Swimbait questions

I have 2:

1. On line through swim-baits or baits like YUM money minnows, how are you generally getting them to dredge bottom? A weighted hook or a jighead?

2. On bigger swim-baits like Huddlestons, can those somehow be weighted to get them to crawl along the bottom?

Thanks for any advice I can get

You can get hudds in a heavy version with a higher ROF. Rate of fall...

To dredge bottom with a paddle tail, just use a heavy jig head depending on desired depth.

Line thru baits aren't typically designed to dredge. Some of the top hook models could be fished on bottom if fished slow enough

Exactly.

Thanks, I have to figure out what RoF my Hudds are.

Look at the very end of the tail, if its a top hook it should be 12 or 16 rof And there should be a black dot on the tail marking which. At least thats how they used to be, I haven't purchased any in 7-8 yrs. if not, you can feel in the bait there is more lead on the 16 harness. Its kinda a ball of lead inside the bait rather than just a flat harness.

If you are wanting to dredge the bottom with a big swimbait. You might want to look at the Santone S3 heads. You can put a Keitech 5.8 or 7" basstrix and walk it on the bottom just about snag free. I also put the 7" paddletails on a Warbaits 10/0 jig head. It has a long shank hook to fit those bigger baits and it is a 1 oz. weedless jig head. Check them out at TW.

Floating Hudds (ROF 0) never have a molded-in top hook. So, if there's a top hook, you'll know on sight it is something other than an ROF 0.

I haven't looked at mine lately, but I am remembering (or fantasizing?) that some have a marking molded into the rear-facing flat surface of the tail. Look closely and you may see a number there. If you have two or more to compare, weigh them - the heavier one will be a higher ROF (sinks faster), though I can't say what each ROF should weigh.