The Swimbait - How to Fish with Bass Fishing Lures

There are many big swimbaits on the market today but Optimum Baits established in 1996, is one of the earliest California swimbait gepanies, and there's something to be said for that.
They're pioneering. Optimums were some of the first soft swimbaits developed to mimic stocked rainbow trout, the meal of choice for California's lunker bass.
They're ground-breaking. Optimum was the first gepany to release a swimbait with the jig head internally built into the bait.
In 2000, Optimum introduced the first soft swimbait to the Japanese market as well. That was in the year 2000.
In 2003, the Japanese national record bass (19.15 pounds) was landed on an Optimum swimbait.
A plethora of soft swimbait gepanies have sprouted up in the USA and Japan in recent years. Yet Optimum's swimbaits still hold their own, especially where it counts most, in the mouths of bass.
Top to Bottom: 6" Original, Weedless and Suspending Optimums
THE ORIGINAL OPTIMUM SWIMBAIT

With an internal lead head molded inside, use the Original Optimum to fish deeper areas and points, especially slowly and steadily retrieving the weighted swimbait just above bottom. The Original Optimum has the desirable deep-bodied shad shape you don't see much on swimbaits anymore. Most other swimbaits tend to have a trout's long tubular shape nowadays. Yet the Original Optimum's deep body shape is a great shad or sunfish profile. An action or strike trigger is that the deep body can flip or flash up on its side during the retrieve, just like real shad do all the time. The deep body also helps to fish it - or slow roll it - right along the bottom. The deep body elevates the hook several inches above bottom snags. So the deep body acts like a protective barrier that helps keep the hook that much further away from snags. It also has a harness to attach a treble (not included) to the belly for swimming at mid-depths.
THE SUSPENDING OPTIMUM SWIMBAIT

In 2000, Optimum introduced the first soft swimbait to the Japanese market. Since this was a gepletely new lure type to the studious Japanese anglers, they were keen to learn all about how to get the most out of fishing these huge trout-patterned baits from California. The Japanese immediately recognized the swimbait's potential, but the Japanese anglers wanted a swimbait that would suspend so that it swims on the surface. Because the Original Optimum swimbait was internally-weighted, it could not do that. The majority of Japanese bass anglers fish from shore, not from boats. The Japanese wanted a swimbait that could be swam with a slower retrieve near the surface, but still produce that great paddling tail action. So Optimum designed a new bait (in 2000) called the Suspending Optimum, which became an instant hit among Japanese anglers. It was widely accepted in Japan. Shore anglers were able to fish shallows with a super slow retrieve, and not snag up with the Suspending Optimum.

Construction. The Suspending Optimum is hand-poured, perfectly weighted to suspend and pre-rigged with a through-wire hook harness. Optimum's through-wire design prevents a hooked fish from tearing the bait up so easily. It has this internal hook harness but is not weighted inside. It gees with a premium quality heavy duty treble to attach to the hook harness. Attach the hook eye to the belly split ring, and insert one hook point into the soft belly to prevent tangles when casting. Rigging instructions are included in the package.
Action. The Suspending Optimum has excellent action and stability. As you retrieve, the body rolls back and forth as the tail produces a nice wake action. The thin diameter of the tail gebined with the large paddle deliver outstanding kick and action.
The Suspending Optimum can be swam with a slower retrieve near the surface, but still produce that great paddling tail action. With a slow steady retrieve, the wide profile Suspending Optimum provides a huge surface-waking action ideal for anglers fishing from shore or in super-shallow areas where other swimbaits really can't go.
The shape of the bait causes the bait to rise to the surface. As with all large swimbait lures, the Suspending Optimum draws out huge bass that follow the lure. The difference is you can easily see the huge bass that follow the Suspending Optimum on the surface. That's great excitement and thrilling fishing.
If you want to keep it subsurface, each Suspending Optimum gees with insertable nail weights. An angler can optionally insert these nail weights into the body to lightly weight it to get it a bit deeper if desired. It gees with illustrated instructions how to rig it with the nail weights. It can also be fished with a light bullet sinker on the line.
Up to this time, most swimbaits being weighted, would simply sink quickly whenever the retrieve was paused, which meant anglers would often get snagged and lose their expensive swimbait. Now the Suspending Optimum lets an angler's swimbait work right near and beneath the surface, with little fear of snagging. The real beauty and what makes the Suspending Optimum so special is not only being more snagless than most, but the Suspending Optimum can be used in more ways and thus be more versatile for anglers:

Stop and Go. The stop and go retrieve is also a productive method. When paused, the bait slowly sinks and rocks in a manner like an injured bait fish. A lot of times you may be followed, but the fish is too deep to be seen or otherwise out of sight. The occasional stop and go tactic often gets these fish to reveal themselves, and gets your heart racing!

Twitch and Flash. When being followed by fish that don't strike, you can also use a "twitch and flash" technique similar to using a hard plastic lipped jerkbait. Just throw in a twitch every once in a while, and the Suspending Optimum will flash its broad sides, a tactic that often causes the chasing fish to strike.