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Swim Jigs, Do You
Fish Them? You Should
By Darin
Roddick-Small
What
is a Swim Jig?
The swim jig is one of the most versatile lures out there for working
a wide variety of situations. The swim jig is composed of a special
head design, weed guard, skirt and an ultra-sharp hook. Sounds simple
doesn’t it? Well, there is a little more to it than that. In order
to explain the bait to you a little better, I will use photos of
Brovarney Baits Swim Jigs. I Use and recommend their lures because I
have found their jigs to be of the highest quality, and they are also
excellent people to work with.
The
Jig
To start with, the head design is conical, like a worm weight, which
allows it to slide through the thickest of weeds without hanging up.
Then add a weed guard that is designed to give just enough protection
to reduce hanging in the weeds and would. However, the weed guard is
much thinner than the standard weed guard, which allows the fish to
hook up better when they strike. The hook that Brovarney Baits uses is
a custom made Gamakatsu black nickel hook. It is a light wire hook
that is ultra sharp and strong. This hook almost always hooks the fish
for you. New to the jig this year is a grub keeper on all of their
newer jigs. This feature allows for the grub trailer to stay on longer
without tearing and fouling the jigs. Another part of the jig is the
skirt. Brovarney Baits hand ties all of its jigs and will create
custom skirt colors for you if needed. This allows you to always have
just the right color for whatever body of water you are fishing. The
last part is the grub, or plastic trailer. I will talk more about
those later in the article.
Color
Selection
Although there are a lot of colors out there to choose from, I would
recommend finding about 5-6 colors that you have confidence in. As a
general rule of thumb, I would suggest a couple of dark swim jigs like
The Brovarney Baits Blue Devil, Ruppe’s Craw, or Gil; a light color
like the Gringo; and a shocker color like Melon Head. From there, I
would just adjust the color of your jig trailers to get the proper
color combination and flash. Remember, these are just recommended
colors and most people will actually carry many more colors depending
on the types of waters they fish.
How
Do You Use Them?
The real beautiful thing about these jigs is that there is no wrong
way to fish them. You can catch fish on them by just reeling the bait
straight in like a spinner bait, with either a slow, or a fast
retrieve. If that does not work, you can always try a form of a pulse
retrieve. Normally, people will fish them with a constant retrieve,
but as with any lure, you want to switch things up, so you can
discover what the fish want on a particular outing.
The
Straight Retrieve
This is just as it sounds, a steady constant retrieve during the whole
cast. The retrieve can be either at a slow pace, or it may be where
the fisherman will burn the bait back in. By burning, I mean at a high
rate of speed. When you think you are going too fast crank it faster.
You will not be able to reel faster than the fish can swim if it wants
it. These are the most common types of retrieves that most people will
use day in and day out. Although these retrieve are the most common,
do not be afraid to try some of the following methods.
The
Pulse
This is a style that I will use under tougher conditions. It gives the
fish a different look at the bait. This technique involves jerking the
lure, much like you would fish a jerk bait in the spring, but without
the long pauses. With this technique I will also alternate between
long strokes of the rod and a series of short, quick twitches. Again,
try changing things up until you find what the fish wants that day. I
would also try some long pauses in your retrieve to see if they will
hit the lure on the fall.
Ripping
It
This technique resembles a crawfish that is escaping on the bottom.
This would consist of short ripping motions off the bottom, followed
by letting the bait settle back to the bottom. Once again, experiment
with the pauses and by adding multiple short twitches in your
retrieve. Be careful when fishing this in certain types of rocks, as
it will result in lost jigs until you gain a better feel for what the
jig is doing.
Pocket
Dropping
In this style, the fisherman would swim the jig up to a piece of
cover, such as a rock pile, tree, or a dock and simply let the jig
drop, on slack line, down into the water column. How far you let it
drop again depends on the day and the fish’s mood. Some days, they
may strike the bait as soon as you stop your retrieve. Other days, it
may have to sink to the bottom. I have even had days where I would let
the jig sit up to 15 seconds before the fish would pick it up. When
you start your retrieve again, it is important to snap your rod tip to
clear off the weeds from your jig and to engage the tail.
Top
water Action
I like to use a swim jig anytime there are weeds present. Not just
submerged weeds, but emergent weeds as well. Brovarney baits work very
well through a wide variety of vegetation. They work well in milfoil,
cabbage, and are awesome in pads. These baits will pull through the
weeds without getting hung up, and also allow you the benefit of being
able to drop the bait into pockets and yo-yo the bait in each one. A
lot of times, this is when you will have the strikes, on the fall. I
would also recommend snapping the rod tip to occasionally change the
pace and break free any weeds from the lure.
Dressing
a Swim Jig
By this I am referring to what kind of trailer you will be adding to
your swim jig. The most common trailer is a single tail grub like the
5” Mag Grub that Brovarney Baits sells. Like with everything else
with a swim jig, just because it is common, doesn’t mean that is the
only thing to use. If you want to make the lure run a little deeper,
you can use a smaller grub size to reduce the resistance on the lure.
If you want it to go higher, with a lower speed, you cans witch to a
larger grub like the Super Mag grub that is a little larger and have a
greater profile. You could also try a twin tail grub for the same
effect. I have also been experimenting with trailers like the Zoom
Super Fluke and other plastics while I try different retrieves. Play
around and see what works for you.
In
Closing
Whatever
you decide to do, I would strongly encourage you to give these lures a
try. They are some of the most versatile baits out there right now and
fish LOVE them. It has not been uncommon for me to go out and catch
30-40 bass in an afternoon of fishing. Remember to change things up
until you find what works best for that day and you will increase your
catch rates. Also, please stop by www.brovarneybaits.com
to see their whole line of hand made jigs, and tell them Darin sent
you.
Good
Luck and Tight Lines
Darin
Roddick-Small
Brovarney Baits Pro Staff
Futurebass.com Pro Staff
Venom Lures Pro Staff
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