What do you guys like for swim jigs for bass? Looking for something with a small weed guard as I cast into a lot of logs and grass on the banks. Also hoping for something the doesn’t get chewed up or destroyed every few fish.
What do you guys like for swim jigs for bass? Looking for something with a small weed guard as I cast into a lot of logs and grass on the banks. Also hoping for something the doesn’t get chewed up or destroyed every few fish.
I think I’ve tried every brand – but have settled in on 6th Sense Divine Swim Jigs (with 4 inch Keitech Easy Shiner trailer). The reason is the screw-lock keeper. At first, it may seem a little cumbersome to put on but in reality takes 20 seconds – and it stays on even after dragging it through grass/cover all day. I used to super glue trailers on to other swim jigs, but ended up waiting 20-30 seconds for it to dry anyway. Only to have the trailer start sliding down after bringing it through cover a few times.
I’ve settled in on the “Spanish Juice” color jig (a mixture of good colors – green, purple, blue, chartreuse in the skirt). That way, I can just buy a couple different colored trailers (usually blue or green) and see which one the fish prefer that day. I don’t even have to ask my wife which colors match any more because they all do 
I usually trim the weed guard to where the hook barb ends, and just reel it steady through the cover until it pops through and gets bit. Good luck!
I’m a big fan of the swimjig sold by outkast tackle. I really like the 5/0 VMC heavy wire hook they use on them. They also have a double Barb hook keeper that really holds the plastic trailer on well so its not always slidding down. Its available in lots of great colors as well
We were humbled pretty quickly last night. Fished from 530 to 9 with only a handful of small bass. Tried everything and nothing really worked
We were humbled pretty quickly last night. Fished from 530 to 9 with only a handful of small bass. Tried everything and nothing really worked
Thats a bummer. You have been having some excellent outings lately. But that’s fishing. Somedays You’re the Dog, Somedays You’re the Fire Hydrant 
There was some ridiculous jet ski and wake boat gathering on the lake last night. 30 to 40 jet skis and 3 or 4 wake boats, the boats were creating big wake for the jetskis to jump. So alot of our deeper hard bottom spots were not fishable and I’m sure that was half our issue. The other half was I had mentally quit trying after about a hour of fishing in a way that I hadn’t prepped for. But like you said, that’s fishing. I went home as the hydrant last night.
I did find out I’m pretty much a master at skipping tube jigs, I could get like 12 hops out of them and fish the entire dock length wise 
, still didn’t pay off.
I fished a young buck who fishes lots of tournaments. He was throwing a big hair jig-like 5/8 oz- called the Chicken Jig. We bought caught fish, but he caught the big ones. I got a nice water spray every time he casted.
There was some ridiculous jet ski and wake boat gathering on the lake last night. 30 to 40 jet skis and 3 or 4 wake boats, the boats were creating big wake for the jetskis to jump. So alot of our deeper hard bottom spots were not fishable and I’m sure that was half our issue. The other half was I had mentally quit trying after about a hour of fishing in a way that I hadn’t prepped for. But like you said, that’s fishing. I went home as the hydrant last night.
Thats an every tuesday occurrence in your area. I think they go to different lakes. But tuesdays.
Mike i use a swim jig made buy a gentelman i know.It’s hand tied and will make any color you want.It has a 5\0 gammie hook i believe.
If you do FB look him up at Spittin Image Jigs.
I’ve tried many and like these the best.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
There was some ridiculous jet ski and wake boat gathering on the lake last night. 30 to 40 jet skis and 3 or 4 wake boats, the boats were creating big wake for the jetskis to jump. So alot of our deeper hard bottom spots were not fishable and I’m sure that was half our issue. The other half was I had mentally quit trying after about a hour of fishing in a way that I hadn’t prepped for. But like you said, that’s fishing. I went home as the hydrant last night.Thats an every tuesday occurrence in your area. I think they go to different lakes. But tuesdays.
