Swing Jigs And Rivers

[patrick reif]

Before I throw $100 at a mold, wire forms and hooks, how many river guys fish swing jigs and how do you work it?  I strongly suspect it is a great way to work a worm or craw around both rock and wood.

 

The football head is a proven design, as is a tex-posed hook.  

 

I fish shallow rocky rivers with some flows having a huge amount of wood as cover as well.

 

I can't see needing a weight heavier than 1/4oz in any of my flowing waters, but flat water is a different story.

 

Please share your most honest opinions of this jig bait and how you've found it most useful.  Time of year.  Bait style.  Cover type...whatever.

 

I'm thinking a 6" drop shot worm with a flat tail or a 4" ribbed C tail worm on a slow drag in heavy cover...both rock and wood.

 

2/0-3/0 EWG worm hooks would be in use.  VMC if it matters.

 

This isn't time sensitive, so take your time and collect your thoughts.  I'm just looking at honest opinions for moving waters.

 

Once again guys, thank you

 

[smalljaw]

I use them in the Susquehanna river which is a wide shallow rocky river and they work extremely well on the smallies there!!!! Last year I took my neighbors son on a float trip and I make him some 3/16oz swim jigs with a 3/0 hook, all white with silver holographic eyes with a 3.5" ribbon tail grub as a trailer, he caught more fish than I did and better quality. I made them for him as he doesn't have a ton of experience and after he had 5 I decided to see how well the jig was working but using the same grub on a ball head jig, the result was 2 small fish while the kid caught and released another 4 with a 4lb 6oz kicker. The mold I used to make the jig was the Do-it casting jig also called grass jig on some sites, I have the one that has the 1/8oz, 3/16oz, and 1/4oz and it uses the Mustad 32886 and the Eagle Claw 3886 Black Platinum hooks. I wasn't sure if it would be a good presentation in and around current but it works great, especially on the days where a spinnerbait is too much, you can still cover water but because it is subtle it draws those strikes and it presents a big profile which I found to be a good thing in summer, they will travel to get it while hey would move to hit the grub on just a ball head. Give it a try, I found that the 3/16oz to be a great size in the river but the 1/8oz as well as the 1/4oz are fine as well but the 3/16 seems to get both numbers and size.

 

EDIT: I read the thread wrong, I though it said swim jigs, sorry. As for the swing jigs, I tried them too but I wasn't able to use them like I have on the lakes because the river I fish has ledges and lots of heavy chunk rock and it is impossible to drag it without it getting stuck in a ledge or crevice. If I use it again I would try it on pea gravel flats but it is hard in my river to make it work by fishing it like a crankbait but I'm sure there are other uses.

Edited April 18, 2014 by smalljaw

[BassBull]

Are you talking about the G.L. Biffle type football style head ?  If so ask yourself if you have any type of weeds our grass (moss) hanging off of the rocks our wood cover ? If you have a lot of it, you will fight it all the time with a football style head I would think. A grass style head would work a lot better. I fish on the Iowa,Minn, Wisc. boarder on the Miss. river with a lot of wing dams and rocky points and rip rap banks with as soft, our as hard of current you can stand to fish with the same grass swim jigs. We have to balance out our line test, jig wieght and trailor to the position and how active the fish are for that day. I use a lot of twin tail grubs on rock because I feel that they will float the jig better in hard current giving you that small second more in time to give the jig a little lift to keep it from snagging up. I hope this helps. STEVE

[Ogajiga]

Great info on the Grass Jig and twin tail function. Are you guys fishing them with or without weedguards?

[BassBull]

HAWNJIGS...... Yes, Mine all have bristle type weed guards. But in the process of making jigs with 90 lbs test coated leader wire in them instead of the other. One, I would like to see how they react in the current.  Also as the water here gets real clean in the fall see if just the wire guard makes  any diff. in how the fish takes them ???? Good luck  STEVE