The Strike King Swim Jig Review

Let’s face it, swim jigs are awesome. I personally love fishing grass in the hours right before afternoon. The swim jig offers the opportunity to bust through cover fast and cover water. They’re awesome for bed fishing, open water, and good around wood and rock. It also has a “bloom” action in the skirt, or a secondary action. I’ve been fishing a handful of jigs lately on the California Delta and notice some shinning qualities of the Strike King KVD in smokey shad and chartreuse sexy shad.

KVD Head Type Through Cover

Unlike a bulletheaded jig that’ll pull upward, this jig remains steady on its retrieval path ( rate of stall). This is great for plowing through grass. I like the way this thing moves through moderate to heavy cover and rarely gets hung up or brings back any strands of vegetation. As for its overall toughness and design, its definitely not built to mow down any thing in front of it, but its great for blasting through early spring Hydrilla. Around grassy points and isolated grass beds, the Strike King swim jig really shines.

 Strike King Hook And Weed Guard

As a bed fishing bait, the KVD’s weed guard allows me to keep sight of my bait on long casts and slow retrieves. For example, that smokey shad color below has a bright white guard. At first, I had problem with it ( as a human); it just looked unnatural, almost fluorescent in low light. But as a bed fishing bait, that white guard acts as a beacon and when that fluorescent white disappears, it’s go-time.

I’m digging the hook on this lure as its perfect for the applications it claims to excel at; Heavy enough to drag a double-digit fish out of cover without bending out. I love the wire clip below the hook that holds my trailer in place. I can’t tell you how many soft plastic trailers I’ve burned through on a Zman Chatterbait after it breaks apart and slides down the shank.

Action Paired With A Keitech Trailer

I really like the Keitech Fat Swing 5.8 paired with a 3/8 oz Jig. It’s got a noticeable pulse ( or skirt bloom) and I’ve already received a ton of reaction bites on this thing while bed fishing, slow rolling it through grass, and popping it along with subtle drops. This trailer adds the greatest balance of tail and secondary action. Its a perfect bait fish imitation and presents that meal on the larger side, hence why I’ve been fishing it on the Delta.

Final thoughts

All in all, The Strike King Swim Jig is a fantastic bait. It dominates pre-spawn all the way to late fall, in my opinion. It has good action when paired with the right tail. Additionally, the jigs features allow for a smooth entry into moderate cover. Its a perfect follow-up to a chatter bait or anything more intrusive and loud. If you’re looking for a good search bait for submerged grass and want to imitate shad or other bait fish, give it a shot!