Micro-Swimbaits are a great way to catch fish of every size. A micro-swimbait imitates food… really, really well. Any fish that eats smaller fish will strike these baits.
However, not all micros are created equal. In this video we reviewed some of the best micro-swimbaits that I came across last year. They were a pleasant surprise, and they helped me catch crappie, green sunfish, bluegill, pumpkinseed, perch, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, trout and yes – even drum.
This video goes over the features & unique aspects of the bait, along with tips & tactics for using them that apply to other micro-swimbaits as well. Check it out and feel free to ask questions below:
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The Mule Jig paired with a Donkey Tail (by Ethan Dhuyvetter) allows you to cover water quickly while targeting gamefish of every size. The light-wire hooks mean you can use it on ultra-light tackle, and the small paddletail is irresistible to panfish, attractive to larger fish, and durable enough to take a beating and keep on catching ’em! Quite the saucy little nugget, and now a staple in my freshwater fishing backpack.
Mule Jig Donkey Tail by Ethan Dhuyvetter (The Online Outdoorsman)A nice Mule Jig largemouth bass caught in the drizzle…Panfish love these micro-swimbaits as well.
Good luck – and tight lines.
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Over the past several articles we have discussed the history of the swim jig, how and where to use it, different jigs, trailers and techniques. Here, I’ll lay out just a few additional pointers I came across while I was researching this bait. There is no doubt, they’ll help all of us become better swim jig fishermen.
Swim Jigs actually developed as tournament anglers were burning their flippin’ and pitchin’ jigs back to the boat to make another cast. They noticed the baits would get clobbered at high speeds, and this “secret” was closely guarded for a time. In fact there was a period where the only way to get a swim jig similar to the ones we’re familiar with today, was to have a friend that made custom baits!
As with most baits – it was possible to keep the secret… until the camera crews started climbing in the tournament boats. In fact – if memory serves there was a very similar incident with Kevin VanDam and a hair jig he was using to smack bass while everyone else was having a rough time not that long ago…
The primary benefit of the swim jig is the fact that they allow you to cover a lot of water (especially shallow) looking for aggressive fish and then yank them out of all sorts of heavy weeds and timber.
Looks good – start swimmin’
The wedge shaped head and the angle of the hook eye have a lot to do with preventing hangups. Usually an angle of about 30 degrees is preferred. These features combined help the bait slide up and over cover easier and avoid getting pinned or snagged. This combines with the skirt and the trailer so that the overall package tracks flat and straight.
If the head of the jig is too heavy or poorly made (very common in the early days when it was hard to find a hook to fit a bullet head at the right angle) it will make the bait nose-heavy, it will swim poorly and it will not deflect off of cover properly or get back on plane right away. It might even flop sideways and get tangled up.
This is bad news and defeats the purpose of using a swim jig in the first place.
Brovarney Baits Blue Crab Swim Jig – a Prime Example of Proper Components
You want a stout hook. A reasonable diameter needle point with a round bend made out of nickel steel (or so I’m told) that comes out of the jig cleanly with minimal catch points.
The skirt on a swim jig is extremely important if you want it to look lifelike in the water. A skirt of about 30 to 50 strands is a good place to live. Other jigs can have somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 to 80 strand skirts, which will not more in the water, or flare on a pause or when deflecting off of cover. Fewer strands means more freedom of movement. If you want to take it a step further, look for a bait maker that offers hand-tied skirts instead of using cheap rubber bands that can catch or allow the skirt to slide down the jig on a fast retrieve or in heavy cover.
Typically the skirts are made up of tinsel (or mylar), living rubber or silicone. You want loud and obnoxious? Silicone offers a ton of color options. Flakes. Two-tones. Patterns. Tinsel adds flash to highlight your silicone or living rubber skirt. Living rubber pulses more in the water. It is also a bit heavier, but it comes in fewer colors than silicone.
A combination of all 3 is not uncommon.
