New ~SWIMMING SHAKEY JIGS~ added to the store

We're witnessing an unprecedented shift of techniques the past few seasons (from mid-2005 onward) on the top pro tours in the USA. The legacy and domination of top pro wins with staunch staples like crankbaits, Texas-rigged worms, flipping jigs and spinnerbaits isn't over, but it's not the only way anymore. Lures, tactics and even locations being fished by winning pros are often new and unfamiliar at pro levels. A few examples include mop-sized rubber jigs, saltwater-sized pencil poppers, waking plastic-lipped floating and jointed minnows, plus humongous soft swimbaits to name a few unprecedented approaches we've seen pros embrace and win with lately. Some of these lures and techniques are regional practices not widely-used outside their areas, such as mop jigs in Georgia, big trout swimbaits in California or wiggle diggles (jointed Red Fins) in Missouri for example.

What all these regional favorites have in common is that these techniques are being used (many for the first time) by top pro anglers to win top competitions.

The last 2 seasons, top pros have won and place highly with such new tactics. New, that is, at top pro levels. With the heavy media coverage of top pros on TV and in fishing magazines, these new and often regional tactics become communicated and disseminated to local and recreational anglers everywhere, causing major shifts in lure usage nationwide.

That's not to say every bass angler has gone and gotten a saltwater pencil popper or mop-sized jig, but do you have a Chatterbait due to top tournament successes reported with it in early 2006? Do you have a new interest in fishing deep with football jigs or shakey jigs since top pros have repeatedly won with such jig types by fishing deeper locations the past two seasons? Like many bass anglers, you probably have or will incorporate shakey jigs and football jigs into your repertoire, based on top pro's recent successes with such lures.

The shakey jig in particular was virtually unheard of across much of the country - until top pro anglers started to use them about two seasons back. Since then, due to top pros continuing to demonstrate success with shakey jigs, it is an incredibly popular tactic across the USA today.

Shakey jigs are associated with long, slender finesse worms and with 6, 8 or 10 pound test finesse spinning gear. It's hard to find a winning pro nowadays who isn't using finesse spinning gear as part of his winning methods. Consider however, such finesse spinning gear was relatively unused by top pros until two seasons ago.

Shakey jigs are not really geared toward shallow water or the bank. One accepted way to use a shakey jig is to let it hit bottom in moderately deep water, say in the 10 to 30 foot range. Many anglers believe the shakey jig design will stand a finesse worm upright on its nose (which actually isn't the case much of the time). As the name implies, many anglers then shake the line to make the worm quiver and shake on the bottom. Keep in mind however, it's often the initial fall and touchdown - or it is a lackluster pause in the shaking process, when most bites occur.

The Swimming Shakey Jig you see here can be used and works swell exactly as described in such a bottom-hugging approach. Yet its special value is, as the name implies, swimming and shaking it, keeping it moving above bottom. Swimming and shaking - not bottom-hugging - is what this Swimming Shakey Jig is all about.

The Swimming Shakey Jig you see here is particularly useful for swimming finesse worms or action-tail worms through weeds. It can be swam through weeds emerging close to the surface - or swam through deeper weed beds growing closer to the bottom.

Another great method for the Swimming Shakey Jig you see here, is to swim it and keep it coming at you in open water, anywhere from just below the surface to just above the bottom, and all mid-level depths in between. In Japan, they've defined this very tactic. They call it "mid-strolling."

It is done with finesse spinning gear, a finesse worm (or similar soft bait) equipped with a light jig head.

Mid-strolling is a technique whereby a Japanese angler casts out and will softly shake the rod tip ever-so-gently little by little and have the lure swim back to the angler anywhere from 3 to 15 feet deep in the middle range of the water column - slowly. The retrieve speed can be from zero (just letting the lure pendulum fall back toward you with no reeling) to whatever reeling pace is needed to maintain a target depth level. That is, you should reel slower to maintain a 15 foot depth level, often requiring momentary pauses in the retrieve. Brief pauses in the reeling not only help the jig counter its tendency to ride up higher in the water, but the brief pauses are also high percentage strike moments. During the pause, the jig will reverse its tendency to rise and it will instead want to settle lower. When reeling is resumed, the jig will again want to ride up again. The momentary up-down-up effect when you pause is a natural strike trigger.

So you will need to reel slower (often requiring pauses) to maintain a deeper strolling level. You will need to reel a little quicker (with the rod tip up) to maintain a higher (say a five foot) strolling level through the water column.

What anglers in Japan do during the retrieve, they shake it maybe 75% of the time. The other 25% should be equally-spaced, short intervals when it falls or glides slowly. Think of three slow turns of the reel (75%) while lightly shaking, then one slower, steady turn (25%) without shaking.

The mid-strolling technique excels under tough conditions, or whenever bass are suspended at mid-levels in the water column.

5 Swimming Shakey Jigs ~ 5/32 oz ~ Red Gill Flash

5 Swimming Shakey Jigs ~ 1/8 oz ~ Black