Swimmer Smallmouth
The single swimmer option has become a go-to presentation that excels during summer period from mid-July through post-turnover in late October.
A jig and paddletail remains a simple and effective fish-finder for me. I’m sure it will play well on your favorite clear water smallmouth fisheries too. Take a 3.8” paddletail, and rig it on a swimming style jig head. Bomb cast, count the bait down to the suggested depth, and let the wagging tail and wobble of the head do the work for you. A slower, steady retrieve is best, but I will mix it up with rips and pauses so that the bait slow-rolls back to the bottom and the illusion of a minnow in distress triggers a strike. Maintain the depth baitfish and smallmouth are at.
It’s the perfect strategy for covering water on windy days, bomb-casting the open water amid cisco schools, and targeting big fish. It’s a favorite search lure for colder water early spring and fall smallmouth. From late spring post-spawn, through early fall prior to turnover, Strike King Rage Swimmers on a 3/8 oz. or 1/2 oz. Trokar Boxing Glove Jig accounts for several big smallies, explosive strikes, and major numbers of them from many clear water lakes. It catches fish year-round. Bomb cast and let the wagging tail and wobble of the head do the work for you. A slow, steady retrieve is best, but I will mix it up with periodic pauses so that the bait slow-rolls back to the bottom. The key is to keep the bait swimming slowly just above the structure and the depths bass are at. A medium, steady retrieve is best with med. heavy action spinning setup, or medium action casting setup.
Some of our favorite scenarios of fishing the rig:
- Windblown shorelines in spring and fall
- Spring spawning bays and staging locations
- Covering water along large shallow flats
- Weedline fishing
- Bomb casting around pods of baitfish and open water cisco schools
The rage swimmer features a fat body section, and thin tail that produces a slow wag that’s deadly on A-Rigs and jig set-ups. If you see a lot of 3- and 4-inch cisco or yellow perch swimming around, or bass blowing up on bluegills and other baitfish in the shallows, that’s my identifier to fish a paddletail. Another situation would be if you see smallmouths suspended over structure or corralling schools of perch or ciscoes. Keep in mind that in our clear water, smallmouths are sight feeders, so matching the hatch is of utmost importance. Ayu and Crystal are the only Rage Swimmer colors I use. My bait combo is fished exclusively with the Trokar boxing glove jig – an exposed hook jighead. Great for covering water, catching aggressive smallmouths, and sometimes huge ones. The exposed hook will restrict the swimbait’s motion and tail action, but will pin nearly every fish that strikes or nudges the bait. 
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