How He Does It
February 9, 2011
Swimming a jig is a great way to catch fish and one of my favorites. What you need to know:
I usually start with a 3/8oz Booyah swim jig in one of three colors: green pumpkin, white or black and blue. I choose these colors because I'm trying to imitate either a bluegill, shad or crawdad. The trailer is one of the most important aspects of the bait. A lot of times I want a trailer that has a lot of action but isn't too big or bulky - my all-around favorite is the YUM Money Craw. The legs on the Money Craw produce the perfect swimming action and the colors match great. If you get a trailer that's too big or bulky, you'll end up missing a lot of fish. I also believe speed is very critical in swimming a jig. Too big of trailer will hamper your ability to keep the jig down in the water and swimming correctly during the retrieve.
I fish a swim jig on a 7' medium-heavy Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier rod with a Pro Qualifier 7:1 reel spooled with 50lb BPS Magibraid. This setup is crucial to the technique. The medium-heavy rod helps get the action out of the jig. I want it to be very erratic and the skirt to flare as I'm swimming it. Too stiff of a rod makes it almost impossible to get any action out the bait and also will kill your arms trying to work it. Too light of a rod and you just don't get the hookset you need. The high speed reel is also equally important. This can be a very taxing technique when done properly and having the right equipment makes things much easier. The braid really helps maintain direct contact with the bait. You're also often swimming a jig around grass and it has real benefits in landing more fish due to the low stretch, high strength properties.
When to use:
Basically anytime you're fishing shallow cover, especially shoreline weeds, submerged vegetation and boat docks. I have had success swimming a jig from early spring all the way to late fall. I think the absolute prime time for this technique during all phase of the spawn. The fish are shallow and protecting a general area. I like to make long casts and zoom the bait past any piece of isolated cover I can find. This technique is best in stained water. Another great time for swimming a jig is during the shad spawn. Now, I target floating docks and run the jig about a foot under the surface. This is where the white jig becomes a big player.
I hope this will help you with some of the basics for what is a very productive technique. Oh, by the way, this was how Stanley was caught. E2.
February 2, 2011
Back to the Basics
You don't even want to know how much gear I carry with me on the road. On the Bassmaster Elite Series, we're faced with all different types of fisheries and seasonal conditions. You have to be prepared for everything but that doesn't mean you should get overwhelmed with the plethora of bait choices. Sometimes it's really effective to just stick with what you know works. I often get asked what if you could only pick five baits, what would they be? Here's my list:
1: 3/8-ounce Bass Pro Shops LazerEye. Chartreuse and white spinnerbait with tandem willow leafs, silver front and gold back blade with a white twin-trailer. Catches bass on every pond, river and lake. I don't go anywhere in the U.S. without it.
2: Yum VibraKing tube in black neon, Texas-rigged with a 1/4-ounce tungsten weight and a 4/0 hook. Year-round, this is just a really great bait for flippin' or pitchin' in close. Bass just eat it up.
3: Bomber Model 4A in chartreuse blue. A 4- to 6-foot diving crank bait that is just an awesome lure for a lot of different lakes.
4: Booyah 1/2-ounce black and blue jig with a 4-inch Yum Money Craw trailer in River Craw color. I don't go anywhere without one tied one on, I can fish it deep, run it shallow or swim it. It's a great bait for shallow grass in a lot of our rivers and lakes.
5: Heddon Zara Spook original in black or shad pattern. A great bait for ponds and working top water anytime and walking the dog technique. A really good big-fish bait.