When it comes to the head of the jig and the eyes, better quality swim jigs will have some combination of both. The jighead can be a solid color, two-toned, crackled or swirled with or without glitter. Eyes can be painted on (usually yellow with a black dot for baitfish imitators, red with a black dot for crayfish patterns) or some sort of fancy “3D Eye”. Jigs can be powder coated and baked for maximum durability. Some manufacturers advertise “triple coating” their jigs in epoxy or some hard finishing resin.
However they do it – it needs to be durable.
My Dobyn’s swimbait head showing a bit of wear & tear…
A weedguard is usually present, although like the skirt, it is typically thinner or more flexible that what you might find on a traditional flippin’ or pitchin’ jig. In some cases they are about 50% the size of their counterparts. Some are made of fibers, others thick fluorocarbon – but whatever the material, a good swim jig will have a weedguard that is straight (it acts as a keel in a sense); one that compresses without a ton of effort for solid hookups, but also helps the bait deflect off of cover when necessary.
The trailer can have a massive effect on how the swim jig rides in the water column, although these are usually added by the angler to match the conditions, not included with the jig out of the package. Large trailers with big paddle tails offer much more lift that a curly tail grub. The larger tails also thump more rhythmically and produce a slight rolling action, while grubs imitate frantic, fleeing baitfish and kick off a ton of smaller vibrations. They also track in a straight line. When rigged with the tail down, it can add some lift and help the swim jig plane out easier on the retrieve.
Experiment.
Sizes? Typically 1/8 ounce to 7/8ths – and everything in between. 1/4 ounce is an extremely popular size, especially for grass, timber, brush, and general shallow sparse cover. Most people at least start with a 1/4 ounce swim jig, then fine-tune from there.
As far as a rod and reel, you don’t need anything extra fast, but a good medium-heavy to heavy action rod with a lot of backbone will help you load up and launch the bait a long distance when you need to huck it a country mile. Personally I like a heavy action and a rod length from 6′ 10″ to 7′ on the button. I use a somewhat fast baitcast reel (anywhere from 6:1 thru 6.4:1), although by some standards these could be seen as “moderate” retrieve ratios.
I spool up with straight 30 to 50 lb braid (Power Pro, Sufix Y6 and Berkley X5 have all worked well for me) aside from a 2 to 6 foot fluorocarbon leader (14 to 20 pound Berkley Vanish) connected with a back-to-back uni knot, that is then tied to the bait. Fluoro sinks, braid floats – so a larger leader will be both more abrasion resistant and sink more, which can help get your bait down – you’ll need to work with this and find the combination that works best for you.
Just make sure you watch out when using braid if you’re rubbing against rocks, branches and pilings – it will fray and break. Fluoro usually won’t, however it tends to jump off the spool a bit more, especially on windy days. Mono isn’t a bad choice if it’s on the heavier side and you look for a brand with low stretch.
As with almost every presentation in fishing – the ultimate rod, reel and line combination will be the one YOU are most comfortable with. You decide what works and then run with it!
Moving Forward
So get out there with your favorite combination and start chunking a swim jig anywhere you’d usually throw a spinnerbait, wakebait or shallow running crank. Try a nice steady retrieve often, then try burning it, and feel free to add a few twitches to flare the skirt and drop the jig a touch.
Now that we’ve gone over what a swim jig is, why swim jigs are unique, when and where to use them – along with our Top 10 Picks for Jigs, Top 5 Picks for Trailers, customized options and tips from the pros – I’d like to show you how I plan to rig up this spring using 3 killer little packages. These will definitely come into play around the spawn in the shallows (and probably through fall around heavier cover as well).
Yes… you probably noticed that technically the last one is a swimbait… how very astute of you!
A Swim Jig will be my primary power presentation around the spawn when fishing from shore – especially if we get a bit of wind and cloud cover.
I haven’t decided on finesse yet, but remember: we are always trying to cover as much water and offer a few different looks without taking 50 rods with us. 1 rod for power, 1 rod for finesse. Then we beat feet. Reducing the amount of gear you carry will help you focus on the task at hand; it will help you fish the bait, cover more water and catch more fish. I will take a few alternate power presentations with me just in case, but I don’t plan to switch before giving these swim jigs adequate time to succeed or fail.
