Swim Jig Techniques for Winter Bass Fishing

Okay, guys, Bryan Schmitt here with bassresource.com. I'm gonna talk to you about something that is near and dear to me. It's swim jig. Swim jig fishing, and the seasons, and the reasons why I choose colors, sizes, structure, habitat, and areas of the lake. So this is something that, like I said, I really enjoy doing. Hopefully, after this, you know, what I talked to you about today could help.

So, you know, let's start off with seasons. You know, we have spring, we have summer, we have fall, and we have winter, okay? And you're, like, swim jigging in the winter, well, that does exist guys. You know, we get to go travel, and sometimes, we go to Florida, and we go to other lakes around the country in the wintertime, and we go fish tournaments and stuff. And there is a winter fishing season, and there is a swim jig bite to be had at times. And, you know, I'm gonna relate this to a tournament I fished in Florida, okay?

I fished a Florida event, and it was really, really cold. You know, it was in January, and there's a lot of grass on this fishery, guys. And everybody was throwing lipless. You know, rattle trash, lipless crankbaits, chatter baits, crankbaits, jerk baits, and the fish were getting really conditioned to these obtrusive baits. You know, these baits that really put off a lot of noise and vibration, and I picked up my swim jig, and it was just such a different outcome.

You know, guys, it's a subtle presentation that's still covering a lot of water, and I was able to do really, really good in a couple tournaments in Florida in the middle of winter of applying the swim jig. So what I will tell you is I fish swim jigs, generally speaking, in two sizes, 3/8 and 1/2 ounce. In the wintertime, the winter season, I'm usually leaning towards a 1/2 ounce. The reason being, I want to get a little bit deeper in the water. It's a little bit colder. The fish, to me, might be a little bit deeper, so the 1/2 ounce is my option, generally speaking, in the wintertime.

And, you know, I'll throw this on 15-pound P-Line Fluorocarbon. Okay, I want to stress this, again, Bryan Schmitt throws a swim jig, I don't care what size, structure, anything like that. I throw it on 15-pound P-Line Fluorocarbon for all applications I use for my swim jig, which is a totally different technique than other swim jigging. This is a slow, low profile. This is a finesse profile swim jig that you keep below in the water. Finesse swim jig, light wire hook, light weed guard. It's a whole different concept. So it's about keeping down in the water column, slow presentation through sparse grass.

So, you know, like we talked about, we're gonna apply it in the wintertime around offshore grass looking for pre-spawn or wintertime fish that are just lethargic laying in the grass, and we're gonna always start on the edges. We're gonna try to start on the edges of the grass, and see if they're just relating to that fish. When you're fishing grass, fish are going to relate to something different in the grass: a high spot, edge, a void, you know, something different, isolated clumps, something different.

So I'm gonna start on the edge with a 1/2-ounce swim jig. Depending on the water color, what I feel fish are feeding on, is when I dive into my colors, okay? So this right here is called nasty, and this is a very realistic natural-colored swim jig that I feel really imitates bluegill and brim very, very well. It can even imitate a perch somewhat. So this color right here is one of my go-to is called nasty. I, generally, like to have pretty clear water when I'm throwing this. This is something I've caught them from New York to Florida with, but I need a little bit of clarity, okay?

So another really, really cool color that I have. It's called fire craw, okay? It's bright. Yes, it is. But think about this, guys, how many times we throw red lipless crankbaits, red vibrating jigs? Well, same thing with the swim jig, bright, bright colors. In that early pre-spawn, that wintertime bite, I have seen this color right here, and I have a Missile Baits D Bomb and El Diablo on the back of this. I have seen this color really do a lot of work for me. Half-ounce model right here.

I think it can imitate the crayfish, but it's just something about that reddish hue in the wintertime early, early pre-spawn bite early season, okay? Another really cool color just your old black and blue. I've named this one the moneymaker. Black and blue, guys. Bruiser Flash Chunky D Trailer from Missile. This is a 3/8-ounce model. This is something that I'll fish in a little bit more colored water, but don't get fooled with this, guys. This bait right here, I've caught a lot of fish in gin-clear water. I've caught smallmouth on Lake Ontario in very clear water on this color right here so don't be fooled by that.

And then, lastly, let's talk about this right here. I named this the natural. This is a very whitebait fish imitating, bait fish-oriented swim jig. I have a Missile Bait Shockwave in frosted purple right here. This is something that I'm applying when I feel like they're on bait fish really, really good, guys. You know, a key sign of that is you catch a couple of fish on a swim jig or whatever bait you're using and you see the fin sticking down there in their throat, you could tell they're on bait fish, this is something where this shines a lot.

So this covers my concept and reasoning for the wintertime pattern swim jig fishing. And I hope, this information helps you, and you can learn from and apply some of this and catch a lot of fish.