Swimbait Jighead & Swim Jig - Rod Advice

[Fat Ika]

I never really got into the 3.8-4.8 paddle tail jighead deal until this year. Lots of experience with weedless paddle tails and 2.8-3.3 finesse jighead swimbaiting. I would say I miss 30-40% of the bites getting, getting unbuttoned in the first couple seconds. I would say, I'm mostly using medium/light heavy gauge hooks. Scottsboro hellfire is the thinnest I've tried for 3.8-4.8s. Bite me busters, DG's tactical bassin finesse, g money, outkast golden eye's (silly expensive and the eyes come off very quickly), Trokar swimbait jigheads. 

 

I usually throw 3.8/4.3s with 1/8-3/16 oz heads on a Dobyns Champ Extreme DX 742C SH/7:1:1 reel with 12 Daiwa Samurai flouro. Sure, it's probably a bit light for these baits. 

 

I usually throw 4.3/4.8s with 1/4-1/2 oz heads on a Dobyns Champ Extreme DX 744 FH/7:1:1 reel with 14-16 Samurai flouro. I also throw 1/4-7/16 oz swim jigs with 3.5/3.8s with this setup if I'm not going in, going around grass. Usually I'm just straight retrieving swim jigs without much cadence variation in my personal swim jig confidence conditions. Mostly su

 

Inside grass. I also throw the same swim jig on an ALX Enox BMJ 7'2" Med/Hvy+/7:4:1 reel with 30# Suffix 131. Sometimes I use around a .016"/.405 mm

nylon leader for clearer waters/higher light/calmer conditions. No issues with this setup. Straight retrieves, burning on the tops, sometimes more cadence variations.

 

On all these setups, drag settings obviously make a difference.........sometimes it takes a while to get dialed in after a few bites as my judge of drag testing prior to the first cast is not great. 

 

I was thinking of possibly trying a more moderate graphite rod for the jighead swimbaiting/swim jigging outside of heavy cover. 

 

Why am I wasting so much time compiling this inquiry, and not working to make more money to afford 75% of the tackle I'll never see my roi on? 

 

Any reasonable suggestions/further questions are welcome. Thank You. Peace and happiness to all. 

[waymont]

On 7/19/2022 at 8:26 AM, Fat Ika said:

I usually throw 3.8/4.3s with 1/8-3/16 oz heads on a Dobyns Champ Extreme DX 742C SH/7:1:1 reel with 12 Daiwa Samurai flouro. Sure, it's probably a bit light for these baits.

You feel this rod is too light for 1/8 and 3/16oz head with swimbaits? I'm interested in this rod for light t-rigs, light jigs/grubs, and 3.5" belly weighted swimbaits. What do you think?

[NavyToad]

I think a 2 power from Dobyns is going to be too light for what you want to do. I throw weightless 4”senkos on a Kaden 713C. Call Dobyns and tell them what you want to achieve, and they’ll point you in the right direction.  First time I called them I went against their advice and wasn’t satisfied, so I eventually bought what they’d originally recommended and realized they were right.  1 (903) 919-8028. Easy to get through.

[roadwarrior]

G. Loomis GLX  MBR842C/ Tatsu #12

[softwateronly]

For me, it's the hookset.  If you're already moving the bait with the reel and go to hit em with an upward power jig hookset you've probably stopped reeling and therefore you're not moving much line at all in relation to the direction the bait and bass were traveling.  I like to keep reeling and sweep the rod.  I'd fish all those baits on a M or MH.

 

scott

[WRB]

Your tackle isn’t an issue, rods/reels/line/jigs are excellent.

Define your hook set?

Tom

[FishTank]

On 10/29/2022 at 9:06 PM, WRB said:

Your tackle isn’t an issue, rods/reels/line/jigs are excellent.

Define your hook set?

Tom

That was my thought. 

 

Not sure if this is the issue but I have seen guys (including myself) reel down on fish, pull supper hard like their swinging for the fence, get a few cranks on the fish, and it magically pops off.... It just too hard of a hook set combined with fish not closing its mouth around the hook so it can penitrate. The only time I really set the hook this way anymore is when I'm jig fishing structure.