Swim Jig
what is the best method of fishing a swimming jig and what are the best models?
Most anglers regard jigs as vertical drop baits. In the applications discussed above, a balanced vertical fall is important in triggering bites. But the jig’s combination of density, compact size, and alluring features also lend themselves to a horizontal presentation called swimming a jig. From the Upper Mississippi River to Alabama and Arkansas, jig swimmers have accounted for huge bass and have won many major tournaments.
Tom Monsoor, the man to beat in Upper Mississippi River tournaments, swims a jig throughout the summer season and into early fall, targeting weedy and wood-laden backwaters of the Mississippi where largemouths abide. “Swimming jigs work best in relatively clear water, since it gets reaction strikes from fish that see the bait passing overhead,” Monsoor notes.
“Instead of dropping a jig into a hole in cover, you make long casts and move the bait over varied cover, calling bass out. Depending on water depth and the thickness of cover, pointy-nose jigs from 1/4 to 3/8 ounce work well.” Monsoor crafts his own swimming jigs, as do many practitioners of this unusual technique.
Mitch Looper of Barling, Arkansas, a big-bass expert, swims a jig from the Prespawn Period until Thanksgiving. “The best jig-swimming days are cloudy and windy,” he notes. “Bass are up and active and ready to hit a moving bait. Fish it wherever you find dense shallow vegetation or woodcover. The key is to keep the bait high in the water column, within a foot of the surface, swimming with a steady retrieve or with slight undulations imparted with the rod.
“Hold your rod at about the 10 o’clock position while winding the bait. When you get a strike, don’t set right away, but lower the rod tip and retrieve slack, then set hard.” Looper employs a flat swimming head that planes through the water. Like Monsoor, he uses a thin, light weedguard, since the bait passes above the densest cover, and the thin guard will not interfere with a long-distance hookset.
For most applications, jig swimmers favor a skirt of living rubber since it undulates as the lure moves, and puffs out when the retrieve is paused. Some anglers tie skirts with an underlayer of mylar to increase flash. Blues, browns, greens, and blacks work well where bluegills and perch are key forage. Where shad are the prime forage, white is popular, particularly in fall when bass feed heavily on the pale baitfish in tributary creeks.
A bulky trailer helps keep a swimming jig near the surface, and pork has been a traditional favorite, with the big Uncle Josh #1 chunk in brown, blue, or black to match darker jigs, and Uncle Josh’s white Spring Lizard Pup popular on white jigs. Pork also resists tearing when passing through tough vegetation like bulrushes, alligator weed, and maidencane, or brushy cover. Stanley Jigs has designed a swimming head with a bladelike lip that creates a wide wobbling action for use over grassbeds and brush.
Since jig-swimming works best in heavy cover, medium-heavy to heavy baitcasting combos are the rule, with longer rods popular to increase casting distance, to keep the lure up in the water column, and to set hooks. Braided line is prime around thick vegetation, as it slices through the salad, maintaining contact with the fish and keeping its head up during the battle.
One further jig-swimming application involves big hair jigs known as Preacher Jigs. Where large shad are key forage, it’s a deadly fall presentation. Some other good sminning jigs are the Looper swim jig, Stanley Swimmin’ jig, Bulldog Jig spinner, and the Booyah swim jig. Have fun and tight lines.
