Swim Jigs / Weedguards & Skirt Trimming

I’m new to swim Jigs but basically hear allot of talk about trimming back weedguards/skirts etc. Can anyone elaborate on this ? It seems the weedguards on them are stiff & there are so many.. Can I trim some of these off.. Are they’re angles ? Tips anyone has ? Skirt lengths (Did he say Skirt lenghts ??? Hold on guys… I’m talkin jigs here )

Any advice ? This question is geared to bass fishing. Hope to pull as many jigs through the water as I can this year. Tight out of the box, these jigs I have seem like they might fish allot better if they we’re “set up” correctly.

Thanks..

The jigs I have are a variety of Manns & Stanleys. All have skirts & plastic weedguards.

Also if anyone has pics of their favorite swim jigs, post em up.

I wouldn’t hesitate to trim off the weedguard. You probably only need about 8-12 strands depending on their stiffness.

As for the skirts, something I trim them, sometimes I don’t. I guess it depends on my mood.

I got alot of swim jigs this winter from different people and i noticed that the length of the skirts vary. What i will do is trim according to the trailer i’m using. For instance if i use a small short trailer i will trim more back. Not saying this is right it’s just what i do

Take what Dan said and you will do well, If while doing this you miss a few bites shorten the skirt length ever further and you will increase your hookups.
jc

I ALL WAYS TRIM THE WEEDGUARD, THE WAY I DO IT IS TO BEND THE WEEDGUARD BACK TOWARDS THE HEAD WITH YOUR THUMB SO THE WEEDGUARD FANS OUT,THEN BEND IT BACK TO GUARD THE HOOK BUT IN THE FAN, THAN I START TO TRIM PARALLEL TO THE HOOK STARTING 1/4″ ABOVE THE HOOK BE CAREFULL NOT TO TRIM TO CLOSE TO THE HOOK, THAN YOU MIGHT AS WELL CUT THE WHOLE THING OFF , NO GOOD, WHILE TRIMING KEEP TESTING BY LETTING THE JIG HANG OVER YOUR FINGER WHILE TIED ON TO THE LINE AND SLOWLY PULL THE JIG OVER YOUR FINGER TO MAKE SURE IT IS STILL WEEDLESS (SHOULDN’T STICK TO YOUR FINGER) DO NOT SET THE HOOK !!!

THE REASON I FAN IT IS, I FEEL YOU GET SOME SIDE PROTECTION AND IT IS EASIER TO TRIM, YOU CAN TRIM ONE WHISKER AT A TIME AND YOU CAN ROUND YOUR TRIMING, WHEN THE WEED GUARD GOES BACK TOGETHER JUST BEND IT OUT AGAIN AND BEND IT BACK, AND IT STAYS FANNED OUT FOR QUITE A LONG TIME.

JUST MY WAY TO DO IT , NO PRO OR ANYTHING, JUST WORKS GOOD FOR ME

Mr. Nugent,
I agree with Blue fleck. Do not hesitate to trim some strands off of your weed guard, especially if the weed guard is stiff. After the swim jig explosion of a few years ago, there are many Big companies out there marketing what they call a “Swim Jig”. You can call a bicycle an airplane if you want but it wont’t fly the same. It is in my opinion that most of these Huge assembly line, mass production baits compromise the integrity of the swim jig. I have seen them, out of the box with stiffer weed guards and extremely wider gapped hooks than most flipping jigs which to me makes no sense. The quality swim jigs available today are the jigs which are designed to replicate the Bluegill/Shad pattern. These jigs will be hand crafted, painted and tied and will feature a quality hook. Remember, you get what you pay for. You may pay slightly more for a quality swim jig such as a Brovarney, Lethal Weapon II, Team Supreme, RC Tackle or a Yellow River Outfitters Jig but the bait will be ready to fish right out of the box and it will be designed to catch fish, not fisherman. Also remember that matching your grub to your jig is also very important. Match the hatch as well. Figure out what the primary forage is on the body of water you are fishing and swim tha appropriate jig. As an example, if you are fishing the Mississippi, you will want your jigs to feature Bluegill and Crawdad colors (Blue, Brown, Black) earlier in the year and your Shad colors later in the summer and fall (White, Chartruse, silver). I hope this advice helps.
Good luck
Danny

You guys are great ! Advice that I immediately implemented.. Thanks so much !

My wife came into my office & there must have been 300 little 1/8 inch plastic strands all over the floor from my trimmings. It was classic.. Someone else recently posted about their wives thinking they we’re surfing bad things on IDA….
My wife just walks in & says “Now what are you up to… Oh, never mind.. I don’t want to know”