Yes to a swim jig, and almost exclusively over any other sub surface reaction bait in clear water.
Here's a few "gin clear" water swim jig tricks I have learned over the years:
#1 Thin and trim the snot out of the skirt. I trim ALL my jig skirts to the bottom of the hook bend, then for really clear water, I remove all the "inside" strands almost flush with the band...think a reverse finesse cut. Make sure you slide the band down and put a dab of super glue on the jig head where the skirt sits, with so little material, it's easy for the skirt to fall apart.
#2 I used to think a bland natural color was the way to go in clear water, like straight green pumpkin. I have much more success by using green pumpkin as the majority of my color, but adding a few strands of bright colors to it on the"belly" , like orange, blue, and chartreuse. Often times I use all four colors at once.
#3 keep it high in the water and burn it. Don't get it down in their faces where they can get a good look at it.
#4 keep the trailer small. A 3.75" rage swimmer, a trimmed rage or Christie craw, a single tail rage grub, or a menace are what I use as trailers
Edited for more tips:
#5 in the old days of swim jigs, and using action less trailers, you used to have to pump and shake the rod pretty vigorously during the entire retrieve to trigger bites. With today's soft plastic trailers with built in action, I find that totally unnecessary. My basic retrieve is a steady brisk pace, with subtle pauses. Just enough to get that skirt to flair a little and make the bait change direction slightly.
#6 3/8oz is the best size IMHO. 1/4 blows out of the water too much on a fast retrieve, and 1/2 gets down in their faces to much.
And a few more:
#7 Time of year is irrelevant. I have caught them in 40 degree water, and 80 degree water. Even in cold clear water you want to keep that thing moving. Trailer selection is more important in cold water. I find subtle trailers get more bites, and keep changing to more active trailers as the water warms. Here is how I progress through trailers from early spring to late fall:
Menace, Rage Grub, Rage Swimmer, Rage Craw, and then in reverse as the water cools.
#8 Obviously, like any reaction bite weather is a key factor. Like most any moving bait, slick calm and sunny is terrible, but oddly, at least for me, bright and sunny with wind is also terrible. This presentation...for me..needs at least a little cloud cover. The more the better. But wind is a double edged sword. Cloudy and calm is OK, cloudy with a comfortable to fish in breeze with a light chop is the sweet spot. As the wind ramps up and gets to really blowing, I find the swim jig bite to kinda die, and move to a baits that move more water. Of course there are those oddball days they do the opposite of everything listed above, and bite the fire out of it in slick sunny weather, but those are the exceptions and not the rules, but it happens juuuuuust often enough that at some point during said conditions, I start whipping it around a little to see whats going on.
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