Frenzied bass can’t resist swimming jig

This pro bass tactic can result in fall limits.

We weren’t even on Barnett Reservoir to fish Tuesday (Oct. 23), just riding around the upper river backwaters to look at the effects of recent aquatic vegetation spraying efforts.

But I am a fisherman and I always have a rod ready, and if I am on my game one of those rods will have the hot lure for the prevailing conditions.

In the fall, that usually means a swimming jig, and I had one tied on.And, in a pocket, behind a long sandbar, just off the river, it came into play.

Recent spraying efforts — targeting a sudden explosion of hyacinth and a disappointing and costly re-emergence of hydrilla — had impacted the big lily pad fields that line the river. While lotus is not a targeted plant, it becomes a victim when the invasive species appear in the same areas.

We were inspecting one of those areas, and I had just commented to my friend that the expected fall die-off of pads had certainly been hastened by the spraying. They were browner than usual, and didn’t look as appealing to the eye of a fisherman who usually depends on them to hold bass in the fall as they move into the backwaters following migrating shad.

They must have looked better to the fish, because as we were watching, I saw a small batch of shad suddenly scurry on the edges of the pads. Obviously, they were worried about something, and I knew what it was.

Before my non-fishing passenger knew what was happening, my foot was off the trolling motor trigger, my hands were unhooking the rod straps and I was picking up a rod.

I pitched the gray-and-red lure past where I had seen the movement, turned the reel handle twice and BAM!, a fish slammed the swimming jig right on cue.

The fish was at the boat within seconds, a chunky 2-pounder that made my whole day and allowed me to take its picture in the water. Its attack had been vicious.

I thanked him and pitched him back.

“Is it always that easy?” my stunned friend asked.

Obviously, it is not.

But I explained that when the conditions are right — and they are right now — it can be that sudden, and, well, that easy, too. Not just on Barnett Reservoir, but on every pond, lake and stream in Mississippi, fall fishing patterns can produce that kind of action.

It’s all about fish movement, transitioning from where they have spent the long, hot summer to where they really want to be in the cooler fall period. That usually means shallow, and on big lakes and river systems that means backwater pockets and coves.

Game fish, like largemouth and spotted bass, will follow their prey and lay in ambush, using whatever structure or cover is available to hide. They are anxious to feed and rebuild their bodies after the rigors of summer. When shad or small bream swim by, they attack.

Those sudden feeding movements are often easy to see on the surface of the lake. If you are fishing and you see the signs, it is too appealing to pass on without at least making an offer.

Picking a lure that will entice a strike isn’t so easy.

Bass pro Pete Ponds of Madison taught me the swim-jig technique several years ago on his subdivision lake, where bass were moving up to chase shad on the seawalls and feed on the young-of-the-year bream that were also back in the shallows.

The swim jig is a stealth lure, which moves without flash or much vibration.

“They aren’t looking for that right now, at least not so much the flash like the blades of a spinnerbait,” Ponds said. “The water is usually dark and clear in the fall, and they can be turned off by a lot of flash and vibration. That’s why I like the swim bait. The fish are sitting in ambush just looking for something to eat, and the lure gives them that without any reason for them to be spooked.

“You fish it around pads on the reservoir, along boat houses and seawalls in subdivision lakes, and in the shallows of small lakes around any cover you see, and when you put it in front of a bass, he will take it.”

It has been a part of my arsenal ever since.