Tristen Turley
With summer months winding down and hunting seasons creeping up, it’s hard to want to chase fish, especially when they’ve been educated all summer and don’t want to bite the generic bait that’s been wound by them for the past few months. It’s this time of the year, however, that can teach you the most about fishing and allows you to build upon your skills, making you a more efficient and effective angler. In this article, I’m going to share one of my favorite late summer baits and how I’ve learned to be most effective with it.
The bait that I’ve found is absolutely deadly on late season bass is a swing style jig with either a craw trailer or a worm as a trailer. The swing head style bait allows me to easily maintain bottom contact while hardly ever getting snagged. I like to throw either a ⅜ ounce or a ½ ounce swing head; these weights are perfect for fishing anywhere from five to 20 feet of water. I hear a lot of people fishing this bait fast, and reeling it much like a crankbait. However, I personally like to slow down and fish this bait much like you’d fish a Carolina rig, but faster with the same dragging motion. Dragging it along the bottom seems to be the most effective way for me to put quality fish in the boat.
I like to throw this swing head jig on 12 pound test fluorocarbon with a high gear ratio reel like my 7.0:1 Quantum Accurist. A high gear ratio reel helps make up for the stretch in the fluorocarbon and allows me to generate solid hooksets every time. A solid rod with a fast action tip is also a must when fishing this bait. I like to throw it on a Favorite Phantom Rod in 6’6” /our-obsession/blogs/fishing/finding-the-right-fishing-rod medium heavy. This rod has a fast action tip that allows me to feel each contour on the bottom as well as the softest bites.
Some of my favorite baits to use as trailers are the Strike King Rage Bug, or a Gene Larew Biffle Bug.These baits are outstanding when paired with a swing head jig, and for all you ledge and brush pile fishermen a worm can work just as well. Whether you’re sitting in five feet of water or 20 feet of water, if you throw this bait I guarantee you will be surprised with the results and the size of the fish that you’ll land.
