The Top 3 Ways to Fish Single Swimbaits for Big Bass

Fishing a single swimbait can be absolutely deadly almost anytime of year. They excel due to their ability to closely match up with the favorite forage of bass, shad and minnows. This is from their plastic composition and action, but they are also a great choice because of their ease of fishability, in most cases anglers can simply cast and wind to catch fish.

In today’s blog we will go over three proven rigging options and techniques to catch big bass with a single swimbait!

To start all you need are some good quality swimbaits such as the YUM/Scottsboro swimbaits and an array of the components we will discuss below.

1. Open jig head

This is the most well-known option, and the easiest option for new fishermen to get started with a single swimbait. For this technique you need two main components. A quality swimbait such as the YUM/Scottsboro in a size that fits the shad or minnow forage around you and a swimbait jig head in a size that matches the swimbait size and depth you’re fishing. For larger sizes you need a larger hook and vice versa for smaller swimbaits, this goes the same for the depth you are fishing. Move up weight for deeper and smaller for shallower water. For this option you want to be fishing open water or around sparse cover because with the open hook it is very easy to hang up. The best option for this model is to find fish suspended in deep water, schooling, or near sparse structure and slowly reel the swimbait by. You want to sneak this bait past them, so it looks as realistic as possible as its wagging by.

2. Belly weighted swimbait hook

The second rigging option and technique to use for a single swimbait is to rig it on a belly weighted swimbait hook. This is essentially an extra wide gap hook with a weight along the shank so the swimbait can be rigged weedless to fish around cover. For this option I like to choose the YUM 4.5” Pulse because it has an exaggerated tail action that works well around dense cover. Simply Texas rig this swimbait and you are ready to go. To fish a swimbait in this style you want to look for heavy cover such as shallow laydowns, grass, or deep-water cover such as brush piles. Rigging the swimbait this way allows you to fish heavy cover without snagging and present a lure that not many fish in this type of cover see often.

3. Swing head jig

The third and final rig I want to specify for rigging single swimbaits is one that not many anglers are going to be familiar with and that is fishing them on a swing head style jig like the Gene Larew Biffle Hardhead. Fishing swimbaits on a swing head jig gives them a remarkable free swimming action and also allows them to be weedless. Most importantly this option gives you the ability to present a swimbait tightly to the bottom to attack bass that are set up on creek channels, rock piles or other deep water cover. For this scenario I often look for a smaller swimbait with a tighter action such as the Gene Larew Long John Minnow. This swimbait has a slender body and tight action that lends well to this rig. Just match up the swimbait to the right hook on the Hardhead and you are ready to chunk and wind!