The Baby Boom Boom swimbait from Optimum Baits is a specifically designed swimbait for use with screw-lock weighted swimbait hooks to skip and hunt bass in and around shallow cover. I was introduced to this swimbait this year and it has already become one of the staples in my box. Whenever I’m hunting fish shallow, especially around boat docks, I have a Baby Boom Boom swimbait rigged and ready in one of a few various ways.
Here is a little more about this unique and well designed and applicable swimbait.
Good profile for look and swim
The Baby Boom Boom Swimbait was designed by Fred Roumbanis who learned swimbait fishing out on lakes like Clear Lake that are full of big bass and cover like docks and tules. So he was looking for a swimbait that not only had a great swim at a medium speed but also that he could cast precisely and skip under cover. A do-it-all swimbait for covering water.
The original 6-inch Boom Boom swimbait is also a great bait but I have found the 4 1/2 inch Baby Boom Boom works in a lot more scenarios and probably a lot more fisheries where a 4-inch shad or other baitfish is a lot more common.
It has a good kick that you can feel and it’s ability to slide under cover is one of the better ones I’ve seen in a swimbait.
Nose holds screw lock really well
The Baby Boom Boom is designed to be fished with a weighted screw-lock swimbait hook. The head of the bait is real solid and holds the screw lock on a Beast hook really well. It will hold all screw locks, but Roumbanis showed me that switching to the Owner CPS keeps the bait on better than most other springs so I do that with all my Trokar, Owner and Hayabusa screw lock hooks now.
Great color selection
I really am in love with the colors from Optimum Baits. Their off-white color is for some reason a real fish catcher and their translucents are equally effective. My favorite colors are also my most productive colors. I have caught a bunch on Ghost Rider, Ghost Minnow and Ayu colors. They come in about 16 colors now and they are releasing some new ones next year that will be big hits I think.
Belly slit holds hooks perfectly
The hook belly slot on the Baby Baby Boom is very well thought out and designed. The weight rests against the underside with the hook in the groove. The bait has freedom to move well if you get the spring twisted on and sitting parallel to the water. That lets the bait shimmy and roll side to side while kicking to give the bait a better overall swim.
Small fins on the underside help keep the bait planed and running true.
It works well as an underspin bait
I witnessed how effective this can be on a trip to New York where the designer of the bait for Optimum Baits was catching bass on an underspin weighted hook from the back of the boat pretty consistently.
So I brought it back and my first outing with this rig had some nice bass fishing it like I would a spinnerbait over brush piles. I even caught some fish in really murky shallow water by skipping it around stumps, stake beds and docks.
Great bait for bank fishing and boat fishing
I have been fishing a lot from the bank the past few months because of two herniated discs and torn hip flexor, so my mobility and amount of time I could spend upright was quite limited.
But I’ve been pleasantly surprised how many fish will bite the Baby Boom Boom swimbait of all sizes. I’ve caught a couple big ones from the bank and a whole bunch of smaller fish. It’s a bit crazy to me how this bait can be a numbers bait but also a big fish bait.
A lot like spinnerbait does for anglers. Which, for the record, is how I tell people to approach fishing a swimbait that have never tried it before. Just treat it like a spinnerbait that you can put in a lot more places like under docks and around grass and other muck.
I’ve had some fun days this summer and fall with it
My very first outing with the Baby Boom Boom I had some really nice bass. My second outing I went and fished completely different water and had similar experiences. I’ve caught them around shallow wood on it. I’ve caught them under and around docks on it. I’ve caught them out in open water over brush piles and big stumps on it.
Swimbait fishing for me is all about being confident how that bait is moving in different scenarios. I have a favorite swimbait for deep ledges with a jighead. I have a favorite swimbait for fishing around grass. Now I believe I have another favorite for fishing under docks and around shallow cover in the Baby Boom Boom.
It has been a great replacement for a spinnerbait
Like I said, if you’re not sure where to start with a swimbait like the 4 1/2 inch Optimum Baits Baby Boom Boom, just get a 5/0 to 7/0 weighted hook in 1/4 to 3/8 ounce weights and a few colors and go fish it like you would a spinnerbait.
You can find most of the colors of the Baby Boom Boom swimbait online at TackleWarehouse.com or at other retailers like Bass Pro Shops and locally as well. They come 3 to a pack for the 4 1/2 inch size and run about $9.99 a pack. Mend-it works well to fix baits that get torn up after several fish. But I’ve had days where I’ve slung the same swimbait all day under docks.
