Owner Flashy Swimmer Weedless Weighted Hook Review
- By: Pat Ogletree
- on
Now that we’ve added it to our online tackle shop, let’s go over the Owner Flashy Swimmer Review!
The Owner Flashy Swimmer is a weedless weighted hook with additional FLASH and attraction to set your presentation apart from the rest of the bait.
Learn more about this hook in the video below!!
Owner Flashy Swimmer Review [VIDEO]
We’ve all been there before.
You get up on a flat and it just looks phenomenal.
There are baitfish everywhere and you can see predators chasing after them.
But after throwing everything you brought with you, you still can’t buy a single bite.
Colors, profiles, everything you can think of just won’t work.
The issue is that when there is so much bait and commotion in the water, it can be hard to grasp a fish’s attention.
So we have to use something that will grab a fish’s attention without appearing obnoxious and out of place.
The Owner Flashy Swimmer is a new rigging hook we’ve brought to the Salt Strong Tackle Shop.
They have the same structure as Owner Weighted Twistlock Hooks just with additional features.
The hook is a 2x strong forged hook with Owner’s signature center-locking pin.
However, the weight and additional spinning blade is what sets this hook apart.
The spinner blade attachment is meant to put off more flash and vibration then a traditional presentation.
You have the option of rigging anything from a paddletail to a jerk shad to shrimp lures on these hooks.
Specifications
Your options in the shop are either a 3/0 hook with a 3/16 oz. weight or a 5/0 with a 1/4 oz. weight.
The 3/0-sized hooks are perfect for our 2.0 series of paddletails as well as Power Prawn USA junior.
The larger 4/0 hook is best used with the BOMBER paddletails and even our 5-inch jerk shad lures.
Along with different hook sizes are different spinner blade designs.
First of which is a silver willow leaf blade and the second is a gold Colorado blade.
The silver willow leaf blade is designed more for fishing in clear water because it has more flash but slightly less vibration.
The gold Colorado blade is best in muddy water because you’ll need more vibration and less flash.
If you need to add visual attractiveness to your presentations in clear water, go with the silver willow leaf blade.
The opposite holds true when fishing in muddy water which is why you would use the gold Colorado blade to create more vibration in the water.
Soft Plastic Lure Choices & Pairings
As mentioned above, the silver willow leaf is best for clear water so I would use a light-colored lure with this hook.
Something like our Slam Shady 2.0 or the F.R.E.D. color would work excellently well with the silver blade.
On the other hand, I would rig our darker-colored lures with the gold spinner blade.
The Alabama Leprechaun or Gold Digger are the ideal match for the gold blade.
When To & When NOT To Use These Rigging Hooks
The first scenario in which you would want to use one of these hooks is what I described previously.
Turn to either of these rigging hook designs when you approach a flat or a spot absolutely loaded with baitfish and hungry predators.
Or it can be useful if you are fishing in areas with muddy or stained water.
In situations where visibility is low and fish may have a tough time seeing your lure is when it can be smart to use these hooks.
Moreover, on the total opposite end of the spectrum is when you can’t find any signs of fish and need to cover ground to locate them.
The Owner Flashy Swimmer is also an excellent search tool.
Ideally you are fishing these rigging hooks with some wind and chop so everything appears natural.
Generally speaking, a standard Hoss Helix Hook is the way to go in most fishing situations.
Typically, we fish in shallow water that is more often than not calm and the fish can be a bit jumpier and skittish.
In this scenario, additional vibrations can actually hinder your fishing and scare fish away.
The Pros
As this is a product from Owner, it is made of the highest quality.
The hook is strong and finished to prevent rust build-up and the twistlock keeper protects your soft plastic lures.
Another thing I like about these hooks is the fact they are available in different blades and color styles.
You have increased options for customization.
Lastly, I really like that this may not be something the fish have ever seen before.
And that can play positively into your hands.
A lot of times fish will start to become weary and catch on if they see the same thing over and over again.
This can be used to your advantage as you try to pique the interest of hungry fish.
The Cons
Personally, I am not a fan of all the little pieces dangling off of the hook.
Anything additional hanging off of your hooks or lures leads to decreased casting distance because they get caught up in the wind.
Furthermore, there are more points of failure on the Owner Flashy Swimmer than on other weighted hooks.
So you do have additional flash, however, more chances for the system to fail.
