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Swim baits for deep bass

 
Years before the swim bait craze hit the bass fishing world, Kelly Jordon and his fellow guides on Lake Fork were throwing big soft plastic shad imitators for big bass.

When bass were chasing gizzard shad in the fall, Jordon would attach a magnum-sized Sassy Shad to a 1- or 1 1/2-ounce jig head and throw it into the schools of baitfish. While most of today’s swimbaits are designed for fishing in shallow and mid-depths, Jordon discovered the Sassy Shad with the heavy jig head could effectively probe deeper water.

While Jordon was competing on the tournament trail about five years ago, some of his guide buddies at Lake Fork started using Wild Eye Swim Shad, a swimbait with an internal weight in the head of the lure. When Jordon returned to his home lake, his friends told him about their successes, so Jordon tried the new swimbait and discovered a technique that soon became one of his favorite ways to catch bass.

The four–time B.A.S.S. winner likes to throw the Wild Eye Swim Shad during the summer in deep water -- 18 to 35 feet -- along the same type of structure where others throw deep-diving crankbaits. Jordon has caught fish on the swimbait at various lakes throughout the country by probing offshore structure such as points, channel drops, humps and submerged pond dams. He prefers the weighted swimbait over a deep-diving crankbait because he believes the lure’s single hook keeps the fish hooked better than the treble hooks of a crankbait.

The Texas pro tries to match his swimbait to the size of the baitfish in the lake he’s fishing. On Lake Fork, the gizzard shad range from 4 inches to a pound, so he opts for the 5-inch Wild Eye swimbait in shad hues.

“It is about the only swimbait you can throw by itself (without an external weight) and fish deep water on the bottom,” Jordon said.

He suggests his deep tactics also be employed with other swimbaits, such as the Hollow Belly, if the lures are attached to heavy jigheads or a Carolina rig.

Jordon’s favorite presentation for summertime bass is a “burn-and-kill” retrieve. After letting the lure fall to the bottom, Jordon reels as fast as he can for five to 10 cranks and then stops. He usually keeps his rod at the nine o’clock position, which puts him in better position for a quick hook set.

The presentation is similar to the jig-stroking tactic in which anglers jerk their rods high and hard to lift their jig off the bottom and let it fall on a slack line to trigger a strike. However, Jordon’s technique keeps his rod in an ideal position for the hook set. 

“If you try to reel down when you feel a bite (on a slack line) most of the time the fish will have already dropped it. They hit the swimbait so aggressively it’s like they are trying to kill it.”

If the “burn-and-kill” retrieve fails to produce, Jordon tries other presentations such as dragging the lure along the bottom with short hops or slow rolling it and letting it occasionally fall back to the bottom. Although dead sticking the lure would probably work, Jordon doesn’t recommend it.

“I have had them pick it off the bottom though, especially when I had a backlash.”

Jordon’s swimbait tricks will also work for suspended bass and fish schooling on the surface.  The Texas pro uses the countdown method (figuring that the lure falls a foot per second) to catch suspended fish and employs the same “burn-and-kill” retrieve for suspended bass and surfacing fish. He favors the Wild Eye Swim Shad for bass busting the surface because he can cast it long distances to reach the surface commotion without spooking the fish. 

Running the Wild Eye Swim Shad in the mid-depth range over deep water works better for Jordon in the fall and winter when the fish tend to suspend more. During these seasons, bass are migrating more and following the baitfish along creek and river channels, ditches or tree lines.

“Then you have to determine if they are in the mouths of the creeks or in the backs or the middle sections.”

Many of the fish will be suspended 10 to 20 feet deep over 30 to 35 feet of water. Jordon slow rolls his swim bait, making sure it stays above the fish.

“You don’t want to be below them. They can see it pretty well then because the water is usually clearer in the wintertime or in the fall.”

The intensity of the strike differs from the hard jolt of summertime bass.

“The bite will feel like a little peck but it will scare you when you set the hook and it doesn’t move,” said Jordon, who has caught bass up to 12 1/2 pounds on the swimbait.

Jordon’s gear for his deep swim bait presentation includes a 7-foot, 9-inch flipping rod combined with a 7.1:1 gear ratio baitcast reel and 25-pound fluorocarbon line.