Swim jig or chatterbait for clear water

[radiant]

Do you guys recommend a swim jig or chatterbait for maybe 10+ feet clarity lakes that has a a decent patch of submerged grass.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

For a swimjig my go in hi viz is a Greenfish Chibi swim jig.  It's a compact jig with a thinner wire o'shaughnessy hook.  Not great for heavy cover, but great for open water.  I trim out most of the inner skirt and take a little length off the outer skirt depending on the trailer.  If you want a reall compact bait with a ton of roll use a swimming super fluke jr.  

If you want something with a heavier hook.  I like the standard Greenfish swim jig.  It has a single layer skirt like Dirty Jigs finesse swimjig but has a heavier hook and brush guard.  

[Deleted account]

7 hours ago, radiant said:

Do you guys recommend a swim jig or chatterbait for maybe 10+ feet clarity lakes that has a a decent patch of submerged grass.

I don't choose between them based on water clarity, rather on fish activity. Often, when they bite one they will bite the other. The main difference is that a chatter has a built in action which can be modified only somewhat, where as the swim jig doesn't and it can be anything from none to obnoxious. Don't ignore size and profile, that often makes a difference as well.

[FryDog62]

Either could work and you have to experiment... but as a general rule of thumb, I start with a swim jig. I have found sometimes a Chatterbait to be too bold and “in their face” to start with and go back later to find the more subtle swim jig to be the ticket. However, there are some days when a bold offering is the only thing that works and you need a Chatterbait to tick ‘em off into biting. 
 

 

[DitchPanda]

Honestly anymore for me its swim jig in almost any color water...if I want more flash or vibration I throw a spinnerbait. I'm over the bladed jig deal.

[Cbump]

22 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Honestly anymore for me its swim jig in almost any color water...if I want more flash or vibration I throw a spinnerbait. I'm over the bladed jig deal.

That’s a shame. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

I’d go with the swim jig .

[Choporoz]

53 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Honestly anymore for me its swim jig in almost any color water..

I'm the opposite.   I'm about done with swim jigs.  I've not once found them to be better than something else...and I have been trying hard the past year to love them.

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Either could work and you have to experiment... but as a general rule of thumb, I start with a swim jig. I have found sometimes a Chatterbait to be too bold and “in their face” to start with and go back later to find the more subtle swim jig to be the ticket. However, there are some days when a bold offering is the only thing that works and you need a Chatterbait to tick ‘em off into biting. 
 

 

 

 

This is pretty much where I am.  Last year we had a much cooler summer and more active feeding sessions for the fish.  The grass was healthier and more abundant.  The water had a little more color to it in a lot of places.  This summer lakes are low, we've not had any real rain and the lakes are very clear.  Most temps are 85 or so, some higher.  The grass is absent in a lot of places.  All that has meant the fish are tighter lipped this summer.  I still have a chatterbait tied on to start every trip, but I also have a swim jig right next to it.  Last year a chatterbait was my anti-skunk lure, and to be fair I've caught some good ones on it this year but all were in stained water and/or early season.  The swim jig has been consistently producing for me this summer.

[DitchPanda]

1 hour ago, Cbump said:

That’s a shame. 

Is what it is...not gonna throw a bait if it doesnt produce well for me

 

31 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I'm the opposite.   I'm about done with swim jigs.  I've not once found them to be better than something else...and I have been trying hard the past year to love them.

Everybody's experience is different. I should clarify that I catch some fish on bladed jigs but it never out produces swim jigs or spinnerbaits  for me.

[Cbump]

32 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I'm the opposite.   I'm about done with swim jigs.  I've not once found them to be better than something else...and I have been trying hard the past year to love them.

The only time swim jigs are better than chatterbait for me is around a lot of wood like salt cedars. That’s only because they hang up less. 

[Choporoz]

14 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Everybody's experience is different. 

No question.  

 

I got on a mission to master swim jigs late last year.  I think I was watching a pro tourny day...probably an old DVR'd MLF day....and a couple guys were tearing them up with swim jigs

  Anyway, I realized that was a hole in my tool kit and I set out to fix it.  I've gotten a couple decent fish using swim jigs since.  But I am not at all convinced that I wouldn't have done as well or better using something else.  Maybe bladed jig.  But a small swimbait or swimming worm or Rage Bug all seem better choices...for me.

[casts_by_fly]

57 minutes ago, Cbump said:

The only time swim jigs are better than chatterbait for me is around a lot of wood like salt cedars. That’s only because they hang up less. 

 

For me its the grass and docks.  Early season when the grass is sporadic a chatterbait is dynamite.  This time of year though the grass is usually too thick to fish a chatterbait well as you're getting the blade matted in grass on every cast.  A swim jig will come through it easier.  Also with docks and grass here a swim jig pitched tight up against or under the dock will get you bit.  A chatterbait doesn't for some reason.

