Zoom Fat Albert, or a big salty chunk. 

5 hours ago, Phelptwan said:

I've been liking the Gambler EZ and Little EZ myself.

+1 on gambler EZ, also a lot of time with the big EZ and .5" bit off.

 

scott

X3 on the Gambler. XZone Swammers and R2S DWalker for over exaggerated roll and RI Dippers if you want a tight shimmy.

 

I’ve tried menaces and pit bosses. My fish don’t seem to react the same to them as the paddle tails.

51 minutes ago, PotatoLake said:

 R2S DWalker 

 

 

Ah yes, how'd I leave this out. 

On 12/26/2021 at 12:38 PM, A-Jay said:

Below are a few of my favorite swimjig trailers -

But I have to admit Josh Jones is making me rethink the need for them.

And I mean Hard !

Either way, these have been solid producers on the local brown bass population.

A-Jay

What swim jigs are those?

11 minutes ago, Chaos10691 said:

What swim jigs are those?

The top Right and Bottom Left are 6th Sense baits.

The bottom right is a Strike King. 

The rest are fairly old 1/4 & 3/8 oz baits from a vendor who's name 

I can't use here.

Either way, they are no longer in production.

I will add that I make up & tie my own jig & spinnerbait skirts.

It's pretty easy, I get what I want and can have plenty of replacements on stand by.

Most of what is pictured is that.

A-Jay

 

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

The top Right and Bottom Left are 6th Sense baits.

The bottom right is a Strike King. 

The rest are fairly old 1/4 & 3/8 oz baits from a vendor who's name 

I can't use here.

Either way, they are no longer in production.

I will add that I make up & tie my own jig & spinnerbait skirts.

It's pretty easy, I get what I want and can have plenty of replacements on stand by.

Most of what is pictured is that.

A-Jay

 

Was curious cause I was about to buy a few painted head and tie my own as well. New to swim jigs so just wanted to make sure the ones I was getting were decent. I have a few 6th sense as well and like them.

On 12/26/2021 at 11:43 AM, Luke Barnes said:

I have a few colors of Rage Menace I'm going to play with. I think Moon Juice will look nice on a bluegill pattern. I have spike it markers that I can add chartreuse to the belly if needed. 

 

I never understood using craw trailers and swimming them though. Do craws swim like that when they flee?

 

"Craw" trailers can represent much more than just craws.  A bama craw Rage Craw on a bluegill swim jig is an awesome combo....

22 hours ago, A-Jay said:

The top Right and Bottom Left are 6th Sense baits.

The bottom right is a Strike King. 

The rest are fairly old 1/4 & 3/8 oz baits from a vendor who's name 

I can't use here.

Either way, they are no longer in production.

I will add that I make up & tie my own jig & spinnerbait skirts.

It's pretty easy, I get what I want and can have plenty of replacements on stand by.

Most of what is pictured is that.

A-Jay

 

 

Now you have me trying to figure out who made those? I have a good guess but would have to see the bottom of the head.

 

Allen 

1 hour ago, Munkin said:

 

Now you have me trying to figure out who made those? I have a good guess but would have to see the bottom of the head.

 

Allen 

I'm totally lost. I havent been around long enough though. 

 

I really hope Bass Pro has some of the new Powerbait Swim jigs. I really want to try them!!

Zoom Super Speed Craw.

Rage Craw

Rage Structure Bug.

For me, nothing out produces a 5" grub.

On 12/27/2021 at 8:19 PM, Chaos10691 said:

Was curious cause I was about to buy a few painted head and tie my own as well. New to swim jigs so just wanted to make sure the ones I was getting were decent. I have a few 6th sense as well and like them.

I’ve bought heads from boss and from siebert outdoors and both have been great quality. 

2 hours ago, BlakeMolone said:

I’ve bought heads from boss and from siebert outdoors and both have been great quality. 

So heads like those only have 1 keeper and I hear about people using super glue to keep them on. How does that work? Wouldn’t that funk up the head?

Caught my PB on a swim jig with a River2sea D Walker 100. So for me it’s a confidence bait, have caught a ton of fish on it since then. Have the Gambler in my bag and looking forward to trying it in the spring. Easy to get overwhelmed with all the trailer choices out there. 

I tried a Zako the other day on a swim jig and I loved the look but not the action. I knew there wouldn't be any thump but I thought the tail would swing but not unless I put action to it with the rod. Not what I'm looking for in a trailer for a swim jig. Ill stick to using them on chatterbaits.

 

I realized personally I want some thump or action from either a paddle tail or like a rage menace but I'm going to try rigging a rage bug vertical and tearing the little side flippers off. 

On 12/26/2021 at 4:59 PM, A-Jay said:

I can't say if it's a permanent thing.

But he's been liking the trailer-less swimjig recently believing that the smaller profile

is what's getting the biggest bites.

Who am I to argue ?

A-Jay

 

Josh did indicate that he was using a more finesse approach and wanted a smaller profile.  Also remember that he is viewing the fish on LiveScope and presenting the bait right to the fish.  If you are not using that technology, you might benefit from the extra movement and water displacement of a trailer.