With that said, Owner does sell replacement pieces if you lose individual items on the hooks.
Finally, these hooks are a bit on the pricey side.
For 2 of these rigging hooks, the cost is about $7.00.
But it does offer something you won’t see in other hooks and setups.
Conclusion
When you pull up to your fishing spot and see baitfish absolutely EVERYWHERE, go ahead and tie on the Owner Flashy Swimmer rigging hook.
Or even if you fish in dirty water, this can be a super useful setup.
Is there anything you still have some questions about?
Please let me know what you think of these hooks and if you have used them yourself, we’d love to hear from you down in the comments section!
And if you know someone who wants to learn more about the Owner Flashy Swimmer Review, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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I used one of these yesterday in some very dirty water with a Mulligan and it worked fantastic! My catch immediately increased from the Mulligan alone, even with a rattle in the Muligan. I caught both redfish and flounder with it. Water is often dirty where I fish around Galveston, so this is a must have in my tackle box!
How does this compare to a safety pin style spinner or even a beetle spin? The safety pin style is a nice combination of open hook but still relatively weedless.
They’re close. The safety pin style is typically a little larger and the Beetle Spins are smaller. This is somewhere in between.
Great review, Pat!
Two other advantages of using the Flashy Swimmer (and underspins in general):
Great points Andy! When I was retrieving it in the pool I could feel it hit the bottom.
They definitely work in the dirty water we have on the Texas Upper Coast. Sometimes you need all the attention you can get and it really helps that these are mostly weedless. Combine with scent (Gulp/Juice/Procure) and you got a winner.
I don’t quite get the approach on the combo with the jerk shads, but I know it still works.
You need help in that water for sure! That jerk shad on the Flashy Swimmer works well in a subsurface walk the dog retrieve.
Great review! I’ve actually picked up a pack of each type a couple months ago and I’ve only tried one and not for very long because it was so different that I didn’t have a lot of confidence in it and I had never seen anyone else using one or talking about them and it was one of those days where you fish 5hrs and catch 1or2 fish after 5 thousand casts so to be fair I didn’t really give it a fair shot but this does make me feel a little more confident in putting it in the lineup. I thought they were really cool and like you say it is made by owner and made well Thanks for the pros and cons from your point of view makes perfect sense to me 👍
In the right conditions they can do well!
Hmmm! It’s getting difficult to keep up with so much new ideas!
Always something new to learn!
New toys to play with….
I actually used to make these myself by getting a big snap swivel one that will fit over a hook and then punch a small piece of plastic from a coffee can using a paper punch and put this piece of plastic over the hook securing the swivel in place using either a very small willow leaf bade or Colorado the kind used as a second blade on a tandem spinnerbait you now have the same thing the only problem being sometimes because the blade won’t spin right if it gets to close to the tail of the bait because the action can interfere with it bit it still works and cheaper then buying them thanks for the tip and all you do😉
I noticed the Colorado blade would hit the hook during retrieval creating a clacking sound. Never kept it from spinning though. I think the added sound might help.
Pretty cool that you made your own.
Had used recently and it got plenty of attention. Given there were tons of undersized trout and ladyfish on the edge of the flat I had a thump jump or release virtually every cast. I was just doing a steady retrieve and it was getting attacked but had many hits between hookups. The hooks tend to be large for medium sizes fish. Was lazy and and leader frayed and hook lost. Switched to trout Eyez and lil John pink/silver and also caught lots of trout. Maybe fewer hits but significantly better hookup ratio.
Thanks for the input Martee! Makes since on the hook up ratio with the exposed hook on the trout eye.
Try using an underspin jig head that leaves the hook exposed if you are fishing in an area with little to no weeds. Same concept as the flashy swimmer but better hook up ratio.
Outstanding review and I love the underwater footage. I tie bucktails on jig heads with a spinner that I’ve had a lot of luck on, especially on the beach. I think the jig heads were originally designed for stripers up north but I could be wrong on that. It will be nice to try the same idea on soft plastics.
Glad you liked it!
I bet the stripers loved those buck tails!
One of the Best Kept Secrets for diehard Anglers! The Flashy Swimmers are an awesome addition for those fishing in Murky/Dirty Water, or just want to add a little Pizazz to their lure offering. Nice video man!
Thanks Justin! I’m definitely keeping some on hand just for those situations