 

I agree on wood.  A swim jig that is swum down the side of a downed tree will get eaten.  we just don't have that many laid down trees around here.  

 

33 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

No question.  

 

I got on a mission to master swim jigs late last year.  I think I was watching a pro tourny day...probably an old DVR'd MLF day....and a couple guys were tearing them up with swim jigs

  Anyway, I realized that was a hole in my tool kit and I set out to fix it.  I've gotten a couple decent fish using swim jigs since.  But I am not at all convinced that I wouldn't have done as well or better using something else.  Maybe bladed jig.  But a small swimbait or swimming worm or Rage Bug all seem better choices...for me.

 

I did the same this year.  Last year I fished chatterbaits and spinnerbaits significantly, but I recognized the limitations I just typed above re:grass.  I decided I needed to learn a swim jig for days that are dead calm and grass filled and its paid off for me this year with the weather.  Maybe a swim bait would have caught the same fish, but we'll never know.

[RDB]

No absolutes…just general rules of thumb.  As the water gets dirtier, size, color, and vibration can help overcome visibility limitations.  In your water which has 10+ feet of visibility, bass are not going to have any issues picking up the lure from long distances and often intrusive lures can be a negative.  That’s why people often downsize and finesse techniques become more prevalent.  Both can work depending on the situation but I would start with a swim jig.  If I use a chatterbait in clear water, it’s usually the Z-Man StealthBlade…much more subtle.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

10 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

I decided I needed to learn a swim jig for days that are dead calm and grass filled and its paid off for me this year with the weather.  Maybe a swim bait would have caught the same fish, but we'll never know.

I look at a swimjig as a 4x4 finesse chatterbait.  I use them when it's just a little too clear or calm for a good chatterbait bite and they work pretty well.  Really I think their strength lies in their ability to be fished just about anywhere without snagging and spooking fish.  

Imo the chatterbait is better late winter to late spring and mid fall to early winter.  SJs start to work well for me right at the end of prespawn but it's when the fish start to guard fry mid may-June that they IMO become a bait you should have tied on.  Although that really good bite starts to taper off for me in early July, the bait produces well into clear to October.  When the vegetation starts to die off and the fish are start to school I start throwing more chatter and crankbaits.  

 

 

[lynxcat]

Clear water means I am throwing a stealth blade chatterbait or a swim jig. Dirty water means the chatter is tied on. I’ll practically never throw a swim jig in muddy water…there just isn’t enough there for me to be confident I’m triggering a bite. 
 

I am up and down on swim jigs. It is such an easy bait to fish that I really want it to work. I have consistently caught larger fish on the chatterbait so I tend towards it. 
 

I have a stealth blade tied on at the moment for a clear pond nearby. That bait has been frustrating since it’s release but I think it can basically be a more aggressive swim jig in clear water. A Jackhammer is too aggressive in clear water for my liking. 

[casts_by_fly]

9 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

I look at a swimjig as a 4x4 finesse chatterbait.  I use them when it's just a little too clear or calm for a good chatterbait bite and they work pretty well.  Really I think their strength lies in their ability to be fished just about anywhere without snagging and spooking fish.  

Imo the chatterbait is better late winter to late spring and mid fall to early winter.  SJs start to work well for me right at the end of prespawn but it's when the fish start to guard fry mid may-June that they IMO become a bait you should have tied on.  Although that really good bite starts to taper off for me in early July, the bait produces well into clear to October.  When the vegetation starts to die off and the fish are start to school I start throwing more chatter and crankbaits.  

 

 

 

 

Yeah, that's pretty much me.  A spinnerbait, chatterbait, and swim jig each have their (quite similar) uses.  Light grass, limited visibility- chatterbait.  Wood, rock, breeze- spinnerbait.  Clear water, grass, swim jig.  Of course those are only the starting points going into a day for me.  Then you have to adapt on the day.

[softwateronly]

 

I fish clearer water, usually 6-8' visibility, but it varies between 4-15' depending on conditions and the forage base leans toward panfish.  A swim jig with a swimbait has been a revelation to me the last couple years.  A paddle tail and a slightly destabilized head puts a lot of natural action in a bait that can be swam, pulsed, or dragged/hopped.  I've left behind the craw style trailers and the rod tip shake for, in essence, a skirted swimbait because it's been so effective.  Dirty jigs w/ a d walker or EZ is now always tied on.  I add in a bladed jig when feeding activity is high or visibility has dramatically reduced in a short period of time.

 

scott

[Bankbeater]

I'd throw both of them and see which one the bass want to bite.