Swim jigs had been born from the expertise of anglers.
Plenty of them – and many you – discover that whenever you’re retrieving a jig for the following forged, bass will chase your lure down, hammering it because it’s ripped freed from grass and different aquatic vegetation.
That received some professionals and lure designers considering; might they make a jig that was designed to be labored primarily horizontally moderately than vertically?
Most positively sure.
The result’s the trendy swim jig: a hydrodynamically-shaped head, a particular skirt, and generally an added weed guard.
Now broadly thought-about to be probably the most versatile lures round, you will discover loads of professionals who tie a swim jig on 12 months spherical.
Swim Jig Fundamentals
The swim jig’s design is deceptively easy.
That hydrodynamic head permits the swim jig to glide and rise within the water column because it’s retrieved, particularly whenever you pulse your rod tip with just a few fast wrist flicks. That creates a swimming motion that will get your lure shifting vertically in addition to horizontally, and it makes the skirt and trailer dance and wriggle for all they’re value.
And as you’d count on, swim jigs can be found in a wide selection of coloration and skirt patterns, permitting you to match the hatch or stand out from the murky background, as your scenario calls for. Add a trailer of your alternative, and you have created an unbeatable mixture of motion, coloration, and sample that drives hungry bass wild.
Swim Jig Methods
The traditional method to working a swim jig is to tear it via the water, retrieving it with a quick reel and pulsing wrist actions to get the jig to rise and fall – the “swim” – simply waking the floor of the water with out breaking via.
That hydrodynamic head forces the nostril up and the tail down because it’s pulsed or pulled, making it far much less prone to sang than you’d think about. Add a weedguard, and you have got a heavy salad monster of a lure in your arms, one that may be thrown confidently into dwell weed beds, hydrilla, lily pads, and different thick vegetation.
And very similar to a crankbait, impacts with the whole lot from blades of grass to sticks, rocks to stumps, will get your swim jig darting erratically because it deflects off cowl.
Bass ready in ambush canb’t resist these deflections, and so they’ll hit your swim jig laborious!
https://youtu.be/ToaAbNq12p0
I wish to work my swim jigs via the tops of dwell weed beds and grasses, letting my lure sink till it dives into the thick stuff earlier than I rip it free and begin it swimming. I will additionally run my swim jigs down the edges of canopy and construction which are prone to maintain ready bass.
The trick is to consider what’s occurring within the thoughts of the bass: the place would you arrange an ambush if you happen to had been an enormous fish?
If you discover these locations, run your swim jig previous them and maintain on!
That pulsing retrieve, at blazing velocity, is nothing in need of homicide when the water is heat, say, 70 levels or increased, and it will carry on killing till warmth stress slows the chunk.
And whereas a part of the swim jig’s 12 months spherical versatility is {that a} fast retrieve covers water rapidly, and an excellent swim jig/trailer mixture can work very successfully as a search bait, do not neglect the effectiveness of those lures as water temperatures dip into the 50s and 60s, too.
In spring, pre-spawn, and all through a lot of the autumn within the Deep South, swim jigs proceed to be efficient if you happen to decelerate a bit.
One approach that I actually love is to work mmy swimbait very similar to a chatterbait, popping it up off the underside and letting it flutter again down as I choose up my slack.
This popping retrieve – particularly with a slower cadence – can work wonders when the bass are sluggish, and when you acquire some confidence with this lure, you can begin popping it via the tops of dwell vegetation, down the edges of factors, alongside the perimeters of drop offs, and different seemingly ambushg spots.
The important thing in cooler water is to sluggish means down, give bass time to key-in in your lure, and have the boldness to maintain throwing your swim jig till you discover actively feeding fish.
Swim Jig Deal with
Swim jigs are a so-called “energy” approach that calls for a medium-heavy to heavy-power rod with a stiff, delicate tip.
And as a result of single hook used on swim jigs, you will need numerous hopokset energy. For me, which means fishing a graphite rod with loads of spine, one thing like Doomsday Deal with’s “The 47” or Dobyns’ 734C FH Champion Collection. I will pair my stick of alternative with a quick reel, sometimes geared for a minimum of 7.0:1. I am searching for blazing velocity, and any reel you would be prepared to pitch or flip with will work rather well with swim jigs.
Amongst my favorites, you will discover the Daiwa Tatula Elite P/F and the Shimano Curado DC 150 XG. Each provide lightining-quick retrieves, highly effective drag techniques, and greater than sufficient line for any day on the water.
I sometimes run braid like Sufix 832 or PowerPro when fishing swim jigs, and if the water’s murky or stained, I will tie-off on to my lure. However in clear water, I will add just a few toes of 12-pound mono chief.
Common Swim Jigs
Swim jigs can be found in a wide selection of sizes and weights, in addition to colours and patterns.
I actually like my 5/Sixteenth-ounce swim jigs, particularly the Booyah Child Boo, as I discover that it casts like a dream, swims superbly, and does not get snagged or hung up fairly often. I sometimes fish this lure in comparatively shallow water, and these sink greater than quick sufficient for me.
However if you happen to want a deep diver that hits the underside now, heavier swim jigs just like the Response Deal with Tungsten and Booyah Boo will probably be excellent choices.
I choose colours and patterns to mirror water and lightweight circumstances, in addition to presently obtainable forage alternatives.
For example, after I’m fishing gin-clear water, I wish to throw pure colours and patterns. If the bass I am focusing on are feeding actively on crawfish, say pre-spawn in Louisiana, I will throw a craw mixture of black and pink. But when the bass are hitting blugill laborious, that is the sample I will tie on.
In murky or stained water, I will throw a white swimbait, serving to bass choose it up towards the darkish background.
Evening fishing in excessive summer season, when the water cools off simply sufficient to entice fats females into the shallows, you will discover my throwing black or black and blue combos.
The Greatest Swim Jig Trailers
However to know why swim jigs are so amazingly efficient throughout geography and the seasons, contemplate trailer alternative.
Not solely does this enable additional customization, matching the hatch exactly or dialing-in your vibration and coloration for low-visibility, it offers you dimension, form, and swimming variations that may imply the distinction between a shut out and a full dwell nicely.
Common trailer selections embrace quite a lot of creature baits just like the Strike King Rage Tail Craw, in addition to minnows like sixth Sense’s Juggle Minnow or Zman’s DieZel MinnowZ.
What you are searching for is a good glide, vibration applicable to the season and fishing strain, and the colour, sample, and dimension bass are hunfry for.
How can youn know if you happen to received it proper?
In case you discover bass chasing your swim jig however not taking it, you are most likely fishing the incorrect coloration mixture on your scenario, and you will have to dial it in only a contact to get strikes.
Equally, if you happen to’re getting hit, however the strikes are quick, strive sizing down your trailer or chopping an inch or so off the top to provide you a extra compact presentation.
Remaining Ideas
If there’s one lure that professionals throw that weekend anglers do not tie on sufficient it is the swim jig.
Give a swim jig and trailer a strive, and you will by no means look again!
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