Swimbait(Roman Made) and fish

Some of you may or may not of heard of a Japan based lure company called Roman Made...
They Specialize in handmade wood swimbaits specifically "Glide baits"
The 2 most popular baits Roman Made offers are the "MOTHER" and the "NEGOTIATOR"... The price of the baits are very expensive and probably scare off 90% of potential buyers...
In my opinion if feel the HIGH Price tag is warranted...Just due to the amount of time and energy needed to make a bait of this caliber (I have made some myself and it's not easy)

The "MOTHER" retails anywhere from $300-$400 and the "NEGOTIATOR" $120-$200 depending on the uniqueness, number made and or current demand.
Each bait is hand carved and tuned by the man himself...one bait at a time...and can take upwards of 14 hours to build just one bait.

Anyway with that being said... I purchased a NEGOTIATOR (Alumni) about 3 years ago and love to throw the bait where I know bigger fish are present...Specifically trout eaters.

The bait swims very natural with a slow sinkrate...but can be worked fast and "TWITCHED" to make it glide back and forth aggressively if you desire... The caliber of fish that are drawn to the bait is truly amazing! I have caught some big fish but have seen some much bigger that I certainly didn't know existed in the body of water I was and have fished for many years...

Anyway- I took a risk and bought the bait and gave it a shot... Over the years I have caught some trophy caliber fish (Here are a few from last weekend)

P.S. This is a 2 day trip where I slept in the truck with my dog at the boat ramp...committed to throwing the bait ALLDAY no matter what...

It's a mindset you have to be geared for... but in 2 days I caught 3 fish (5.3,7.8 and 8.2),I lost 2 bigg'uns and saw some absolute GIANTS!!!

I hope this post helps some anglers who may be on the fence on giving bigger baits a try...I know I was...but I have been very happy with the results...
Take care and God Bless! Justin

nice

That’s awesome

What rod, reel speed, and line do you use? I’d hate to chunk a $300-ish bait and lose it.

My question is if you had employed different tactics would you have caught more fish?

If so, then is the point of the "big swimbaits" just the challenge of fishing them,? Is it the challenge of spending that kind of money on baits and equipment?

I do not totally understand it.

I have a box of big baits, mostly ones hand made in Tennessee and I have caught a few fish on them, I think my most expensive ones are $85 a piece and I own 2 of them.

ROD: LDC Heavy or XH ...
LINE: 17-20LB Segar Invesex
REEL: ABU REVO Toro Beast or SHIMANO Tranx 200 (6-7 ratio is fine)

I prefer the Heavy but will step it up to an XH if I plan on swinging any bigger fish into the boat (Not a smart idea...but only I forgot my net)

Bot the H and XH will get the job done...the HEAVY is prefer in my opinion

LDC (Low Down Custom Rods)...Specializing in "Bigger Bait Rods" and specifically "SPIRAL WRAPPED"

Just my preference...Many "Schools of thought" but with bigger baits I try to use the lightest tackle I get away with if that makes sense...

I throw 25lb mono on anything over 2oz. Hasnt been a problem yet and I know I can winch in anything without playing them much

Was this on a local Texas lake or was this from Cali?

Also, how do you think the Roman Made baits compare to some of the other popular glide baits?

Thats pretty cool dude, when are you gonna get the mother? I just got a foil wrapped Uncle Ronnie from Tater Hog. Can't wait to swim it:


https://www.shop.taterhogcustomlures.com/product.sc;jsessionid=AA7E79EA334E0FAB2B04F6F165758ACC.p3plqscsfapp004?productId=179&categoryId=1

Nice post and SOLID FISH! Good job.

Get the 3:16 workhorse or gizzard. Nothing compares,they are unreal!! they only run 250, and they will pretty much sit suspended with the slow sink one.

Nice bass and a cool lure. I’ve been messing with Savage Gear Shine Glides and Rago Glideators lately. Caught some nice bass on Deps Bullshooters last spring. Glidebaits are great fun to fish and the chubby ladies love them!

Excellent! You may have pushed me over to that way of fishing. Nice fish & great baits.

btw...thank you mods.

Saw some hydrilla in that picture ... where was that at?

Hes posting pictures of bass over 8 pounds, gave an entire breakdown, but you still "don't totally understand it"

The philosphy behind big swimbaits is to catch the biggest bass possible in that body of water. They are the most technical lures to fish, most people will never have the time to master them. Its a fishing genre of its own. The keys are understanding funnel points where lunkers ambush prey, making the best first cast, and having the skill to have your lure track at the proper depth. If you want efficiency use live bait.

Swimbaiting is just one of those things you either get hooked on or dont understand it. I think that's why you see Carl J. and Zaldain get so wrapped up in it. Once your hooked it's worse than heroin

Great fish

Yes this was Texas...

And you guys are correct about the "Addiction" part... There is defiantly more to it than I originally thought.

But, Would I have caught MORE fish in those two days if I was throwing traditional baits?
In theory: YES... you would think so but this is not always the case...I assume it Depends on what forage the LARGER fish are targeting.

But regardless...Personally I would rather catch 1 BIG bass than 5 smaller ones...again just personal preference and main reason I gravitate toward big baits about 95% of the time.

Prior to fishing big baits I averaged (1) fish a year over 8 LBS...This year I have 5 fish over 8lbs and 1 over 10lbs.

As far a buying a MOTHER($300+)...Not if I want to stay married... The bait is 10 Ozs and I would need a designated set up and cant justify buying a rod and reel just to throw 1 bait.

With all that...Our State record was caught on a minnow...

So maybe it has more to do with being at the right place at the right time and focusing on the correct angles and Points of Ambush the bigger fish follow in a given body of water.

Where are you getting a Roman Made Mother new for 300 bucks? About the cheapest I've ever seen them is 400 and that's on E-Bay. The tacklewarehouse price is $499.


That said, I agree there is enormous potential with swimbaits. At least that's what I've convinced myself of! I've loaded up on them this winter and plan to fish them this coming year. Here's a really interesting podcast which features Don Moorman a major swimbait player in CA. Don fished a small group of lakes hard for 20 years in CA, for his effort he had 3 DD fish. Then he started fishing swimbaits. Same lakes. Same spots. Now he's got 64 DD fish.

+1 lol

Great fish American TX! I notice you live not far from me.

I have read a lot about the Roman Made baits but do not own any. I have many hand painted hard baits from 3:16 Lures that I bought when I was in Cali fishing with the owner. Most of them are painted to match trout.

Awesome post Justin. I have a lot of large swim baits and a LDC XH rod but just haven't taken the time to throw them much. This inspires me to do so. I have thrown the 7 inch wooden Lunker Punker some, I didn't catch anything on it but I did have birds diving on it thinking it was an easy meal. LOL I also have several large glide baits, wake baits, rats, and several lunker punkers including a 9 inch one. I will now dedicate more time throwing them in 2020. If you need a "net man" let me know..LOL

I've got some crazy ones out of Cali I throw, they cost around $200 they catch fish but our lakes have so much more structure its painful to lose one. Cali and Japan where you keep seeing these monsters are cough off steep ledges, Good stuff keep posting