Swim Jigs

[Jeffrey Walker]

inreally don’t get swim jigs.  it’s basically a spinner bait without the blade and maybe a trailer on it.

 

i can’t imagine a scenario where either a jig with a trailer on it or a spinner bait wouldn’t work but a swim jig would?

 

it’s the one technique/bait that i really don’t understand. 

 

Am i right or wrong - what am i missing?

[Jig Man]

I’ve fished partially submerged bushes in clear water where a spinnerbait seemed to cause too much commotion and the subtle jig coming into and through the bush got strikes and caught fish.

[813basstard]

Some fish were raised in the suburbs and are apprehensive about blades…

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

Am i right or wrong - what am i missing?

Wrong.

 

17 minutes ago, 813basstard said:

Some fish were raised in the suburbs and are apprehensive about blades…

Only the ones that bring them to a gunfight...

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

inreally don’t get swim jigs.  it’s basically a spinner bait without the blade and maybe a trailer on it.

 

i can’t imagine a scenario where either a jig with a trailer on it or a spinner bait wouldn’t work but a swim jig would?

 

it’s the one technique/bait that i really don’t understand. 

 

Am i right or wrong - what am i missing?

 Might not really be a right or wrong deal. 

Have you fished swim jigs ?

They have a power - it's just usually sort of subtle compared to anything with a blade.

 But swim jigs can be kicked up a notch with a flapping craw type trailer.

In my world, the magic sauce is the little wiggle the bait gets when matched with

the right paddle tail trailer.  

Swimming one through shallow early season emergent weed growth, and then straight through the summer pattern, can be all kinds of crazy good.

I'm a big fan.

A-Jay

 

[Columbia Craw]

It’s an awesome bluegill imitation and can get in and out of nasty cover.  The ability to fish it back and suddenly let it drop and recover elicits strikes. 

[casts_by_fly]

What they have all said. I decided to fish swim jigs a lot this year and get better with them. For me, I almost have to have some breeze or chop to have any faith in a spinnerbait. When the wind is still then a swim jig is my choice. We have tons of vegetation here and only the pointiest swim jigs will get through it clean. Spinnerbait blades are useless ones the grass is more than a month old- you’re hung too often. An arkie head or other head just grabs too much grass every cast. A Texas rig would probably work some times too in those situations, but a swim jig has a profile like a bluegill and you can really swim it up and down the column, run it down a grass channel, and then kill it over a hole. Then set the hook before it hits the bottom. 

[flyfisher]

I don't fish conventional as much as the fly rod but this year when chasing largemouth I have and swim jigs have been key.  If you have vegetation you can notrol the depth and feel the bait ticking the top or working through it more easily.  They also work great coming through Lilly Pads in a more finesse type fashion and then you can stop and drop it in holes.   Fantastic bait that is about as versatile as they come. 

I do agree with @A-Jay that the trailer makes a difference.  Two trips ago they wanted a fat keitech 3.5" and last time out they wanted a twin tail menace grub in 4" rigged vertically.  

[NorthernBasser]

1 hour ago, Columbia Craw said:

It’s an awesome bluegill imitation and can get in and out of nasty cover.  The ability to fish it back and suddenly let it drop and recover elicits strikes. 

 

This 100%.

 

The other day I was fishing this particular swim jig (Santone jig with 4" Largo Shad) along weed edges and even through some thick vegetation. Many times either after ripping it out of weeds, or when I would just kill it, it would elicit some ferocious strikes. I like running straight braid on a 7'3 heavy/mod-fast rod when doing this. This 5 pounder (ok, actually a few ounces shy) was the biggest of the bunch. 

 

I love the Largo Shad. It has a little tighter shimmy to it, but if you want more thump, just tear off that thin flange you see in the first pic.

 

 

 

[Jeffrey Walker]

Interesting.  Do you think you would have not caught them with a spinnerbait or a regular jig?

[NorthernBasser]

25 minutes ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

Interesting.  Do you think you would have not caught them with a spinnerbait or a regular jig?

The spinnerbait would've gotten hung up more in the stuff I was fishing. And a regular jig isn't as streamlined to come thru that stuff. I will say tho, I did throw a flipping jig for a little bit and did get 2 on it. But the swim jig was the ticket on that particular day/location. 

