Swim Jig - FLY

When bass guys start talking about fall and spring fishing, the swim jig comes up in conversation.  It's a big, versatile lure that catches fish.  With that said, my mind wandered while I was cutting up some spinner bait skirts for my rubber legged steelhead streamers (topic of another post perhaps) and I began wondering if a swim jig fly was a possibility.  So, what are the essential elements of a classic swim jig?  The main components are: a long baitfish soft-plastic tail with plenty of movement; an upturned hook; a large silicone skirt; and a weighted head.  Ok, so once again the fly guy needs to get creative.  For the tail, 4 large schlappan feathers provide plenty of length, lots of wiggle, and some profile.  I tied the feathers to a short shank hook, which I could use with an articulation point allowing the fly to ride hook point up.  


















The foundation shank is a waddington shank.  If you're unfamiliar with a waddington shanks ("WS"), they look like this:

They are popular bases for salmon and steelhead flies.  The reason for the WS is that the side-by-side wire creates a wide base that will solidly hold the rubber skirt when you slide it on.  The skirt is just a regular old silicone spinnerbait skirt. The weighted head is accomplished by medium dumbbell eyes.  There are a couple tricks and techniques, which will be better shown in a video that I hope to post soon.

Let me just say, this fly looks killer in the water and is a proven fish getter too.  The negative is that it is heavy.  The fly is not too much for a 7 or 8 weight but in this size it would be a bear to cast on a 6 weight.  That being said, the fly is 5+ inches long so you are going after the big fish of the bunch.