These 3 presentations will allow me to present 3 distinct looks for picky fish.
Option #1 – All-Terrain Tackle Swim Jig w/ Powerbait Milky Salt ‘n Pepper 4″ Curly Tail Grub
The All-Terrain Tackle Swim Jig comes with an interesting, semi-planed jighead and a soft fiber weedguard. It also includes a rubber piece that you can place over your plastic to keep it in place better – they call this their Trail-R-Loc System.
I’ve paired the 1/2 ounce jig with a 4″ Powerbait Curly Tail Grub in Milky Salt n’ Pepper to perfectly compliment the “Golden Shiner” skirt – so this is white with gold glitter – which doesn’t necessarily match the local forage… why, you ask?
Because I plan to burn this swim jig along, and the white & gold will be very visible in my clear water lakes. I want them to see this coming from a mile away while the curly tail flaps wildly, kicking off vibrations that feel like a fleeing baitfish.
The tail of the grub is pointing down (it’s folded up in the pictures, but it is rigged riding down) to give the bait extra lift, which combined with the unique jighead shape will skim over the top of weeds and wood alike.
Option #2 – Strike King Tour Grade Swim Jig w/ Strike King Swim-N-Shiner Paddle Tail
When it’s time to slow down a bit, we’ll lighten things up and switch to a 1/4 ounce swim jig in a more natural color and select a trailer that will come thumping along at a deliberate, steady pace. The Strike King Tour Grade Swim Jig has been a staple for me for a while now, and last year the Strike King Swim-N-Shiner put more swim jig fish in the boat than any other trailer.
One great feature about this trailer is the tail. The tail thumps well at very low speeds. This, combined with the lighter jighead, allows me to cover shallower water more methodically than I could using the heavier All-Terrain Swim Jig mentioned above (Option #1).
The weedguard on the bait is a bit more rigid than a fiber or fluorocarbon guard, so we’ve trimmed it down a bit to prevent some missed hookups while still keeping it weedless.
A Clipped-Down Weedguard for Easier Hookups
The darker color (green pumpkin shirt and jighead, green pimpkin and pearl belly trailer) will also come into play in darker water where we need the swim jig to silhouette better, and the slower speed and methodical thumping of the paddle-tail trailer will make the bait easy to track.
Ok you caught me… Option #3 isn’t a swim jig… but we need something that can still cover a lot of water on bright clear days, or when conditions dictate an ultra-natural presentation. This is very similar to a swim jig… but there’s no skirt and the jighead isn’t quite as wedge-shaped.
The 4″ Z-Man DieZel minnow is made out of ElaZtech material and actually closer to 3″, so the overall package is smaller and more compact than Option #2 with the 4″ Swim-N-Shiner (which is actually 4″), and the 1/4 ounce Dobyn’s jighead is a bit banged up from bouncing off cover last year.
I had just started to test this bait when everything froze over.
You’ll also notice the addition of a little willow leaf spinner:
A side-by-side showing Options #1, #2 and #3
The Harmony Fishing Tail Spinners can be found on Amazon, and they allow you to add a bit more flash and vibration to your presentation. More importantly – they can be adjusted on the fly, so if you want to add or remove a small spinner to your bait without retying, this item will make you even more versatile.
Quickly add a bit more flash and vibration – or take it away. Very cool.
A Word of Caution: ElaZtech is amazing stuff, but if it comes into contact with other plastic baits or certain finishes (like those on Daredevle spoons) it will cause a weird reaction and essentially “melt” together – check this video out if you’d like to see some examples of that.
The minnow shown is “Smelt” colored, and the Dobyn’s jighead is “Shad”. The willow leaf is silver, and they offer a gold option as well. Of our 3 options, this is the most natural and “baitfish-like” – almost like a power-finesse presentation when compared to the other two swim jigs.
The Swim Jig Arsenal – Keep it Simple
Moving Forward
The only thing left to do is fish. I’ve mentioned already it is very cold as I write this – there is still snow on the ground and smaller ponds remain frozen. But the sun is out. The icicles are dripping at a steady pace. The rhythmic tap-tap-tap of the droplets quickens the pitter-patter of my own heart as I imagine setting the hook on bass after bass in just a few short months… maybe even weeks.
