This lake is one I’ve never been to before. The water is really green, to the point where there’s a huge algae bloom. It’s shallow and has some milfoil. I need something that can fish through everything, as it’s slimy.

A swim jig is a tough bait to beat in these conditions, and you want to pick a color that stands out. Something either really bright or really dark is ideal, so black and blue is always a good go-to.

Fishing Strategy

I’m trying to fish everything from the bank to the outside edge of this grass. I can fish this jig fast, swimming it along like a spinnerbait, and I can also pitch it and fish it like a regular jig around these docks. It’s very efficient when you’re trying to cover water, which is why a swim jig is such a mainstay bait in every pro’s arsenal.

Bait Choice

This is what I’m using: a Dr. King heavy cover swim jig, part of my own signature series. Many people like to put swimbaits on their jigs, but my favorite is a rage crawl. In dirty water like this, the thick flanges on the end of those pinchers displace a lot of water. I do bite just a little bit of it off, and this jig has a barbed keeper to keep the bait on.

Setting Up the Jig

To set it up, get the bait on there straight, run it over the barb, and all the way up. This gives a nice compact jig that displaces a ton of water, giving off a lot of vibration, which helps fish find it in this dirty water.

Catching Fish

Not a big guy, but he hammered it as soon as I skipped the jig underneath the dock. This is why the swim jig is good. It’s not a great big one, but I have all these pads along here and everything. You would think they’d be maybe out on the outside edge, but there are rocks up there.

I pitched to the very backside, right to the water where it touched, started swimming that jig through there, and he just ate it. That’s what’s awesome about this bait—it’s so efficient for many things. I can throw it right up there shallow and fish it like I’m frogging it through these pads.

I’ve had a couple of them move on it, but that one actually annihilated it in inches of water behind the pads, right against the bank itself.

The versatility of the Swim Jig

If you have shallow cover of any type, whether it’s grass, bushes, lily pads, wood, or rocks, it’s just hard to beat a swim jig because you can do everything with it. There’s another one, a little better one, right against the bank. Now we’ve got something going. These fish are in very green water and are dirty and shallow.

Conclusion

A good solid chunk is the reward for using the right bait and technique in challenging conditions.