Recently I started fishing swim jigs which have been gaining in popularity over the last few years. I personally have been so distracted by fishing swimbaits that I hardly gave it the time of day. I think this was mostly due to me being sort of close-minded and thinking of them as a conventional technique. Well my eyes have been opened and I figured I would share the light.
I was introduced to big swim jigs with pretty big swimbait trailers. Not only was this different but the way they can be fished is slightly different than what may traditionally come to mind. When you search the aisles at your local fishing store most of the swim jigs you will find are not only relatively small but usually not very heavy either. Most of the time they max out at 3/4 oz which is fine for shallow water and keeping from getting hung up, but what if you want to fish deeper and still fish fast. The answer, coming from the saltwater market is a jig that is no different from a conventional bass jig except they start at 3/4 of an ounce and go up from there - in fact they go all the way up to 2 oz.
These are the Slayer Swim Jigs by War
Here's what and how I have been doing it and why this jig and trailer fits the bill. First off these jigs start with a 5/0 Mustad Ultra Point and go all the way up to a 7/O. This accepts a 5" top pour swimbait trailer which is the key to this rig and how its fished. The trailer I use is a commercially available swimbait mold from Lure Craft. I pour my own so this may not be the best choice, a roboworm swimbait or Optimum diamond shad may be a good choice as well.
I target ledges on breaks, docks and rock outcroppings with this bait. Not what you may typically think of as swim jig water, but so far the results have been great. The great thing about the heavier weights on these swim jigs is the ability to fish them fast and keep them at deeper depths without them rising up away from your target area. I also fish these baits on a small swimbait rod or a heavy jig rod to be exact. I use a Powell 7'10", 5 power one piece flippin pitching rod. The retrieve on this bait is somewhere between hopping a jig a slow rolling a swimbait. Just like either of these baits you have to play around with the retrieve to see what the fish want on any given day.
This bait has some huge potential and I hope you guys take this chance to pick some of these jigs up and give this technique a shot.
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