By Chad Gay
Public Relations/Pro Staff Manager
PRADCO Fishing


BOOYAH's New Swim'n Jig Perfect For Thick-Grass Giants Fort Smith, Ark. -- Arkansas big bass expert Mitch Looper knew he had uncovered something big.

Looper was looking for something new. A new way to catch really big fish. He called them "Giants." Those really big bass that make your heart pound and your hands shake.

In 1985, Looper began swimming a jig. He cast it, and instead of letting it sink and working it like a traditional jig, he cranked it back to the boat. Fish in Arkansas had never seen a jig fished that way, and they attacked the jig viciously.

At that time, the only weedless bass jigs available to Looper were the Arkie style heads. They did a pretty good job, but Looper needed a better jig to swim through thick water willows and other emergent vegetation. Some of the problems Looper had with the Arkie style head was that it was not designed for weeds, so it would pick up loose strands of vegetation and hang up in thicker stands, especially on a long cast. Also, if he fished one that was heavy enough to swim fast without coming out of the water, he had to hold his rod high, out of position for a hookset, just to keep the jig high in the water column.

A jig that was light enough to allow Looper to hold his rod in the proper position often came out of the water on a fast retrieve and when it encountered weeds. When regular grass-style heads showed up in stores near Looper, he thought it would be a great improvement, but they disappointed him when he used them to swim jigs. Looper wanted a jig that he could cast great distances, swim very fast, would shed vegetation, would slip through thick water willows at a distance and still catch giants as well as the old-style jig heads. Looper often saw big bass moving in the backs of weedbeds, but he couldn't find a jig he could cast back there and retrieve without getting hung up. In the thickest mat, he could make effective retrieves with short casts only.

So Looper took matters into his own hands. He fashioned a flat-bottomed, arrowhead jig head that weighed 1/2 ounce. The line tie was in-line with the shank of the hook so it would slip through the really thick vegetation. Looper's original version was a bit rough looking, but the fish didn't seem to mind. Looper and his father, as well as some close friends, began catching big bass, some over 10 pounds. One of the few to fish the jig landed a giant that weighed 11-5.

Word began to spread about the jig, and many local tournaments were won on the bait. Looper's jig has been one of the best fish catchers in western Arkansas for almost 20 years. Now, BOOYAH Bait Company has taken Looper's idea and, with his help, perfected his idea. The BOOYAH Swim'n Jig has all the elements of the original, with a beefed-up Excalibur Tx3 hook designed specifically for the Swim'n Jig. A bait keeper behind the skirt collar holds plastic trailers securely. Looper prefers a YUM Wooly Hawg Craw as a trailer for his Swim'n Jig. He dyes the tips of the pincers with chartreuse dye. Looper says the Wooly Hawg Craw creates lots of water displacement and vibration. Other favorites include YUM Chunks, the YUM Muy Grub and Twintail Grub.

Looper said he has found that no trailer at all will still produce quality bass, especially when fish are missing the bait or keying on the trailer. The BOOYAH Swim'n Jig can be fished a variety of ways. Looper says the best way to fish it is to cast to the thickest patch of weeds you can find and then crank it quickly back to the boat. Fish will explode on it, much like they do on a buzzbait. Once you're confident with this technique, Looper suggests you experiment with different retrieves.

He pauses in openings to let the bait drop a bit and then accelerates the jig out of the opening. Looper says bass think the jig is escaping prey, and this technique produces strikes more often than not. One thing Looper says is a must for fishing the Swim'n Jig is heavy equipment. Anglers need enough muscle to get big fish out of the thick stuff.

After 20 years of hauling giants out of the grass, Looper should know. Chad Gay Public Relations/Pro Staff Manager PRADCO Fishing