Swim Jig Shallow
|
|
3/8oz Bass Swim Jigs Brown & Purple $1.39 |
|
|
Lindner Bass Fishing Precision Jigging Pop Roll Swim the Jig DVD NEW $3.75 |
|
|
Custom Bass Tackle Swim Jig – Coontail Perch – 3/8 oz. $4.59 |
|
|
Custom Bass Tackle Swim Jigs – Citrus Shad – 3/8 oz. $4.59 |
|
|
Custom Bass Tackle Swim Jigs – Bruiser – 3/8 oz. $4.59 |
|
|
Custom Bass Tackle Swim Jigs – Sexy Shad – 3/8 oz. $4.59 |
|
|
Custom Bass Tackle Swim Jigs – Threadfin Shad – 1/4 oz. $4.59 |
|
|
GAMBLER SOUTHERN SWIM JIG BLUEGILL 3/16 $3.79 |
|
|
1/2oz Swim Jig Purple & Chartreuse $1.39 |
|
|
Custom Painted SUMP’N SUMP’N JIGS 3/8 oz Swim Jig Lure Bodacious Bluegill $5.44 |
|
|
25 Unpainted Swim Jigs Blanks 1/8 oz $4.50 |
|
|
15 Unpainted Swim Jigs Blanks 3/8 oz $5.00 |
|
|
15 Unpainted Swim Jigs Blanks 1/4 oz $4.50 |
|
|
Buckwild Swim Jigs $1.25 |
|
|
Bass fishing swim jig skirt with tails- Bluegill $3.99 |
|
|
Redneck Lures “Swim-it-Jig” Pumpkin 3/8oz Jig ~NIP~ $2.99 |
|
|
WEEDLESS BASS CUSTOM POISON TAIL SWIM JIGS 6 PCS.1 OZ. CALICO,SKIRTS, DO IT $22.99 |
|
|
WEEDLESS BASS CUSTOM POISON TAIL SWIM JIGS 6 PCS.1/2,3/4,1 OZ. SKIRTS, DO IT $20.99 |
|
|
WEEDLESS BASS CUSTOM POISON TAIL SWIM JIGS 6 PCS.1/4,3/8,1/2 OZ. SKIRTS, DO IT $20.99 |
|
|
Swim jigs, Pompano Jigs (seconds) 300 jigs $135.00 |
|
|
Sink Or Swim $13.17 … |
|
|
GARY’S SWIM JIG 2/0 1/16OZ 3PK GARY YAMAMOTO SWIM JIG 1/16 OZ., 2/0 HOOK, 3 UNITS PER PACK…. |
|
|
GARY’S SWIM JIG 2/0 1/4OZ 3PK GARY YAMAMOTO SWIM JIG 1/4 OZ., 2/0 HOOK, 3 UNITS PER PACK…. |
|
|
GARY’S SWIM JIG 2/0 3/16OZ 3PK GARY YAMAMOTO SWIM JIG 3/16 OZ., 2/0 HOOK, 3 UNITS PER PACK…. |
|
|
Strike King Tour Grade Swim Jigs Bait (Sexy Blue Back Herring, 0.25-Ounce) $15.01 1/4oz SEXY BLUE BACK HERRING… |
|
|
NETBAIT PACA SWIM JIG 3/8oz GREEN CRYSTAL CRAW… |
|
|
NETBAIT PACA SWIM JIG 3/8oz GLIMMER SHAD… |
|
|
Strike King Tour Grade Swim Jigs Bait The Strike King Tour Grade Swim Jig was designed by our Pro-Staff to help you catch more fish. It includes a streamlined balanced head for better swimming action, this head is painted and coordinated with the awesome Perfect Skirt and includes a medium wire ultra sharp hook…. |
|
|
Booyah Swim’n Jig 1/2-Ounce $2.99 The BOOYAH Swim’n JigTM is made with an arrowhead designed jig head and flat planing bottom, along with a line tie that’s in-line with the hook shank, which all add up to one thing – the most weedless jig available today. The Swim’n Jig is made with a strong weed guard, hard coat paint, a BOOYAH silicone skirt, two loud red rattles and an XCalibur Tx3 point triple cutting edge hook – “So sharp, yo… |
|
|
Strike King Saltwater Pure Poison Extreme Action Swim’n Jig Bait The Strike King Saltwater Poison features a special head and blade design to maximize action and includes keeper barbs to hold plastic bodies. It also features a saltwater black nickel needlepoint hook, 3D eyes and a heavy duty split ring tie…. |