I'm looking into becoming a swimbait fisherman. I've thrown just about every lure you can imagine, but I just don't have confidence in the big swimbait. By big I mean, Smashtech, Finge tackle and 3:16 lures. The hand poured soft plastic style, not the hard baits (even though I have a few bull shad and BD series) Can anyone give me a few pointers? Fish it shallow or deep, fast or slow, all day or in key areas? I need the works. I'm tired of seeing pictures of people with monster fish with swimbaits hanging on their lips. James Caldemeyer seems to have this figured out on Fork, but do these things work at any lake?

Lots of information out there. Do a swimbaits search on here. Should find plenty of discussions.

What colors do you have confidence in?

This time of year I have very good luck with a 6" swimbait I pour myself in a baby bass color and my favorite is a shad/bluegill hybrid I pour.
I also have good luck with a store bought 5" shad I think is made by Berkley.

Some lakes are much better swimbait lakes than others, but you can catch fish on them most places. The big weedless baits you are talking about are the most versatile of the big swimbaits, IMO. The can be fished at a wide variety of depths depending on how heavy of hook you use. You can also peg a weight in front of them to keep them down even deeper. I'm by no means an expert, but the best advice I can give is to fish them slower than you think you should and then slow down some more. Also, when you feel a bite, just keep reeling until your rod starts to load up and then swing. Sometimes they will absolutely drill it and you first reaction is to set the hook, and you will miss quite a few that way. Often times that first strike is just to "kill it" and then they will hit it again.

i always have one tied on (i use a few various sizes in 4"- 9"). My favorites are the Smashtech Stroker Shad. I have those rigged on an Owner Beast 7/0. I also have some small 4" swimbaits made by BigBite Baits that resemble a shad. they were very cheap on clearance so I stocked up, suprisingly- they work very well! LOL! I throw those on a 5/0 owner beast. I am almost afraid to really get into the big swimbaits, due to getting hooked on them! it's like another addiction! the strike can be viscious, or a slight tick... but the reward is usually a good test of the drag! Big fish are opportunistic feeders... a big meal comes by, they expend less energy to just eat it.