It won’t be long before fall fishing is here. The bass will really start to key in on the shad in the creeks and put on the feed bag. One of the hottest baits you can toss is a swim jig especially if your lake has docks or shallow grass. The swim jig is overlooked by most anglers…
It won’t be long before fall fishing is here. The bass will really start to key in on the shad in the creeks and put on the feed bag. One of the hottest baits you can toss is a swim jig especially if your lake has docks or shallow grass. The swim jig is overlooked by most anglers who prefer to throw a spinnerbait or a crankbait. This is one of the reasons why the technique is so good. You can give the bass a presentation that they don’t see as much and a white jig zipping by is such a good baitfish imitator.
I like to take my jig and cast it out there and try a quick retrieve where the bait is just under the surface. I’ll give the jig twitches as I am reeling it back because a lot of times the fish will run under the bait and as soon is it jumps when I twitch my rod they will strike it. If you’ve got grass throw it in the open lanes and make it bulge the surface. Another way to fish the jig is to take it and throw it out there and let it sink to the bottom. Start to reel slow and have it constantly ticking the bottom on a steady retrieve. I like to picture the jig as rooting the bottom like a crankbait. A lot of times when you hit a bigger piece of cover and your jig comes over it you’ll get a bite. This can work wonders on bass relating to rip rap. If your fishing jigs around the docks sometimes burning the jig and then killing it at the posts will get you some strikes. Typically when your swimming a jig the strikes are so visual and that can make for an exciting day of fishing.
If your going to swim a jig make sure you have a heavy rod with a soft tip. I like to use an AiRRUS Ultra XL rod in the 6’9” length in medium heavy because I can make accurate casts and have the power to set the hook. For this technique you want a burner type reel with a 7.1 gear ratio because the bass sometimes hit your bait and run straight to the boat. Spool your reels up with 20lb test GAMMA Edge Fluorocarbon line because the fish don’t have a chance to see your line anyways.
When it comes to jigs the OMEGA Revelation Swim Jig works great for fishing around grass and the docks. It comes through the grass really well because of its head design and the weed guard has just the right stiffness to keep it coming through the cover and easy to hook up with big bass. If I’m hitting the bottom with my jig I’ll pick up an OMEGA Almighty football Jig because nothing comes through the rocks better than a football jig. I like to throw the 1oz because it stays down around the bottom and I can reel it at a quick pace to get those reaction strikes.
For jig trailers I really like the Netbait Paca Chunks in white on my swim jigs. They give off a nice kick and make the bass go crazy. A twin tail grub is another great trailer for your swim jig. Figuring out what the bass want just takes some experimentation. A lot of times I’ll pick the trailer based on what profile I want to give the bait. If the baitfish are smaller I’ll throw a twin tail. If they are bigger I’ll throw a paca chunk. I just try and match the hatch with my trailer colors and skirts.
Spencer Clark is sponsored by GAMMA Technologies, Naked Bait Company, AiRRUS Rods, OMEGA Custom Tackle, Flying Fisherman Sunglasses, Tru-Tungsten, Pig Sticker Bait Company, Basseast, and Smack Tackle. Visit his webpage today at http://catchinspence.googlepages.com/
Spencer Clark
