Where are the bass hiding now?

[Wanderer]

I like the way Truth has correctly supported his lunker.

[TruthWalleyes]

I like the way Truth has correctly supported his lunker.

[carpmanjake]

thats how i usually hold my bass (if i have someone to take the pic for me, or if i can get the camera to sit still and not fall over for a self timer pic), but i usually go more horizontal. like this

granted thats only a 4lber.

alot of times i have to take pics like this

or like this (i apologize for the stringer, this fish was released, i had it on the stringer hoping my dad would get there soon to take a pic for me, but i took her off it and let her go after 10 minutes of waiting)

[EBass]

Nice job - spawner it looks like - what a pig!

[st.crioxfishin]

Today I found fish both deep (12ft) and shallow (1ft) on a south metro lake. I'd have to say it was one of the coolest fishing days/patterns I've had so far this year, it was a blast! I caught all my big fish today by burning a swim jig in about 1-2ft of water on the inside weedlines. I'd cast almost on the bank and begin reeling it fast as soon as it hit the water, basically like buring a spinnerbait. The fun part was that you knew every time when you were going to get bit because there would be a huge wake coming right at the swim jig. With the full moon approaching it seems as though the last wave of spawners are on the banks, I think those were the fish I was catching.

I can't believe I never really fished a swim jig before this year, right now it may be my favorite lure!

Here's my lousy attempt at a self timed photo...

[NTW]

Nice fish, at least you have the most important part of the picture isn't cut off lol...

If you don't mind me asking, what type of swim jig/trailer have you been doing the best with?

[Cecil]

Swim Jigs rock this time of the year!

[st.crioxfishin]

NTW,

I use the all terrain swim jigs in both the 1/4oz and 3/8oz sizes. I just use the standard grub that comes on the jig for a trailer. At first I thought the AT grub was too small, however after using them for a while, I'm beggining to think that its the perfect size.

Before this year I struggled to get bit on a swim jig. I may have been fishing them in the wrong areas or at the wrong time, however I beleive chaning my jig color is what has made a HUGE difference this year. I picked up a tip from Jared Linter about swim jig colors while watching a video clip from a different HSOforum... He said that by far he has had better success swimming a bluegill or darker colored jig rather than a white or chartruese color. All I used to throw were bright colored swim jigs. So I went ahead and ordered some green pumpkin AT swim jigs and have caught all my swim jig fish on that color this spring/early summer. It's probably because bluegill are the main forage in our MN lakes, so I don't know why I wasn't using that color before... (I think white/shad colored baits would work well on the river). I also dip the grub tail in chartruese dye to emulate the bluegill tail. Make the chartruese subtle though, too much and it can look unnatural, and it ultra clear water (like I was fishing yesterday) that can make a difference IMO.

I'm still a rookie when it comes to swimming a jig, I know many other guys on this forum have fished them much longer than I have and probably have some other good info too.

[EBass]

You sound like you know what you're doing to me.

[Cecil]

The BIGGEST mistake people make is to try to do too much with it. Cast it out, reel it in. Don't try to make it something it's not.

[Jakesbuds]

What do you guys prefer for a trailer on jigs? Chunks? Grubs?

[Cecil]

Swim jig? Grub, but there is a lot of other options to try. Regular jig, chunk or twin tail grub, but again, plenty of other options.

[Aaron Carrell]

How big of grubs does everyone like? Brands? Where to buy? This is something I've been meaning to get into more, and figure I might as well start off right. I already know the jigs I want to buy, so thats not an issue, but I had no clue where to find nice chunky grubs for trailers. I'll be using mostly 1/4oz jigs I think.

[Cecil]

I use 5" outkast grubs. Pretty simple grubs, but I think you need a durable tail and not tooo much action. A grub like a Kalin (great grubs) have too thin of a tail IMO.

[Jakesbuds]

Swim jig? Grub, but there is a lot of other options to try. Regular jig, chunk or twin tail grub, but again, plenty of other options.

Yes I meant swim jigs. I see most prefer to use Grubs. Thanks for the input. Also, most just toss them out and bounce them back slowly on the bottom correct? i know there's a million ways to work them, but this time of year presentation is almost always your key to success for post spawn piggies.

[Cecil]

No bouncing for me. Cast it out and reel it in. There are times when you need to do more, but most of the time for me, its just out and in.

[Juan Grande]

I bought some of the All Terrian swim jigs at Gander and I like them. Haven't had a lot of success with them yet, but like St.CroixFishin said, all my bites have been on the darker colors.

[NTW]

Thanks for the info St.Croix, that is helpful! I have purchased a few but haven't had the confidence to throw them much...I'm going to include them a little more now.

[gunning]

I don't like the Kalin grubs the tails rip easy and they seem to slide down the hook, you can burn through a bag quick. I have been using some 4" berkley power grubs and they hold up a lot better. 5" grubs are not the easiest things to find. Most places only have the Kalin's. I'm going through the process of getting some custom jigs done up for me by Brovarney's in a sunfish pattern I'm also ordering some of their 7" kicker grubs to try out.

Man I love swim jigs you can do a lot of different things with them. The thing I like best is how you can fish them through cover and they almost always come back clean. You can fish it in places where you can't fish a spinnerbait and fish it as fast or a lot slower. I usually retrieve them at a medium pace, I use a high speed reel and crank it slow and pause it about every 3-4 rotations and let it fall. I have been getting about 75% of my hits on the pause or right after. I fish them with braid and when I make contact with some veg just pop it through and let it fall for a second or two. I caught two nice 19-20" and a real nice pike right in the middle of some thick pond weed last night. Good Times!

[river rat316]

You have to watch the connection between the tail and the body on swim jig grubs also, to long of a connection allows the tail to wrap around the hook to easy. I to prefer a thicker tail on grubs. And I always rig my grub tail down, of course there are other trailers besides a grub that work good, you just have to experiment a little

[fishn]

I've been having a little problem with the All Terrain swim jig. The skirt would slip down from the neck and hang by the wire that prevents the grub to slip. It happens after I set the hook on a fish or when I'm pulling sharply through weeds to clean it. Has anyone been having this problem.

[st.crioxfishin]

fishn,

In my opinion I'd say that problem is fairly typical of almost any lure with a skirt (spinnerbait, jig, chatterbait). Maybe not so much when ripping the lure to get weeds off, but definately when hooking into a fish.

However, to prevent this from happening I would go out and buy some thin craft wire and make a couple wraps around the skirt collar with it. Leave a tag end of wire at the beggining of the wrap and at the end. Once you have made a couple good tight wraps, twist the tag ends together, bend the twist down and you should be good to go (hopefully that makes sense, a picture would help). This will not only prevent the skirt from falling down, but it will also help to flair the jig skirt (giving it a better action IMO) and will also prevent you from losing the whole skirt if the rubber collar were to ever break.

[ShoreGuy1984]

I was using a black Bronzeye jr in a back bay with a ton of pads on thursday and the bass were hittin the spro like crazy, even the northerns were hittin it ! Chewed my Bronzeye up pretty darn good though lol. I missed more then a landed though . This is were I have been having most my luck, in the back shallow bays.

I am hoping to go back on tuesday and get me a new avatar pic !