He adds that casual anglers have also taken to smaller versions. They're not forced to buy brand-new rod and reel setups from the get-go. As a result, they're more willing to give them a chance.

Allen has a few small-swimbait principles:

• Matching the hatch is important. Look at the season and what the fish are eating.Take water conditions into consideration, too. "Wedge-tail baits like the Baitsmith and 6-inch Huddleston don't move as much water and work better when it's clear. Boot-tail designs like the 6-inch Osprey Tournament Talon work better in murkier water."

What all these anglers agree on is that, in general, one lure can't do it all. It's best to be able to work both the top and bottom of the water column, and ideally the mid-depths as well. Choosing the best bait to "match the hatch," identifying top locations, presenting the lures in a fish-tempting mode, and making sure your tackle has the moxie to get the big dawgs to the net are important as well.

SMALL STRATEGIES
According to Matt Servant, much of your swimbait decision boils down to what you're observing while you're on the water.

"After the bass spawn, there are lots of fingerling bass around. When the bluegills are off their beds, lakes are teeming with small fish. And in the summer months, trout are usually not stocked in most bass lakes," he said. "I'm not saying that trout-imitating baits won't work, but I still like to match the hatch."

Generally, bluegills are in every lake that has bass. "If you truly match the forage, you'll outfish anything. When bass are feeding on bluegills and you throw a bluegill bait, you'll get lots of bites," Servant said.

And just where on their favorite waters should anglers use these baits, particularly when first trying to develop confidence in them?

And is the post-spawn, with its notoriously finicky biters, even worth a try?

There are few more devoted students of the bass-fishing game than Siemantel. He's found that an "uphill" style of fishing -- in other words, casting from shallow to deep -- works best. One interested fish will draw in more, creating what he calls a "daisy chain" effect, with the result that bass will form aggressively feeding "wolf packs."

"The post-spawn is a great time to daisy chain fish," he said. "Bring in a 4-inch bait, like the BBZ-1 Shad, nice and steady and you're going to get hammered."

JSJ Bait Co. creates the Snack Size Ghost Trout, an excellent choice when your bass feed on planter trout. Photo courtesy of JSJ Bait Co.

Siemantel said there is another oddity of post-spawn bass. For unexplained reasons, they're attracted to structures that form T-shapes -- things like buoy lines, trees, pipes and docks. Big females will suspend beside these T's. By staying patient and remaining a good distance away, Siemantel has found he's able to catch these skittish bass.

As far as a basic swimbait arsenal, Matt Allen feels that if you're going to give it a fair shake, you should carry a couple of different models.

"Everybody needs a wake bait," he said. "I started fishing the JSJ Snack Size Trout in 2008 and really like it."

Although it's not a true wake bait, it is a floater, and by working it in a sharp, erratic fashion, it provides a different presentation than almost any other lure on the market.

"You also need a sinking swimbait," Allen said. "You can vary where it is in the water column by controlling your retrieve."

In terms of favored post-spawn locales, Allen said he looks for areas where they were spawning and from there, searches for points or the deep edges of flats.

"I almost always start off with a wake bait in the morning," said Allen. "If I can get bass to eat them, I'll throw them all day."

If the bass won't keep chewing on his surface lures, Allen goes to sinking models like the Baitsmith or Osprey Tournament Talon. Nevertheless, he'll periodically throw a wake bait to see if their interest in topwater has been rekindled.

Allen is also a fan of the Basstrix Paddletail, which he rigs on a 4/0 or 5/0 Bladerunner hook.