Slipknot6 Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 I've never thrown swim jigs much until last year and would really like to ad them to my arsenal this year but have some questions first. 90% of the lakes i fish are clear water and I throw a TON of spinnerbaits, which my best color by far and away is chartreuse and white. Now my question is, besides chartreuse and white, what other colors have you had success with in clear water? Also what trailers have you found work best in clear water? Thanks for any help! Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted January 31, 2011 Super User Posted January 31, 2011 It's clear water for me as well and Green Pumpkin with the same color grub trailer is most effective. A-Jay Quote
Super User Munkin Posted January 31, 2011 Super User Posted January 31, 2011 Don't make it more complicated than it is. A swim jig is just a bladeless spinnerbait so use whatever colors you feel confident in. Most of my swim jigs are white or shad colored to match the forage. Allen Quote
B A S S E R Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 I got a blue gill one today from strike king it looks really good for clear water conditions Quote
adclem Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 I throw different variations of white swim jigs, 2 of my favorite are KVDs Sexy Shad and Blue Shad. I use matching single tail grubs in 3, 4 and 5 inch sizes. Later, Quote
River Rat316 Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 I like blue gill colors, I don't know how many shad your area has, but MN has none (excpet for the lower parts of the Mississippi) so green pumpkins and watermelons are my favorites. This one is my particular favorite Quote
soccplayer07 Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 I like blue gill colors, I don't know how many shad your area has, but MN has none (excpet for the lower parts of the Mississippi) so green pumpkins and watermelons are my favorites. This one is my particular favorite x2 my favorite by far! Quote
Ol� Dirty Basstard Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 Don't make it more complicated than it is. A swim jig is just a bladeless spinnerbait so use whatever colors you feel confident in. Nailed it! Quote
Super User Tin Posted January 31, 2011 Super User Posted January 31, 2011 Unless you have a chop or cloud cover I would not throw either a spinnerbait or a swim jib in clear water. There are much better options out there. Quote
Thad Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 Unless you have a chop or cloud cover I would not throw either a spinnerbait or a swim jib in clear water. There are much better options out there. What moving baits do you throw in clear, calm water? Quote
wisconsin heat Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 Unless you have a chop or cloud cover I would not throw either a spinnerbait or a swim jib in clear water. There are much better options out there. What moving baits do you throw in clear, calm water? i take a 1/8 or 3/16 ounce Terminator finnesse jig(best jig in the world) take the skirt off, and put on a small swimbait= >3 in. Quote
RyneB Posted February 1, 2011 Posted February 1, 2011 I fish strip mines that are very very clear. I can usually see 15 plus feet down. I catch over 50% of my fish on swim jigs. I have found the best color is clear or white skirt with that blueish flash. Its hard to describe, but if you have ever seen Strike Kings blue shad colored cranks. You'll know what im talking about. North Star Baits has a spinnerbait skirt somewhat like that but theres is more pinkish. I have caught fish on other colors like bluegill and white, but the color i describe is far and away the best. Quote
zero Posted February 1, 2011 Posted February 1, 2011 It's clear water for me as well and Green Pumpkin with the same color grub trailer is most effective. A-Jay that swim jig is from bass dozer? Quote
Bigbarge50 Posted February 1, 2011 Posted February 1, 2011 Those are some good looking swim jigs. As someone pointed out a swim jig is basically a spinner bait without the spinner.... Someone else also talked about how there are many better options than a spinnerbait in clear water. I personally have had a lot of success in very clear water (10 + feet if visibility) throwing white spinner baits much like these swim jigs. Granted the fish might have been aggressive but not sure why the a spinner bait is a lesser choice. I personally felt a spinner bait in clear water is great to run by structure with a yo yo retrieve.... let them see the flash and lure them out. The fall on the yo yo seemed to generate a lot of strikes. Would be very interested in hearing some people's opinions on why a spinnerbait is a lesser option in clear water.... especially when your going with similar colors. Quote
Super User Tin Posted February 1, 2011 Super User Posted February 1, 2011 Unless you have a chop or cloud cover I would not throw either a spinnerbait or a swim jib in clear water. There are much better options out there. What moving baits do you throw in clear, calm water? Lipless cranks in natural patterns Soft Jerkbaits Paddletails Quote
Super User Bankbeater Posted February 1, 2011 Super User Posted February 1, 2011 Usually I start off with watermelon, brown/orange, or white. If those won't produce I"ll try blue/black or black. When I swim a jig I always try to match the color of the trailer to the skirt. Quote
gobig Posted February 1, 2011 Posted February 1, 2011 In the belief system I have adopted there are baits that create an illusion and there are those that sell realism. Illusion type baits are generally faster moving baits. spinner baits, swim jigs, buzzbaits are just a few illusion type baits. I am talking about the baits you looked at when you first started and you thought why would a fish hit that? You don't look at a swim jig and say to your self, Wow that really looks like a shad. But fished properly swim jig can represent many different types of forage. Many of the lakes I fish are gin clear and I do not buy into the fact that in order to work in clear water it has to be windy or cloudy, however these type of baits do excel in those conditions. There are many scenarios where a swim jig can be effective on a clear calm day in gin clear water. I will give you a few examples... Areas that have large shadows like along docks or bluff walls. Another good area is along mud lines created by boat traffic. It may be different across the country but out west many times the mud line is like a canopy. The water below is clear. They also work well over weed flats. When the fish are down in the grass tick the tops of the weeds and hang on. There is some good info out there on where, when and how. KVD has a good video on using spinner baits in less than perfect conditions. You can find it on the bass pro shops website. Bill Siemantle has been doing some v-logs on TW also. As far as color goes, that is a judgement call. If the bass are feeding on bluegill common sense would be to start with a bluegill pattern. But who knows sometimes they want pink or some other random color. I would start with the basic color patterns. White, white & blue, white & chartruse, red & black, bluegill. Something along those lines. Quote
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