Jonn Graham

I'm glad somebody likes high, cold, muddy water. I sure don't. Good luck. Catch a few more on the my "scout" swim jigs.

NOrm: Regarading Powerton, from what I saw the fishing was non-existent. Jim Kast and I hit it on Dec. 26th. Jim and I worked our tail off and got no bites whatsoever. Heck, the catfishermen were not even catching many cats. There were probably half a dozen guys strictly targeting smallies, and only one guy caught a smallie around 14 inches. They were pumping water but it was not warm. The warm water section was 49 degrees and the main lake was 46 degrees. I may head back soon as a result of my poor river fishing of late. Dana: Good to see you back on board.

Cool! Counting my 20 incher 90 days ago, that is two 20 inchers caught on "The Scout" swim jig.

Thanks again Norm for the kind words.

Norm: Thanks for the kind words concerning my jigs. I am glad that you are happy with them. Hopefully they will bring you many a bountiful days of smallie fishing nirvana.

I have both the tail and body hair. I am using the tail hair mostly, but I do like to take a little body hair to make some accents.

Tim: Yes, I am still making all the jigs that you have been using. The swim jig (which I call the "Scout") is just a new jig in the Warrior Jigs lineup. The jigs that you used I believe were my "feather-fall" jigs, which were a combination of deer hair and starflash silicone skirting. They require a trailer and are fished on or near the bottom fairly slowly. Of course the fnf jigs are fished under a float, and the Ouchigon jig is basically a downsized, finesse version of the feather-fall without the hair. Now, the swim jig is different. You do add some type of action trailer, but these jigs are mainly used to cover water quickly. You are working these jigs normally in the mid water column. You are reeling them fairly quickly and looking for those active smallies. I just started fishing them last summer/fall and my results were amazing. Great numbers and some real nice fish. When they hit a swim jig, you know it!! I think next warm water season, the swim jig will be a big part of my daily arsenal. I can't wait to put the swim jigs in the hands of my 2008 clients. should be a real test. Hope this explains your question.

Here are a couple of photos of some float n fly jigs freshly tyed last night. Many of them are tyed with Arctic Fox hair (bushy white jigs) rather than with craft hair which is standard fare for fnf jigs. I have really like the Arctic Fox fnf jigs as they fall much slower below the float. Plan to give them a workout on Saturday.

Norm: Will that "silver Shad" pattern match your needs?

Last but not least, is my Crappie swim jig. I have crappie in my local flows. Don't know how many smallies actively forage on them, but you never know. Sure makes a cool jig though. Well there they are. I have come up with a list of my standard colors: Silver Shad Madtom Crappie Rock Bass Blue gill Green Sunny Class Clown Purple Passion Clifford's Craw Those are the standard patterns, but I am willing to custom make any combo.

This next one is a dark swim jig I am simply calling Madtom.

This next one is my standard Shad pattern. I call it Silver Shad as I have mixed in some silver strands in with the white. By the way, Norm, I envision your jigs looking like this one. If that is OK.

I have not been able to fish for three straight weekends due to the weather. Because of this I have been tying jigs like a madman. Thought I might share a few of my newest patterns. this is my version of the stream Rock Bass. I have Rockies in many of my streams, and have watched smallies actively chasing them down for dinner.

Just a reminder for anyone thinking of purchasing a few of my swim jigs, the special price for ISA members ($37 per dozen) will end on January 15th. Spring is right around the corner

Mike: Glad you liked your namesake lure! By the way, the special ISA price on a dozen will run until January 15th. I have already received a couple of orders, so don't wait if you are interested in purchasing some for the spring of 08.

I caught them on the swim jig all the way down to 42 degree water temp. Can't wait for spring to really give them a workout.

I also use braid for my swim jigs. I use 20 pound suffix braid and usually throw the swim jigs on a casting outfit. Though I have thrown the swim jig with a spinning rod and it worked ok as well.

Paul: In my limited swim jig experience, I have only used the bait as strictly a "swim" bait. I have not dragged or hopped the jig on the bottom. I have found the 1/4 oz. to be the best weight. Problem with the 1/8 oz model is it tends to want to ride too high in the water column on the retrieve. Now I may be able to remedy this by tying the 1/8 ouncers with a much sparser skirt and maybe go with a smaller trailer?? Don't know, but am going to try. I do know the 1/4 ouncers should be right for the Kish. Due to their bullet-head design they seem to be fairly snag resistant. When they get snagged, they often will pop out of rocks and such fairly well. I have been fishing mine without weedguards, but do have the weedguards that fit into the jig. I think next year I will fish them with the weedguards when around wood and other sticky cover. Paul, I wil say they are a very enjoyable bait to fish. They seem to definitely catch the attention of active smallies. They hit the bait VERY HARD! Also, the 1/4, and 3/8 models with a trailer provide a bait that is heavy enough to allow long casts, which allows you to cover alot of river water very quickly.

Here are two more patterns. Mike C: the one on the right is my craw pattern...............I think I will officially call it the "Clifford Craw". The one on the left is "purple passion".

Yah, I have already thought about the sassy grubs and Charlie's grubs. Charlie has a new grub called a double action grub. Really cool.

One more thing...................when it comes to fishing swim jigs, I am a novice to say the least. If you really want to learn the craft, Jim Kast is your man. He has helped me immensely. Hopefully he will maybe offer some pearls of swim jig wisdom on this thread.

Jim: Thanks for the kind words..............much appreciated. MIke: I do have a crawdad patterned swim jig. I will try to post it for you asap. ON the subject of plastic swim jig trailers, from what I have seen, most guys use larger twister tail grubs. I started out using big grubs as well. Caught smallies with the grub as well. Then Jim keyed me into the idea of adding a swim bait to the swim jig. Works awesome! The paddle tail on the end of the grub gives off great vibration and makes the jig itself shimmy back and forth on the retrieve.......really cool. Believe it or not, the swim baits I have used (right now Bass Assassin makes a great one that is marketed as a walleye/saltwater bait) wobble so much I can feel it in my rod. Kinda like a finesse crankbait feel in the rod. I feel in 2008 the swim jig will be my number 1 search bait. I would think it could really comb the waters of the 3K catching the active fish quickly in an area.

thanks for the compliment. Jig tying/selling is what you would call a "side job". I must admit I really do enjoy doing it. Great activity when you can't be on the stream.

By the way, I am now selling these swim jigs. $3.75 apiece 2 for $7 and a SPECIAL LIMITED TIME ISA PRICE - $37 per dozen. I can make almost any color combination or you can order stock colors that I already have. Head sizes range from 1/8 to 3/8.