I don’t know that I will start with a swim jig, but around the spawn and when the time is right – these 3 little beauties will be put into heavy rotation. I’ll be able to move fast and look for reaction strikes skimming logs and cover (Option #1), slow down and give the fish a better look in shallow water and a steady pulse to zero in on (Option #2), or go finesse with just a tiny bit of flash to coax cold bass with lockjaw on bright clear days (Option #3).
Either way – I’m excited. If these presentations helped you, or if you have a few lures you plan to start with – let me know.
We can all use a little help from our friends… or… from professional bass anglers.
The following quotes were something I came across in a recent issue of In-Fisherman. If you’re not already subscribed, please consider supporting this publication by heading over to: https://www.in-fisherman.com/
(I do not have any sort of affiliation with them, but it’s important that we keep quality magazines alive for as long as we can – so be a part of that with me!)
There is no doubt that money has been made using swim jigs. The following quotes explain why this presentation has become somewhat standardized and constant for the pros – especially in spring and early summer.
I pay a lot of attention to the skirt. Color and material are both important. And skirts with fewer strands produce more action. I like ones that are hand tied and wrapped with wire.
Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, WI
* Skirts that are not as dense appear to “breathe” more underwater, and the different materials (usually living rubber, mylar, hair or tinsel) all react differently on the retrieve. Jigs can also appear to “pulse” when paused if the skirt is not too thick. It’s common to see “30 strand skirts” on swim jigs, as opposed to 50 or 60 like we might find on standard bass jigs.
I use a swimbait as a trailer when shad are spawning along shorelines, docks, or other shoreline cover, then switch to craw styles with pulsing claws when they’re feeding on crawfish or bluegills.
John Cox, DeBary, FL
I prefer an Arkie-style head for fishing around brush and docks, and I keep my rod tip high and add quick hops to the lure. But in vegetation, a steady retrieve with a more bullet-shaped jig works better.
Shane LeHew, Catawha, NC
* Notice both of these pros are giving some insight into when and where to tie on a swim jig, when (in their opinion) they have the best chance to excel, and where they are the best tool for the job.
I fish swim jigs in the thickest cover you can find, so I use 40-pound braid on a flippin’ stick and a reel with a 6.2:1 gear ratio. That slower speed keeps me from retrieving too fast.
Randall Tharp, Port St. Joe, FL
I adjust the weedguard to match the thickness of the cover, leaving it fuller and thicker for the thick stuff, and trimming the fibers around sparse vegetation or even cutting them all off.
Darrell Davis, Dover, FL
* If you’re ready to experiment with some swim jig modifications, grab a few extra off of our Top 10 Swim Jigs List, or run a few ideas past some custom jig makers.
On deeper structure, say 10 or 15 feet, I sometimes swim a 1-ounce football head with a bulky 3-inch paddle tail, keeping it a couple feet above bottom.
Fred Roumbanis, London, AR
It’s a great shallow technique so I keep the jig high in the water column to make it easily visible to bass. Adjust jig weight and retrieve to match their mood, but moderate speed usually works best.
James Niggenmeyer, Van, TX
I rely almost entirely on three colors – black/blue, white and green pumpkin; it’s important to keep changing colors if the bite slows, it can make a big difference in a swim jig.
I fish them around docks, especially near the mouths of spawning coves where prespawn and postspawn bass hold as they transition from deep to shallow water. Keep a high rod and reel at a moderate, steady speed, with the occasional twitch and pause to let the jig fall a bit.
Scott Suggs, Alexander, AR
I fish swim jigs in rivers in early spring , but in lakes they seem to work best once the water reaches around 60°F and all the way through fall. I retrieve steadily. Up North, if you twitch them, pike strike them too much.
Seth Feider, Bloomington, MN
Canadian Pike Caught on a Big Swim Jig
I fish swim jigs around any shallow cover – grass, lily pads, stumps, laydowns, and standing timber. Back home, we have a lot of ‘gator grass, and they’re deadly in that stuff.
Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, AL
Moving Forward
With all of the advice floating around out there, it’s a good idea to cross-reference the “tips & tricks” you come across online with what the pros have to say. I know that throughout this process of re-researching this presentation, I’ve picked up a few extra ideas that will get put into practice in the coming months.
I hope you found them useful as well.
It’s almost time to get back to work…
Next, I’ll show you the 3 jig-and-trailer combinations that I will be starting with this year to begin the season.
I am very excited to get back to stickin’ bass – tight lines!
After you’ve selected a few of the more common swim jigs to try out (see our Top 10 Swim Jigs for some great options you’ll love) you may find yourself in a position where you’d like to dial in even further. Perhaps you’d like something custom made to better match the local forage – or maybe you’d like to ask for advice from people who have spent their lives fishing swim jigs.
Enter Brovarney Baits.
Brovarney Baits Freak Nasty Swim Jig
Brovarney Baits
I first heard about Broverney Baits while flipping through the pages of In-Fisherman (Volume 46 // NO.1). Steve Quinn mentioned Dan Brovarney of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and states that he is a leader in the swim jig field with over 20 years of experience.
I get requests from across the country for jigs to mimic a particular baitfish or crawfish, as well as some tied with combinations of color, weight and skirt material they favor. No order is too weird… on East Coast tidal rivers, for example, bass feed on small blue crabs, and my “Blue Crab” color, with blue and pumpkinseed strands in the skirt and a big pumpkinseed grub, is real popular there.
Brovarney Baits Blue Crab Swim Jig
Folks use an incredible variety of soft plastics. Single-tail grubs were one of the first swim jig trailers and remain solid choices, as the rippling tails imitate the subtle tail flicks of small baitfish. Rig them tail down to give the bait more lift to slide over wood.
This is good advice. To date, I have been enamored with thumping paddle-tail trailers. They have worked well for me, but I’ll have to experiment this year because when someone like Steve Quinn or Dan Brovarney mention that something works – it probably stinkin’ works.
Double-tail grubs are another option for trailers. These can stabilize the bait a bit, and also kick off more thump when slow-rolled in the shallows early spring when you’re looking for prespawn females. Dan mentions that a larger, thumping trailer can also cause the bait to roll back and forth a bit. This can be desirable depending on the location or when trolling, but too much rocking leads to more snags.
Seasonal Swim Jig Color Changes
Brovarney also says that certain colors work better during certain seasonal periods.
In spring in big rivers, sapphire blue is hard to beat. Later in the season, orange strands in the jig skirt and an orange trailer can be magic if the water is murky.
Some of their other popular colors include:
Brovarney Baits Super Blue Swim JigBrovarney Baits Bad 2 The Bone Swim JigBrovarney Baits Gringo Swim Jig
You can visit the Brovarney Baits website and view all of their products, options and contact them by clicking here: https://brovarneybaits.com/
Moving Forward
A quick internet search will reveal that there is no shortage of “custom bait makers” out there – but how do you find the good ones? Well, for starters you ask for recommendations or see who pops up in the pages of a magazine you trust.
The same can be said for advice. How do you know if you’re getting good advice or bad advice? Well… you don’t, unless there is a bit of proof that the advice has been put into practice. As I continue to learn more about fishing, I’ll keep sharing it – and post videos like the one in the following section to show what actually worked!
A gorgeous largemouth bass that hammered my swim jig.
Now that we’ve spent some time reviewing how we can all get better at using a swim jig, covering new jigs, trailer options – and more – I figured today would be a good time to pull together a few clips that show my favorite swim jig strikes from last season. These clips are taken directly from videos that were posted on the YouTube channel – so make sure to subscribe if you’d like to see the new stuff coming down the pike!
(Yes – there will probably be some pike coming down the pike… sorry, Dad joke. Couldn’t resist.)
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These fish were all taken while fishing from shore on a small lake. Less than 20 acres, in fact. So if you were on the fence thinking swim jigs wouldn’t work in your smaller body of water… it might be worth reconsidering that assumption.
