I've started using swimbaits a lot more when fishing pike and musky. I typically use the 3 inch white ones, and sometimes perch coloured. Like Bucktail hinted at, they seem to be hard to develop any sort of confidence in. I first used them three or four years ago and didn't have any success with them. So of course they found the bottom of my tackle bag pretty quickly. Then I spoke to a guy who uses them all the time and catches some really nice fish. It seems I was using them all wrong. At first I was trying to rip them through weed beds at about 4 or 5 feet deep. This guy said that was exactly my problem, and suggested I start using them differently. I typically fish on Northern Ontario lakes that have a lot of rocky structure...reefs, shoals, drop-offs, etc. My favourite way to fish them is to throw them right on top of a reef or ledge and when they hit the water, rip them back 10 or 15 feet and then let them fall. Often fish, if they're going to hit, will strike on this first fall. If not, I continue the pattern with quick retrieves of 5 to 10 feet, then quick falls. As the swimbait falls deeper and deeper, it feels more and more like you're actually jigging it. I have yet to get a bass on one.
Also, I seem to have greater success with medium sized swimbaits, i.e. the 3 and 4 inch models, than I do with either the large (6 inch) or small (2 inch). Maybe its just that the medium sized ones tend to work best for the way I like to present them.
If there is one problem I have with these baits, it's that the hook is not in the best spot. I've had a lot of tail bite-offs. By that I mean fish will just take the little wiggly tail and miss the hook all together. If only there was a way to mount a hook in the tail.
One more thing, I like to keep a swimbait rigged as a throwback for those big pike and musky that follow bucktails and stick-baits right up to the boat and then spook. A lot of people use little jigs and plastics as throwbacks. Try a swimbait...they're easier to throw when you're in a hurry because they're heavy, and they sink down to those spooked fish a lot quicker. just a thought.