[Cgolf]

I have caught hundreds of fish on a spinnerbait and a handful on a swim jig. I am sure at some point I will find a situation where the swim jig shines, but it will be a lot of trial and error. Spinnerbaits seem to just jump on the line for me. 

[DitchPanda]

A swim jig comes thru brush and grass much better than a spinnerbait..better than basically any moving bait I've seen. Also its more subtle so when the fish are "off" or the water is somewhat clear they seem to shine. I've got a lake about 35 minutes away that I've caught maybe 50 bass on a spinner bait in 10 years...in the past 4 or 5 I've caught a few hundred on a swim jig. Its just the thing there.

[papajoe222]

4 hours ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

i can’t imagine a scenario where either a jig with a trailer on it or a spinner bait wouldn’t work but a swim jig would?

I've caught my share of bass by swimming an Arkie jig and trailer. Not the ideal jig to be using in vegetation. The big advantage a swim jig has, is its ability to come through vegetation without catching it.  This is accomplished by the shape of the lead and the positon of the eye.

 The best retrieve I've found it to run a swim jig just over the tops of weeds and occasionally letting it fall into the weeds and ripping it up and out.  With most other style jigs, you'd end up pulling up some weeds when doing this. 

 

[Basser2021]

4 hours ago, Jig Man said:

I’ve fished partially submerged bushes in clear water where a spinnerbait seemed to cause too much commotion and the subtle jig coming into and through the bush got strikes and caught fish.

 

 

44 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

I've caught my share of bass by swimming an Arkie jig and trailer. Not the ideal jig to be using in vegetation. The big advantage a swim jig has, is its ability to come through vegetation without catching it.  This is accomplished by the shape of the lead and the positon of the eye.

 The best retrieve I've found it to run a swim jig just over the tops of weeds and occasionally letting it fall into the weeds and ripping it up and out.  With most other style jigs, you'd end up pulling up some weeds when doing this. 

 

What they said

[padon]

you dont have to have a swim jig to swim a jig. the difference is usually head design and weight. the swim jig usually has a more cone shaped profile that swims through vegetation and wood easier.they are usually also a little lighter weight. the trailer as others have said makes a difference.some days they like a big flapping claw type trailer others a swimbait etc. for me they work best in clear water with calm winds with sunny skies. those days are almost impossible to get a spinnerbait bite. the more subtle realistic swim jig can shine.

[swhit140]

I just started using swim jigs last season with just a couple of them, now I have a dozen of them. I always have one rigged on my rod when I go to the lake, it is one of my top 3 baits that I use.

[Bluebasser86]

Swimjigs come through grass you could never fish a spinnerbait in, that's the main time I use a swim jig.

[Cgolf]

47 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Swimjigs come through grass you could never fish a spinnerbait in, that's the main time I use a swim jig.

 

This could be the issue I have. The cover in the lakes I fish spinnerbaits work just fine, and the places they won't a swim jig isn't coming clean through the mess either. For me a spinnerbait just is more efficient, but I do try a swim jig throughout the day. Generally though I have done better bottom bouncing a swim jig versus a swimming retrieve.

[NorthernBasser]

On topic- Today I rigged up possibly the best bluegill imitating spinnerbait I have.

 

 

[MickD]

Notice the eye placement and head shape on the swim jig.  They allow it to go through most weeds freely and the jig moves differently than jigs with the eye on top.

 

Go to Siebertoutdoors web site, right margin of this page, for some beauties.

[SC53]

I was like you, until I started using swim jigs. 
I find I use it a lot like I would a TX rig worm but it is more weed less in most cover and typically get larger fish. 
Black/blue, pumpkin, bluegill and shad (white or white combo) are all you need. 

[Bird]

I throw them around stumps and bang them through heavy and standing cover.

A top 5 technique for this fisherman year around.

[Bankbeater]

Last fall I was catching bass on swim jigs in eel grass.  No way I could've gotten a spinnerbait through that stuff.

[softwateronly]

Personally, I'm a big fan of a swim jig and don't think there's any type of water that it won't catch in.  But it is my favorite bait for clear, weedy water, with a panfish forage base.  It gets in and out of where they live and can profile well for the biggest bass in the lake.  What really pushed my confidence through the roof is how a swim jig w/ a paddletail can absolutely slay on the darkest of nights, when a swimbait, chatterbait, or spinnerbait only do ok.  I like to play around between 3/8-3/4oz with 4-6" trailers and often have 2 rods tied up with the extremes. 

 

scott