Notice the weather is a bit windy and there is at least some cloud cover with all of these strikes – that’s no coincidence. Only one of these fish was less than 2 pounds – a couple of them were well over 3.
What was the magic jig-and-trailer combination, you ask?
Absolutely deadly working the shoreline and shallow water (all of these areas were less than 6 feet deep).
The rod I used was a 7 foot Bionic Blade from Bass Pro, heavy action, extra fast, and I paired that with a Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier baitcaster spooled up with 30 pound braid with a 4 foot fluorocarbon leader tied straight to the jig with a uni-knot. The fluorocarbon was Berkley Vanish – 14 pound test.
A healthy, fat largemouth taken on a swim jig in shallow water.
I can’t tell you how bad this makes want to go fish right now… but it’s currently 5 degrees and everything is frozen… 🙁
So… soon we fish. Until then… we prep. Tight lines!
Even though we just took the time to list out the Top 10 Swim Jigs – the trailer that you pair with your selection is what will seal the deal.
In dirty water with low visibility or in very thick cover, it might be best to go with a darker color and something with multiple, thumping appendages so the fish can easily find your bait. Dark colors are said to “silhouette” better in low-visibility conditions.
If you’re fishing a shoreline with sparse cover or high-visibility due to clear water, it might be best to go with a natural looking trailer with a slender profile to match the forage. If the fish can inspect your offering, you’ll want it to look as natural as possible.
With that in mind, let’s look at the Top 5 Swim Jig Trailers!
Day in and day out, the Strike King Swim-N-Shiner has put more swim jig fish in the boat for me than any other trailer. The tail “kicks” very well at both slow and fast speeds, and comes in both 4 and 5 inch options. This is a very natural, slender profile that is better suited for clear water, and the green pumpkin / pearl belly combo is fantastic – but the other colors can be great choices as well.
This is the original swim jig trailer and it still catches fish! There are a ton of curly tail grubs to choose from. One of the most popular is the Zoom Fat Albert Grub, which comes in multiple colors and a 3″ length. If you rig your swim jig with a curly tail, make sure the tail rides down. This will help provide your bait with extra lift as it comes through the water.
Twin Tail Grubs have been around for quite a while as well. While you have probably seen these used on standard flipping or Arkie-style jigheads, they also make a great swim jig trailer when you want something that is a bit more frantic than a singular curly tail grub (or a smaller paddle tail).
Another slender option that is getting a lot of use is the Z-Man DieZel Minnow. This bait comes in sizes ranging from 4 to 7 inches, and they’re made of ElaZtech – which is extremely tough stuff. There are a ton of great color options, and even though the DieZel Minnow isn’t my top pick – it’s still a very versatile, resilient little swim jig trailer. Throw it with confidence.
Need to bulk up your offering to displace more water? Look to the ribbed body of the Strike King Rage Swimmer. This bait comes in several great colors to pair perfectly with your swim jigs, and sizes range from 2.75 to 5.75 inches. Of these first three trailers, this is what I would tie on when fishing dirty water (unless I wanted multiple appendages).
Finally, one of the most versatile soft plastics on the market today: the Strike King Rage Tail Craw. If you had this bait in your bag you could use it as a trailer, you could Texas rig it, Carolina rig it, put it on a jighead or even an upsized drop-shot rig. The cupped claws go crazy on the retrieve – even at slower speeds they pulse violently – this bait makes an awesome swim jig trailer if you want multiple thumping appendages that move a lot of water, and get a lot of attention!
Moving Forward
With all of the options available today, it’s important to avoid overwhelm and just select a few trailers from the list above to get you started. It would take years to cover all of the trailers on the market; simply begin by matching the color of the trailer to the color of your jig as best you can – and get to casting.
Over time you will discover what you prefer, and (more importantly?) what the fish prefer as well.
Start casting my friend – fish of all sizes love swim jigs.
Next, we’ll look at some custom swim jig options that may be flying under your radar.
