S-Waver
Tonight let’s take a look at a hard bodied swimbait from River2Sea that we picked up recently – the S-Waver. We obtained the 168S in Rainbow trout. This bait is 6 ¾ inches in length and weighs in at 15/8 oz. The S-Waver comes stock with Daichi hooks that are sharp out of the package and ready to fish.
At first glance, the S-Waver’s patterns are very well done in all of the available choices with excellent colors, gill patterns, eyes and a body shape that is screaming to be bit. This lure is a two jointed bait whose name is on the money when describing the action that can be expected from the lure. In short, to describe the S-Waver in a word, it is downright SEXY!
We decided to throw this bait on a 7’ medium heavy rod with the reel spooled with 20# P-Line Voltage. If you’ve never thrown a lure of this size, you tend to be a little bit hesitant to really rare back and let fly for fear that something will snap and you will watch the bait sail away without your line still attached to it. No worries though as long as you are using the right equipment. The S-Waver casts well and doesn’t stress your equipment any more than any other lure of comparable size.
These baits are designed to be fished at varying depths by just counting them down before you begin your retrieve. The S-Waver,
Top Side View
even in the larger size, is very predictable and somewhat on the slow sink side of the spectrum. While this is not exact, we observed a sink rate in the neighborhood of about 8 inches per second. It does not sink like a stone by any stretch of the imagination and remains horizontal while it’s sinking.
Once you begin your retrieve the S-Waver begins its seductive, unhurried S pattern back to you. In my opinion, it really appears to be a fish who is out for a Sunday drive and completely oblivious to any danger that may be lurking nearby. Simply using a slow retrieve will impart this action to the lure and you can maintain the action easily.
Another way to retrieve this lure is to use small jerks similar to what you would do with a jerk bait. While we were testing the S-Waver we found that we preferred a retrieve that started by counting the lure down, beginning our retrieve and intermittently giving the River2Sea these small jerks and allowing the lure to run off to one side for a few seconds before re-starting our retrieve. Once you begin reeling again, the S-Waver picks up right where it left off and gets back into its S pattern.
You can also use this bait as a wake bait by simply beginning your retrieve as soon as the lure hits the water and keeping your rod tip high. When you do this, the S-Waver resembles a snake swimming on the surface of the water. It really is something to see in person.
Dirty, But Caught
We got the larger size because in So-Cal, a lot of our local lakes are stocked with rainbow trout in the winter and big bass feed heavily on them. The 168S is an ideal size for simulating this food source and will draw some vicious strikes from some good size fish. Smaller fish will also try to eat this lure so don’t be surprised if you get a strike from 2 pounders while fishing the S-Waver.
You can use this lure for multiple species of predatory fish as the finish is very hardy and not easily marred. The S-Waver is excellent over emergent weeds when fished slowly with the small jerks mixed in. It will catch fish and is fun to throw.
On the MVF rating scale, the River2Sea earns 4 stars.
See ya on the water …