Sebile Magic Swimmer Soft Pro Review

Today, we are going to take a look at the Sebile Magic Swimmer Soft Pro. I like to use soft plastic swimbaits around this time of year and have had good success with them. With that in mind and having seen the video of these particular baits, I couldn’t wait to get them. I chose the four inch version and got three different patterns. The bluegill, holo greenie and blue back herring, which to me very much resembles some of our local sunfish.               

 When I get a new lure I like to tie it on and use it, unless circumstances dictate otherwise, pretty much all day to figure out how to use it properly and see if there are any nuances in action that I can impart by doing something different on the retrieve. The equipment of choice for trying this lure was a Quantum Energy E101 Spt reel with a 6.3: 1 retrieve speed spooled with 12 pound P-line Floroclear which is one of my standard line choices for a variety of baits, all on a 6’6 medium action Extreme series Bass Pro Shops rod.                 

These baits come packaged four to a pack with one of them pre-rigged and ready to fish. If you haven’t seen them yet there are some nifty features not found on any other soft plastic swimbait that I am familiar with. One of them being the weight system which consists of six 1 gram cylindrical  weights that slip easily over the hook point and onto the shank of the hook. You can add and subtract the number you put on the hook based on what level in the water column you are targeting and how you want the bait to run, i.e. nose down, horizontal etc. The four inch bait comes with a 4/0 EWG that fits the body of the bait almost perfectly to hide within the envelope of the belly slit. The one bait that is pre-rigged comes with two of the weights already on the hook along with the bait. The bait itself is a three segmented body with the hook holes molded into the nose and out the back which makes rigging them straight fairly easy. The advertising for the bait says that the weights will not slip down the hook shank while casting thus giving the angler a consistent action, based on where the weights are placed on the shank and the number of weights used. So having tied the new bait on and satisfied that I had a good idea how to use it I adjusted the brake and spool tension on my reel and took my first cast.                

I worked the bait slowly and could easily feel the vibration of the bait as it swam. As it got closer to shore, I was watching it very carefully and playing with my retrieve a little just to see how it ran. I was impressed with the swimming motion which was somewhat relaxed and very natural. Just a quick small jerk of the rod tip and it took off in another direction, another jerk and right back on the original line. I was indeed impressed with the action of the lure and started playing with speed, placement of the weights, slight jerks of the rod tip and other methods of manipulating the swimbait. The bait does react with every move imparted by the angler as well as swim well at different speeds. The patterns are impressive for a swimbait and the lures are consistent one to the next. I experimented with different placement of the weights and added more as the day wore on and the demand to fish deeper dictated. I threw the bait all day for approximately 6 ½ hours. Unfortunately I didn’t even get a nibble that day on this bait. I am not discouraged and will continue to use the magic swimmer expecially at night when summer arrives and we do more evening and night fishing.                

Now having said all that, everyone realizes there is no such thing as a perfect bait and this one does have its idiosyncrasies to. One thing that I found is that the weights while relatively stable do indeed slip and need to be repositioned fairly frequently especially if you are fishing over or in structure. Contact with heavy grasses, stumps or other semi-rigid underwater obstacles will move the weights. When this happens at the beginning of a long cast, it can be a bit of a learning curve to feel what the bait is doing and adjust your retrieve accordingly. The other issue that I encountered was having one of the weights break off during a retrieve. It may have been defective, I don’t know, but it isn’t as bulletproof as you may be lead to believe.                 

In conclusion, I believe that this bait is going to catch a lot of fish but since I didn’t hook any on that first day, I cannot speak to the durability of the lure. These swimbaits are expensive for soft plastics but can be rigged a number of different ways so the jury is still out on the relative worth of this lure. I will, as the season goes on, continue to use them and will give a long term report on the Sebile magic swimmer soft pro and its effectiveness verses other, more conventional soft plastic swimbaits. And one thing for sure, I will enjoy doing the research for that post!