In the previous article we talked about when and where to use a swim jig. It’s a great way to get started and absorbing this basic knowledge will make you a better angler – but today we’re going to look at 10 rock-solid swim jig options for anglers of every skill level.
The Strike King Tour Grade Swim Jig is a great all-around option for many different applications. Start with a quarter ounce offering and take a look at all of the available patterns.
The 6th Sense Divine Swim Jig looks absolutely killer – featuring detailed eye sockets, gill plates, and realistic 3-D eyes paired with a super-sharp 5/0 black-nickel hook with a screw-lock baitkeeper along the shank; this jig is an absolute workhorse.
The Lunkerhunt Natural Skirted Swim Jig comes in a few different patterns and adds a level of realism that mimics baitfish with a lifelike finish. This swim jig weighs in at 3/8 oz, features a silicone skirt and a 60 degree premium 4/0 black nickel hook.
If you want to add a bit more movement and vibration without changing your presentation completely, give the Strike King Tour Grade Swinging Swim Jig a try. The black nickel hook is larger and swings freely on the jighead, making it a prime choice for sparse cover conditions.
The All-Terrain Swim-Jig is a beefy little option for working around many different kinds of cover. It includes a fiber weed guard that keeps you away from snags – but compresses easily when taken by a fish.
When you’re looking to pull that kicker-bass out of thick cover, tie on a Terminator Heavy Duty Swim Jig and throw into cover other swim jigs wouldn’t dare go. Check out the excellent color options and rest easy knowing you won’t bend the VMC Hybrid 5/0 Wide Gap Hook during rock-solid hooksets.
If you are looking for a heavier weight in a smaller package, look no further than the no-nonsense Reaction Tackle Tungsten Swim Jig. Tungsten weighs more than lead, and the smaller size means you can fish in tighter areas with fewer hang-ups. You can also use this bait in locations with lead restrictions.
If you are looking for a flatter profile to glide over the top of weeds & grass, check out this goofy little bugger: the Z-Man David Walker’s Crosseyez Snakehead Swim Jig – molded after – you guessed it – an actual snake head. The shape of the head helps the jig plane upwards and features a 4/0 heavy wire VMC hook.
Stanley Hand-Tied SwimMax Swim Jig
Stanley SwimMax Hand Tied Swim Jig
The Stanley Hand-Tied SwimMax Jig features a wedge-head design, coupled with a stout hook and a V-Lock Keeper for securing your trailer of choice. Many patterns are available in this affordable, weedless little package.
Finally, we’ll round out our list with the unique jighead design of the Booyah Swim’n Jig Swim Jig. One of the most weedless jigs available today, the arrowhead design helps the bait to plane upwards, while the durable paint, silicone skirt, loud red rattles (2) and Excalibur Tx3 point triple cutting edge hook round out the package. Cast it shallow, burn it back – then hang on and be ready to hammer it home!
Moving Forward
At the end of the day, the best swim jig is the one you have the most confidence in. The one that you are not afraid to tie on, the one that you are not afraid to lose, and the one that you believe fish will bite. The only way to gain this confidence it to get out, make some casts, and see what works for you.
Next we’ll go over some of the various trailer options that are available today. Spoiler alert – there are a LOT. But have no fear – we’ll help you weed through the clutter and zero in on some of the best trailers to pair with your swim jigs.
A nice largemouth bass prowling the rip-rap shoreline taken by a swim jig.
Possibly the greatest fish catching contraption of all time.
In it’s simplest form, it’s a hook with some lead attached for weight… then just add a bit of meat. A crawler, a leech or a minnow. Jigs can be used to bump bottom and entice bites with a simple raise-lower retrieve that many of us learned to utilize as our first step beyond the bobber.
But jigs have evolved. Some jigs are still for meat, but some are for pitching plastics, and some are for swimming.
Over the past 20 years or so, swim jigging has become a refined art. We’re no longer just swimming ballhead jigs with curlytail grubs (although some swear by this presentation for smallmouth bass); instead, we have access to countless jig-and-trailer combinations. Often, matching the right jig to the right skirt to the right trailer is critical if you want to get bit.