 

As far as trailers, Tactical Bassin’ has some great underwater footage to give you an idea of various trailer actions.  I have recently added the Hog Farmer Spunk Shad as a chatterbait trailer based on their footage.

 

On 12/26/2021 at 4:59 PM, A-Jay said:

50 minutes ago, RDB said:

Josh did indicate that he was using a more finesse approach and wanted a smaller profile.  Also remember that he is viewing the fish on LiveScope and presenting the bait right to the fish.  If you are not using that technology, you might benefit from the extra movement and water displacement of a trailer.

 

As far as trailers, Tactical Bassin’ has some great underwater footage to give you an idea of various trailer actions.  I have recently added the Hog Farmer Spunk Shad as a chatterbait trailer based on their footage.

 

I did see that as well.

While JJ is a machine with that thing, 

I don't have Live scope (but do have 360 imaging).

Either way, when we're doing it right, the bass hopefully doesn't know we're there.

Whether we see her in advance of the cast or not and what type of electronics is on board

might not be the determining factor as to whether she chooses to strikes a bait or not. 

However the baits depth, speed & profile probably are.

And confidence in what we're doing can not be underestimated.

Finally thanks for the trailer tips, I may check that one out.

In the meantime, my chatterbait game remains a work in progress

A-Jay

 

 

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Whether we see her in advance of the cast or not and what type of electronics is on board

might not be the determining factor as to whether she chooses to strikes a bait or not. 

I completely agree, I wasn’t very clear and should have commented to your first post regarding your questioning the need for trailers (you likely said that tongue in cheek).  Ivie is a pretty clear lake (for Texas).  I was just suggesting that the benefits of having a trailer (profile, vibration, etc.) might be more beneficial when casting to unknown v. known fish depending on conditions.  You are obviously a seasoned fisherman and I’m not saying anything you don’t already know.  I was just clarifying for others who may not know that Ivie has good clarity and he was casting to known fish, so he could get away with a more subtle approach.

5 minutes ago, RDB said:

I completely agree, I wasn’t very clear and should have commented to your first post regarding your questioning the need for trailers (you likely said that tongue in cheek).  Ivie is a pretty clear lake (for Texas).  I was just suggesting that the benefits of having a trailer (profile, vibration, etc.) might be more beneficial when casting to unknown v. known fish depending on conditions.  You are obviously a seasoned fisherman and I’m not saying anything you don’t already know.  I was just clarifying for others who may not know that Ivie has good clarity and he was casting to known fish, so he could get away with a more subtle approach.

I totally get it - no worries.

And despite JJ's other worldly success fishing a plain jig,

it might be awhile before I can make that leap.

Still, ya never know . . . . .

A-Jay

On 12/26/2021 at 12:22 PM, Luke Barnes said:

I guess I get caught up in the fact they are advertised as craws but people are swimming them. Ive seen Gerald Swindel use Zoom Z Craws on swim jigs and buzzbaits. Rigged horizontal they make the Buzz Bait plane out really fast and I got a bite on it, but with so many options that mimic fish it confuses me why someone would use a craw. 

Overall profile, the wide tail section mimics that of the wider bluegill Instead of a skinny bait fish profile. Makes it look bigger from the side put simply. Lol hope that makes sense

 

Im really focusing on all types of jig fishing this year. Instead of focusing on if it acts like an actual crayfish, bluegill, shiner, I outlined what I'm thinking below. Its probably pretty basic, but it definitely helps my confidence in presentation and making decisions on the water.. I don't feel compelled to have every color of every trailer, yet the bag of plastics keeps growing haha. 

 

1. Profile/Size 

2. Drag - fast/slow fall or high/low water column

3. Vibration/Action

 

So for craw/flapper baits I have paca chunk/craw(small profile lots of flap), Bug baits (large profile, action depends/more vibration). For slimmer profile, curly tail grub (action) or paddle tail (thump).

On 12/26/2021 at 2:43 PM, Skunkmaster-k said:

Glenn has a video where he said that he rigs a swim jig with a rage menace vertically and then tears off the top flapper. I tried it and was surprised how well it works. 

I’ve heard this elsewhere before and in your opinion, what about the single flapper vs two makes it more effective?

 

Planning on using  swimjigs more this year and been debating about the whole vertical vs horizontal menace thing.

59 minutes ago, Revival said:

I’ve heard this elsewhere before and in your opinion, what about the single flapper vs two makes it more effective?

 

Planning on using  swimjigs more this year and been debating about the whole vertical vs horizontal menace thing.

It’s sort of like a curly tail when you pull off one flapper. A swaying kick I guess is a good way to describe the action. I only rig my shad or bluegill jigs vertical with the one flapper. Crawfish gets horizontal Rage craw. 

On 12/27/2021 at 4:17 PM, NorthernBasser said:

Ah yes, how'd I leave this out. 

 

Wish the made them in more colors? Their GP is actually smoke with red flake.

 

Allen