or a Banjo Minnow with a paddle tail.
This industry is dominated by names like Huddleston, Deps, DRT, Working Class Zero, Hiroshima, and Hinkle to name a few. Personalities also dominate this industry and they are powerful ones. So powerful, that one person could swindle an entire following. Starting to sound like a cult almost. Kids who catch fish on conventional baits then stick swimbaits in the mouth for a quick Instagram photo… People who have no idea how to use google to search for “cheap swimbait” or “swimbait rod”. You can search Facebook for info also!!
How do you define a swimbait angler?
In the motorcycle world, the 1 percenter is considered the outlaws, while the other 99 percent are law abiding citizens. In the financial world, the 1 percent is the rich, the super-rich is actually classified as the .01 percent. In the fishing world, most people fall into that 99 percent category. While I would place musky anglers in the 1 percent category. Swimbait anglers now make up the .01 percent of the fishing world.
Fish of 1000 casts is a common term in the musky angling world. In the swimbait world, it’s now a fish of 10,000 casts. It will be the 10,000 casts that prevent most people from sticking with swimbait fishing. Dedicated swimbait anglers are few and far between, and even fewer are successful year-round with strictly big swimbaits. This is what separates the 99.99 percent from the last .01 percent.
What is SWIMBAIT MAYHEM?
Swimbait Mayhem is state of mind, its dedication, a huge ego, and its bravery. You carry the mindset of “GO BIG, or GO HOME” and throwing big baits becomes an obsession. You have to have an ego to go along with this to counter the other anglers or the 99 percent. You have heard things like “look, daddy, he caught a fish”, “you can’t use that type of live bait”, “what are you fishing for, a whale”, “you are never going to catch something with that”. The list of crazy things people will say to you goes on, and on. You brave because you are willing to lose a bait that costs that could cost upwards of $200. The result of the state of mind, the comments, egos, and bravery create MAYHEM, SWIMBAIT MAYHEM.
So are you part of the .01 percent and has Swimbait Mayhem consumed you?
Semper Fish!
Joe, The National Angler