The swim jig itself usually has a tapered or streamlined head to slip through grass, weeds and timber better than other jighead styles. The skirt can be thick or sparse – allowing anglers to make the proper selection based on cover, conditions and local forage, and colors combinations are all across the board. The hook is usually some sort of heavy gauge offering unless you are using a “finesse jig”. Swim jig trailers come in all shapes and sizes.
These jigs are tailor-made for working around heavy cover and horsing monster bass from the depths!
Where Did Swim Jigs Come From?
According to In-Fisherman Field Editor Steve Quinn:
… zipping a jig through the shallows can cover more water and entice bass that rarely see such a look… [this] terrain has been the home of the spinnerbait or more recently, the bladed jig. Swimming a jig was considered off-beat when a few river experts began using it over 20 years ago. It’s a technique that may seem too simple to work well, but the results speak for themselves.
That’s certainly one thing we have learned in our quest to minify – in most cases; the simpler, the better.
The Swim Jig is believed to have gained popularity on river systems, as anglers soon realized they were potent on largemouth and smallmouth bass alike. Many tried the technique on clear lakes with vegetation, but found few situations where the bait worked as well as it did on the river… that is, until they started using them earlier in the season…
When Should I Use a Swim Jig?
As with most presentations, there is not a “right or wrong” time to throw this bait. However, certain conditions do seem to increase its overall effectiveness.
When bass are holding shallow around the spawn or in early summer – particularly when there is a slight breeze, earlier in the day or under cloudy conditions – it is very possible for a swim jig to outfish finesse presentations like stickbaits or flukes. Prespawn bass can also be taken on swim jigs, as these fish start to push shallow to feed and warm their bodies before looking for spawning areas.
Usually after spawning these fish will seek deeper water, however in some bodies of water this shift or transition never takes place.
In both of these instances one of the main benefits of the swim jig is the ability to cover a lot of water at a medium to fast tempo. Use long casts and a straight, steady retrieve to start. Work the shallows, then fan cast an area. Add in pops and hops by twitching the rod tip if you’d like to speed up and slow down the jig. Keep in mind some anglers say this is a good way to get bit-off by pike up north… but still, it’s worth experimenting – just be sure to add a wire or fluorocarbon (40lb+) leader to avoid losing jigs!
Swim jigs can work most of the season – from early spring and deep into fall.
How Do I use a Swim Jig?
Retrieve speed and cadence are very important when it comes to swim-jigging – as with most techniques. In some instances slow-rolling your jig through stickups and vertical, emergent vegetation (bulrushes, lily pads) is the ticket. At other times, working it quickly along piers and hard edges, or along the side of boat docks can work well. This is especially popular in large reservoirs in summer. Swim jigs are also surprisingly weedless, so don’t be afraid to explore standing timber, toss your bait straight into submerged brush, or work down a rip-rap shoreline poking into pockets and irregularities.
See what I mean? There really isn’t a “wrong way”… to swim jig.
Bites can come unexpectedly – and often violently. Swim jigs have a reputation for generating above-average aggression in largemouth and smallmouth bass for some reason. Hits may come on the straight retrieve, but they will also come as your bait makes contact with other objects. If your jig skims over a log or bounces off of a boulder, stick or stem it can look like something is wrong and signify an easy meal (much the same as a crankbait bouncing off of objects).
Finally, don’t be afraid to work the bait both high and low in the water column. Remember that the top is actually an “edge” that fish use to trap baitfish and other delicious looking forage. Keeping your swim jig high in the water column makes it very visible and an easy-looking meal for active fish.
Moving Forward
Next, we’re going to go over some of the more popular swim jig options that are available today. Then we’ll dive into trailers and even some tips from the pros. We’ll pick out a few new swim jigs to try this season, because where I live the ice and snow are just starting to melt… and you can bet a swim jig is going to be one of the very first lures I tie on this spring.
Last year I became a believer.
One of my first fish from last year on – you guessed it – a swim jig. Another pig on a swim jig.
Try one out – I bet you’ll become a believer too. Tight lines!
