The Versatile Swim Bait
Posted by Shane Beilue on Oct 14th 2019
By Shane Beilue
Swim baits have been at the forefront for big bass enthusiasts for well over a decade and their notoriety stems from the huge double-digit bass tempted by the massive “tennis shoe” style baits of 10-12” length. Enthusiasts of this approach are often, though not always, considered “specialists”, an angler that commits to lobbing nothing else for hours upon end, hoping to intercept the very largest bass in a body of water.
The swim baits for this discussion are much more diminutive and versatile than the massive (and often quite expensive) specialty baits. At 3.5 inches in length, the GYCB Swimbait can be rigged on a skirted jig or behind a simple lead swim bait head and fished shallow or deep. It draws strikes from fish of all sizes and you still have a functional rotator cuff and elbow after a long day of fishing. What follows is the breakdown of how to fish it.
Swim Jig Basics
For many anglers, the swim jig has almost replaced the spinnerbait for fishing heavy shallow cover in the last several years and the reasons are many: with a fiber weed guard in place, the swim jig generally comes through wood or brushy cover better than a spinnerbait. Additionally, the swim jig does not lose its effectiveness with bright, sunny skies and clear water, which can sometime hinder the bite on a flashy spinnerbait. Finally, the swim jig can alternately be fished fast beside and through heavy cover on one cast and pitched and flipped into that same cover the next.
A Sixth Sense swim jig in 3/8 to 1/2 oz size paired with a Yamamoto Swimbait trailer will fit every shallow water scenario, depending upon the depth and desired speed the bait is retrieved. The Sixth Sense jig has two features that really help this approach around heavy cover: a triangular head design that deflects well off woody cover and a screw lock keeper that holds the swimbait trailer on the hook — imperative when doing combat in the jungle.
The technique is to cast the jig and swimbait combo behind the cover and aggressively retrieve the bait into the branches of the brush, pausing momentarily as the jig head deflects, as this is often the time bass will attack. In clear water, a faster retrieve may actually enhance the bite by causing the fish to react to the bait — giving the fish less time for close examination.
Keep it simple with colors: a white jig with GYCB Swimbait color s031 (blue pearl w/ large silver flake) is an ideal shad imitator. For bluegill knockoffs, try the Sixth Sense Bluegill Fire skirt with Yamamoto Green Pumpkin and small red flake trailer (color 042).
Open Water Swimbait
For open water structure, vegetation or even shallow rock, the open hook design of the GYCB Swimbait Jighead combined with corresponding 3.5” trailer is an excellent baitfish imitator. This combo with a 1/2 oz jig head can be burned like a rocket across shallow open water flats or allowed to sink to deep structure and slowly retrieved back to the boat just off the bottom. A great rotation of baits when fishing deep offshore structure like a point or hump includes crankbaits, Carolina Rigs, flutter spoons and eventually, the 3.5” Yamamoto Swimbait. This gives the fish an assortment of baits and retrieves to determine what they want that day.
Equipment
Rods from 7’ to 7’6” in med/heavy action are all fine choices for shallow swim jigs or deep swim baits, depending upon your height and preference. I’ve ultimately settled on the 7’4” length as the best tool for me, allowing long casts and horsing fish away from cover. The Quantum 7’4” Tour edition or the KVD Tour in the same length have the proper stiffness required for solid hook sets. Another option that’s also a very economical choice is the heavy action Quantum G-Force rod in 7’4” length. At less than $100 retail, this is a hard option to ignore. Pair any of these rods with a Quantum Smoke S3 in 7:1 or 8:1 ratios for long, silky smooth casts that also moves a lot of line in a hurry when a fish strikes the lure.
When fishing shallow cover, heavy braid or 20# fluorocarbon is advised, depending upon the amount and type of cover. For deep or shallow open water, 12-14# test fluorocarbon is ideal.
Winter has to be the toughest time for a bass fisherman. The fish have slowed down considerably, and the bite may only come on a few times a day. An A-rig can be magical this time of year says Yamamoto Pro Tai.