After taking a look at wLure's excellent trout swimbait and chunky sunfish swimbait, let me turn your attention to another interesting Chinese swimbait they offer. The HS6 from wLure is an affordable sunfish imitation lure, not frequently seen in the United States.
(More after the jump)
Design
The HS6 is a 4 inch swimbait, shaped after a basic sunfish pattern. wLure offers 4 unique patterns for this lure, including a black crappie one (seen in my photos). They all look pretty great, especially for a bargain Chinese swimbait. The joints are rather unique for a swimbait. Instead of using the typical hinge metal joints found in many swimbaits, wLure has opted to go with a flexible band of tough material to link the swimbait. It's pretty unique but doesn't seem to detract from the motion of the lure.
Price
The HS6 is priced fairly competitively, at a little over $7 with free shipping from wLure. For this price range, a comparable model is the H2O Academy Sports line of swimbaits, with one seen in the following image. The H2O swimbaits sell for a little more and are considerably more difficult to obtain, unless you happen to live in the South/Midwest. Bass Pro Shops also sells a similarly priced swimbait model, but I'd argue that the wLure model is much more appealing to the eye.
wLure's HS6 in action at Ford Park
Action
I found the HS6 to have the best action at a medium to fast retrieve. It's not a lure that has to exclusively be retrieved quickly to get any good action, but a very slow retrieve is not recommended! Also, it reacts favorably to short pauses with rapid intermitent jerks and twitches. I'd estimate that it sinks at about the same rate as a Baby BBZ swimbait, and it falls horizontally in the water column (as it should). It's really not a lure I would throw for timid or lethargic fish, especially during the colder months. However, I think the HS6 will certainly shine and catch loads of bass when they are feeding more heavily on sunfish (Fall), or protecting their beds from hungry bluegills (Spring). Working it medium-fast past ambush points should also yield good bass.
Action
I found the HS6 to have the best action at a medium to fast retrieve. It's not a lure that has to exclusively be retrieved quickly to get any good action, but a very slow retrieve is not recommended! Also, it reacts favorably to short pauses with rapid intermitent jerks and twitches. I'd estimate that it sinks at about the same rate as a Baby BBZ swimbait, and it falls horizontally in the water column (as it should). It's really not a lure I would throw for timid or lethargic fish, especially during the colder months. However, I think the HS6 will certainly shine and catch loads of bass when they are feeding more heavily on sunfish (Fall), or protecting their beds from hungry bluegills (Spring). Working it medium-fast past ambush points should also yield good bass.
Durability
The paint job on the HS6 appears to hold up decently well, even with a few errant casts on to the concrete shoreline at a portion of Fairmount Park in Riverside, California. As far the inner band that links the swimbait, I have no complaints. Anglers will certainly be wary of a non-metal joint material, however, I applied a lot of pressure to the joints and couldn't get the link material to rip or stretch easily. Of course, a massive strike from a hard-fighting bass may not be easily replicated with out of water tests and this remains an area I haven't tested yet.
Summary
The HS6 swimbait from wLure is another interesting and unique lure from this fishing company. With multiple patterns and a good swimming action in the water, it looks like a solid contender for an affordable swimbait. While I have not gotten to throw it in the conditions that I would consider the best (yet), I'll be updating this with more info on how it catches fish as my trips progress throughout the year. So far, I am pleased with the HS6 sunfish swimbait and I would recommend it if you are looking for a bargain-priced sunfish imitation swimbait.
