Swim jigs were born from the experience of anglers.
Lots of them – and lots of you – notice that when you’re retrieving a jig for the next cast, bass will chase your lure down, hammering it as it’s ripped free of grass and other aquatic vegetation.
That got some pros and lure designers thinking; could they make a jig that was designed to be worked primarily horizontally rather than vertically?
Most definitely yes.
The result is the modern swim jig: a hydrodynamically-shaped head, a distinctive skirt, and sometimes an added weed guard.
Now widely considered to be one of the most versatile lures around, you’ll find plenty of professionals who tie a swim jig on year round.
Swim Jig Basics
The swim jig’s design is deceptively simple.
That hydrodynamic head allows the swim jig to glide and rise in the water column as it’s retrieved, especially when you pulse your rod tip with a few quick wrist flicks. That creates a swimming action that gets your lure moving vertically as well as horizontally, and it makes the skirt and trailer dance and wriggle for all they’re worth.
And as you’d expect, swim jigs are available in a wide array of color and skirt patterns, allowing you to match the hatch or stand out from the murky background, as your situation demands. Add a trailer of your choice, and you’ve created an unbeatable combination of action, color, and pattern that drives hungry bass wild.
Swim Jig Techniques
The conventional approach to working a swim jig is to rip it through the water, retrieving it with a fast reel and pulsing wrist movements to get the jig to rise and fall – the “swim” – just waking the surface of the water without breaking through.
That hydrodynamic head forces the nose up and the tail down as it’s pulsed or pulled, making it far less likely to sang than you’d imagine. Add a weedguard, and you’ve got a heavy salad monster of a lure on your hands, one that can be thrown confidently into live weed beds, hydrilla, lily pads, and other thick vegetation.
And much like a crankbait, impacts with everything from blades of grass to sticks, rocks to stumps, will get your swim jig darting erratically as it deflects off cover.
Bass waiting in ambush canb’t resist those deflections, and they’ll hit your swim jig hard!
I like to work my swim jigs through the tops of live weed beds and grasses, letting my lure sink until it dives into the thick stuff before I rip it free and start it swimming. I’ll also run my swim jigs down the sides of cover and structure that are likely to hold waiting bass.
The trick is to think about what’s happening in the mind of the bass: where would you set up an ambush if you were a big fish?
When you find those places, run your swim jig past them and hold on!
That pulsing retrieve, at blazing speed, is nothing short of murder when the water is warm, say, 70 degrees or higher, and it’ll keep on killing until heat stress slows the bite.
And while part of the swim jig’s year round versatility is that a quick retrieve covers water quickly, and a good swim jig/trailer combination can work very effectively as a search bait, don’t neglect the effectiveness of these lures as water temperatures dip into the 50s and 60s, too.
In spring, pre-spawn, and throughout much of the fall in the Deep South, swim jigs continue to be effective if you slow down a bit.
One technique that I really love is to work mmy swimbait much like a chatterbait, popping it up off the bottom and letting it flutter back down as I pick up my slack.
This popping retrieve – especially with a slower cadence – can work wonders when the bass are sluggish, and once you gain some confidence with this lure, you can start popping it through the tops of live vegetation, down the sides of points, along the edges of drop offs, and other likely ambushg spots.
The key in cooler water is to slow way down, give bass time to key-in on your lure, and have the confidence to keep throwing your swim jig until you find actively feeding fish.
Swim Jig Tackle
Swim jigs are a so-called “power” technique that demands a medium-heavy to heavy-power rod with a stiff, sensitive tip.
And due to the single hook used on swim jigs, you’ll want lots of hopokset power. For me, that means fishing a graphite rod with plenty of backbone, something like Doomsday Tackle’s “The 47” or Dobyns’ 734C FH Champion Series. I’ll pair my stick of choice with a fast reel, typically geared for at least 7.0:1. I’m looking for blazing speed, and any reel you’d be willing to pitch or flip with will work really well with swim jigs.
Among my favorites, you’ll find the Daiwa Tatula Elite P/F and the Shimano Curado DC 150 XG. Both offer lightining-quick retrieves, powerful drag systems, and more than enough line for any day on the water.
I typically run braid like Sufix 832 or PowerPro when fishing swim jigs, and if the water’s murky or stained, I’ll tie-off directly to my lure. But in clear water, I’ll add a few feet of 12-pound mono leader.
Popular Swim Jigs
Swim jigs are available in a wide array of sizes and weights, as well as colors and patterns.
I really like my 5/16th-ounce swim jigs, especially the Booyah Baby Boo, as I find that it casts like a dream, swims beautifully, and doesn’t get snagged or hung up very often. I typically fish this lure in relatively shallow water, and these sink more than fast enough for me.
But if you need a deep diver that hits the bottom now, heavier swim jigs like the Reaction Tackle Tungsten and Booyah Boo will be perfect options.
I pick colors and patterns to reflect water and light conditions, as well as currently available forage opportunities.
For instance, when I’m fishing gin-clear water, I like to throw natural colors and patterns. If the bass I’m targeting are feeding actively on crawfish, say pre-spawn in Louisiana, I’ll throw a craw combination of black and red. But if the bass are hitting blugill hard, that’s the pattern I’ll tie on.
In murky or stained water, I’ll throw a white swimbait, helping bass pick it up against the dark background.
Night fishing in high summer, when the water cools off just enough to entice fat females into the shallows, you’ll find my throwing black or black and blue combos.
The Best Swim Jig Trailers
But to understand why swim jigs are so amazingly effective across geography and the seasons, consider trailer choice.
Not only does this allow further customization, matching the hatch precisely or dialing-in your vibration and color for low-visibility, it gives you size, shape, and swimming variations that can mean the difference between a shut out and a full live well.
Popular trailer choices include a variety of creature baits like the Strike King Rage Tail Craw, as well as minnows like 6th Sense’s Juggle Minnow or Zman’s DieZel MinnowZ.
What you’re looking for is a great glide, vibration appropriate to the season and fishing pressure, and the color, pattern, and size bass are hunfry for.
How can youn know if you got it right?
If you find bass chasing your swim jig but not taking it, you’re probably fishing the wrong color combination for your situation, and you’ll need to dial it in just a touch to get strikes.
Similarly, if you’re getting hit, but the strikes are short, try sizing down your trailer or cutting an inch or so off the head to give you a more compact presentation.
Final Thoughts
If there’s one lure that pros throw that weekend anglers don’t tie on enough it’s the swim jig.
Give a swim jig and trailer a try, and you’ll never look back!
We’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment or question below.
Source: usangler.com