Never heard of it. But it was pretty lame. They really thought they were bad ass
We were humbled pretty quickly last night. Fished from 530 to 9 with only a handful of small bass. Tried everything and nothing really worked
I went last night for about 2.5 hours locally and had limited success too. Caught 10 bass and 1 pike, most of which were 12-14 inches except for two 17 inchers. Pretty tough out there and had to really fish a plastic painfully slow to generate any bites. Luckily, not much for recreational issues last night other than a couple toons putzing by. Water temp is still pretty friggin’ warm too, right at 80 degrees.
The fishing was spectacular until we started to get that extreme heat a couple weeks ago. It sent water temps soaring from the mid 70’s into the low 80’s and really hasn’t improved since, at least for me.
We’ve had some major storms and lowering temps the last few days so maybe I need to go out tonight and see what might just be working. We had a lot of algae blooms with the heat so hopefully some of that has died off and there’s a little more motion in the places with current. If it’s still matted frogs will be my first choice on the ponds and tubes on the river.
The fishing was spectacular until we started to get that extreme heat a couple weeks ago. It sent water temps soaring from the mid 70’s into the low 80’s and really hasn’t improved since, at least for me.
think you are spot on. I believe the higher surface temps are indeed playing a role in the bite these last few weeks. My last 2-3 outing were far less successful than the previous few and the only real difference has been the water temps. Our local water temps were rather high about a month ago and fishing was rather slow. The temps cooled off about 3-4 Deg’s and the fishing picked back up. Then the high temps returned and its back off. I think we have just entered those slower Dog days of summer a little earlier this year than most. Hopefully we will get a earlier than normal fall weather pattern and the extended fall bite will make up for it.
Last night, with the clouds and light breeze I thought it was going to be a smashfest for topwater in a reed bed that has been good to me the past couple of weeks. Nothing would hit on top until almost dark when I got the best bass of the night to take a buzzbait in the reeds. I salvaged the night by throwing a Jackhammer along the reed edge and surrounding flat, nothing big, but catching something is better than nothing.
Sippi smallies destroying the fuzz e grub today. After some shorts on cranks and craw stuff, typically good baits, went on a whim and threw it out, back to back to back nice fish.
Thought we were gonna get more eyes mixed in w the overcast/rainy conditions but not so. Bigger fish were out tho so made up for it.
Fuzz-E, a classic
Pundit, not sure how to predict when larger fish will smash a toppie, guess that’s what keeps it interesting.
Best Swim jig I’ve used. Small company. Don’t know why but had a buddy that would outfish me with his all the time. Tested it by throwing other swim jigs in the same color and weight, and these caught more fish than the other brands three straight trips out testing it.
https://brovarneybaits.com/product-category/swim-jig/
I have yet to find a good school of deep bass like usual this summer. Very frustrating.
Damn Pete. Never heard of those before but I will be placing a order. I like the color options
Choppo between 6:30-7:30 am has been good.
Chatterbait ( brown and black or blue skirt) with Pumpkin and orange or red undersided creature plastics have been great in 1-6 FOW.
The Hybrid Hunter ( 2-4′ in the translucent color ) has been great too.
Outsidde the weedbed edge has been slower for me.
NEKOS been good – 10″ Natural mondo worm from googan with the big curly tail and silver underbelly. Slays em,
Pitching frogs on top of the weed beds out over the humps in several lakes has produced some really nice fish as well.
Good lookin fish BC!
Pre-fished Clearwater last night for our last night of league on Thursday. No luck dialing in a pattern. Caught 1 decent fish shallow on a white spinner-bait, and 2 on the deep weed edge with a ned and dropshot. Tried wacky and a frog in shallow cover with no luck. 73-74deg water everywhere we went with a lot of floating clumps of algae and clarity was pretty low for Clearwater. Weeds appeared to be starting to die off. Hopefully figure things out quick on Thursday night!
