TackleTour

I fish jigs and I admit that I have caught fish on my retrieve, even though I was not throwing a swim jig.

But what are the conditions when you go with a swim jig?

And what types, weights, and colors?

Thanks.

Fred

I use a swim jig all year round. It literally catches fish when it's warm, cold, sunny, partly sunny, cloudy, partly cloudy, calm or windy. However, when it's really windy and choppy, I'll generally throw a spinnerbait instead. I've had success fishing a swim jig in clear water, partly stained and stained water. In other words, to "me", it's that versatile.

I prefer a 5/16 oz., but I'll use a 1/4 oz. or 3/8 oz. depending on conditions(weather, depth, clarity) and how active/lethargic the fish are. The conditions will also dictate how fast or slow I fish a swim jig.

I prefer some sort of white/silver color when bass are chasing shad and a bluegill color or black/blue combo color for most other times. Those 3 colors pretty much take care of mimicking all of the local forage: shad, crappie, bass, bluegill and bream. I use paddle tail swimbaits, single and double tail grabs and creature/craw baits as trailers. Again, it depends on the fishing conditions and the forage where I'm fishing.

Ham Solo, that's funny. I fish a swim jig from 65* to 75*. I have done best, fishing them through lay down's and sprarse weeds in clear/shallow water 2-8ft. I tie my own and use an olive shad pattern(matches the local minnows) and a gill color thats green/blue and orange. I hang a 4in keitech ez shiner on the back in silver flash minnow or pro staff special for the kick. Living in high pressured NJ, even when the wind is blowing I'll throw a swim jig over a spinner bait.

I have that much confidence in them. It's not the only thing that I'll throw, but I'll get one wet whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Ham Solo wrote:I have that much confidence in them. It's not the only thing that I'll throw, but I'll get one wet whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Thanks for the info...what brand do you use, what colors, and type of trailer???

I guess that I need to ask how to use one.

I really like the Dirty Jigs No-Jack Swim Jig. My go-to colors are Bluegill, Tactical Shad, Dill Gill and Black & Blue.

My favorite trailers are the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper, the Strike King Rage Tail Craw and the Yamamoto Single Tail Grub. I try to match my trailers with the jig colors.

My favorite rod for this application is an NRX 853C JWR.

The basic method for me is swimming it on a medium retrieve, but I love pulsing it through the grass. It creates a savage strike.

24/7

Caught a mess of bass last month with one in high 30s water by ticking top of grass.

I prefer paddle tails for trailers, like the sleeker profile. They can work as a standard jig in a pinch too. Sometimes though the bass don't want them and you either need to slow down with a flipping jig or go to a fast crankbait that displaces water and deflects.

The swim jig has been out producing my favorite bait, the spinnerbait, for the last 2 years. I use it as a finesse spinnerbait, when the water is calm or clear and the flash from a spinnerbait may be too much. I make my own swim jigs, I make a northern style with a thin skirt and medium wire hook and a California style with thick skirt and heavy hook, the northern style is the one I like best as it fits more conditions but if the fish are in heavy weeds, the larger one can go in after them with ease.

Swim Jigs are my favorite bait to use. I will throw them anywhere and anytime...

I started using swim jigs last spring and I hammered the bass in shallow water. The rest of the year was pretty good as well. This past fall I caught over 100 bass in 6 hrs. on a wind blown weedy flat. The swim jig is now my go to lure. It's hard for me to put it down and fish a slow bait. For me it will out fish a spinner bait most of the time.

joekaz wrote:I started using swim jigs last spring and I hammered the bass in shallow water. The rest of the year was pretty good as well. This past fall I caught over 100 bass in 6 hrs. on a wind blown weedy flat. The swim jig is now my go to lure. It's hard for me to put it down and fish a slow bait. For me it will out fish a spinner bait most of the time.

Thanks for the info...I'm curious about shallow water usage. I'm guessing that you threw a 1/4 oz with a trailer. What size, brand jig, and trailer?

BlaineFred wrote:

joekaz wrote:I started using swim jigs last spring and I hammered the bass in shallow water. The rest of the year was pretty good as well. This past fall I caught over 100 bass in 6 hrs. on a wind blown weedy flat. The swim jig is now my go to lure. It's hard for me to put it down and fish a slow bait. For me it will out fish a spinner bait most of the time.

Thanks for the info...I'm curious about shallow water usage. I'm guessing that you threw a 1/4 oz with a trailer. What size, brand jig, and trailer?

Yes, I like to throw a 1/4 oz. Brovarney in a bluegill or black and blue color with a Netbait Paca Craw or R.I. little Dipper. I use a 7:1 ratio casting reel with 30 pd. braid but I am going to try fluorocarbon this year to see if I get more bites. The rods I use must have a forgiving tip because my jigs have a lighter wire hook than flipping jigs. The flexible tip also helps in casting these lighter jigs. A lot of times when reeling in the jig a bass will hit more than once. When you feel a tick, just keep reeling until the rod loads up and then pull back and start reeling the fish in. This takes some getting use to. Pay attention to the jig when it gets close to the boat because I have a lot of bass come out of nowhere and nail it. Can't wait for spring!

Great replys above. I agree....swim jigs can be fished year round. I guess my favorite time to throw is spring/fall. Hard to put the swim jig rod down when they are really eating it and always have one rigged up.

It is a staple bait here on the upper mississippi river, check out lethal weapon jigs, made here in la crosse and are available on TWH. It is a typical northern jig as defined above, thinner skirt and lighter weed guard and medium wire sticky hook. I started to pour/tie my own a few years ago

As for time of year, basically what everyone else said: all year round. I tend to do my most damage with it during post spawn to october. I like to throw 1/4 oz for super shallow bite, typically during the blue gill spawn. Other than that i throw 3/8oz like 95% of the time, i throw it at almost everything: current seams, grass edges, points, rip rap, all kinds of shallow cover. recently i have started to fish it slower almost dragging it on the bottom on 7-10 ft edges with lots of success. Tom Monsoor cut his teeth with a swim jig in La Crosse and he fishes it slower then most anyone i have seen and deeper than most.

All in all, super versatile bait and almost never a bad time to use it.

Note: chatter bait and spinner bait should be looked at as totally seperate baits, there have been days (esp spring) where i can't get bit on a swim jig or SB but blast them with a chatter bait

ive had success using the keitech model 3. can rig it weedless and it shines with a fat swing impact of 3.8 or higher.