This morning I did my usual hit the lake before sunrise morning trip. On the third cast, I saw a biggun grab my frog, but didn’t know what kind of fish it was until it had a power burst that I’m lucky didn’t break the line or my reel. It was a 33-inch pike that was all muscle. Man what a fight that thing put up. Just raw power and speed. I’ve caught other pike this size, but not that fought like this one. What a blast.
Anyway, I missed my three frog bass bites of the morning. Two of them were fish that jumped out of the water right at the boat and missed the frog. After about a half hour with no hits, I figured with the wind that the frog bite was probably over. And so, for pretty much the first time this year, I started pitching a jig into the slop. And was quickly rewarded with a 13-inch fish that broke my Tatula Elite 6’9″ H on the hookset above the handle. That sucked! I have two of those rods, so I switched the jig I caught the fish onto the rod with FC on it. I got a quality fish doing that, then had a pike break me off. At which point I switched reels, so I would be pitching with 50lb braid. I caught two more quality fish and missed 2 or 3 other bites. I actually was enjoying pitching the jig despite my terrible accuracy because I was so out of practice. I think I’m going to do a lot more jig-pitching and flipping in the next couple of months. I’ve got so many pitching jigs I’ve accumulated over the years I can afford to take a lot of casualties from pike.
Frogs are my nemesis. I keep the slack to a minimum, have bent the hooks a little to get better penetration, I put a red dot on the underside a little less than a half inch circle size, trim the trailers a little unevenly and I still get about a 25% hookup. Sometimes I wait a second or two after they hit it and sometimes not. Just really can’t get the hookups figured out. Not nearly as many misses by the fish on frogs that have that red dot. Someone on here suggested that once and I think it works.
Keep on trying though…..
Even the best froggers miss a fair amount of fish. 50% hookup rate is pretty good actually. That’s the nature of it.
I don’t remember the last time I caught a fish on a hollow body frog. Years and years. The fish won’t even look at it anymore. Chalk it up to fishing pressure.
Yeah I’m probably around 60-70% and I feel like I have a solid strategy that eliminates a lot of fish coming unbuttoned. Just hard to get good hooksets with your line hanging on the pads, the design of the frogs etc. Bending out the hooks even just a tiny bit helps.
It sure is FUN though when they smash it – NEVER tire of watching that.
Okay, I least have a goal to hook up more then. 
I would venture to bet there are few guys in MN that throw a frog more than me over the course of a season. My hooking % and landing % are all over the place from day to day and even within the same day. Some days most of the fish just slap at it and there is nothing you can do about it until one commits to eat it. I had a trip like that last night. My good fortune was that the fish that committed was probably my biggest of the year so far. Really made my night.
It sure is FUN though when they smash it – NEVER tire of watching that.
Okay, I least have a goal to hook up more then.
When I use to fish a fair amount of frogs, I would always keep a throwback bait handy. Sometimes you can throw the frog right back after the missed blow up and get lucky and have them hit it again, But not often. I’ve had far better luck if I follow up a missed blow up with a large profile plastic bait. My go to was always a Big Ring fry or stickworm. Usually rigged weightless or nail weighted. I’d pick up that other bait right away after the missed blow up and throw it just beyond the blow up area. Pull it across the cover and let it fall into the blowup hole. I’d say about 75% of the time I’d end up hooking that missed fish. By far more often than in I had tossed the frog right back into the spot. I’ve seen videos where after a bass misses a bait, it will often swim around in a small circle looking to see if it injured the attacked target and then eat it.
Went to a west metro lake-met an old dude who had probably a fat 6lber in a burlap sack, what his strategy was to catch live frogs and use them for bait-what do you think his hook up percentage was?
Went to a west metro lake-met an old dude who had probably a fat 6lber in a burlap sack, what his strategy was to catch live frogs and use them for bait-what do you think his hook up percentage was?
That can’t be true. Live frogs and a 6 pounder in sack? I don’t believe you Tim lol
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