Real World Tests: All seven of the new Berkley jigs were designed with a great deal of input from the company’s prostaff, and primarily Gary Klein and Bobby Lane, two pro anglers that are known for their expertise and skills with jigs. In addition to fishing these jigs on my home water of the California Delta and local lakes since the last ICAST I also fished with both anglers in Florida to learn about their input into these jigs, and how they personally fish the jigs in various situations.

In addition to fishing the jigs in our local water of the California Delta we headed to Florida to fish the jigs at Lake Toho and the Bienville Plantation

This included fishing with Bobby at Lake Toho in the Summer and Gary at Bienville Plantation in the Winter. To dive even deeper into the design of these jigs I also had the opportunity to fish with Dan Spangler and Nathan Ragsdale from the product team at Berkley, and several other Berkley Pros, to really understand the design and production behind the new lineup and how fish react to them across a wide range of applications and conditions.

The Swim Jigs are designed to be paired with a variety of swimbaits and still swim very even keel

Operation: When I first examined the Berkley jig lineup I was impressed with the level of detailing in the heads, as well as the way that the skirts flare differently on each of the jigs. The head shape and line tie position vary greatly depending on the individual jig design and intended application.

To take fishing these jigs to the next level we employed live sonar where we could watch the fish come up from the bottom as the jigs were moved over structure. The use of this technology with baits that can be worked right over fish is a game changer

The PowerBait scent is ever-present on these jigs, and yet is not overpowering. Unlike many scents PowerBait doesn’t overwhelm everything in your box or locker, but the signature “stench” is still an acquired taste. We all know that what fish see, smell, and taste is different than what we perceive as anglers and Berkley puts a lot of work into testing each one of their Powerbait lures, including many experiments within a test tank at their Sprit Lake facility where they can subject fish to new baits and compare that to a control group. The goal with the PowerBait skirted jigs is two-fold, first to disperse a scent that is designed to draw in bass, and second to present fish with a lure that tastes good so that they hold on longer, giving anglers more time to successfully set the hook.

Are you a believer in PowerBait infused plastics? Pro Anglers like Joseph Webster are

It is hard to validate just how effective the PowerBait scent draw is in the field on these baits, but I have witnessed the effectiveness of PowerBait on several lures, and especially with the MaxScent Chigger Craw and Flat Worms. When comparing those baits side by side to other lures fishing on the same boat and targeting the same water we have seen these baits outfish similar sized and profile baits by 2-3X on certain occasions. When I fished the PowerBait jigs alone versus other jigs they performed as well, or better, than other jigs in most situations but when we doubled up and added a Chigger Craw this seemed to not only add to the jig’s drawing power but how long fish would hold on to the bait.

PowerBait scent has two functions: Draw in the fish and get them to hold on longer

It is easy to be skeptical about the efficacy of PowerBait infused into skirts on a jig but over the past few months I’ve seen some interesting behavior from fish that certainly add confidence to the effectiveness of the implementation. One example was when I was fishing the football jig in clear water and just observing the skirt flare when a 2lb bass swam by and sucked up the jig right in front of us. Rather than set the hook we just watched the fish swim away with it and it didn’t even spit out the jig until it disappeared into deeper water more than 5 seconds later and likely felt the tension on the line. Berkley claims that fish hold on to PowerBait lures 18X longer than other baits, and while that seems like a stretch, behavior like this seems to support that fish certainly don’t dislike the taste, and are willing to hold onto the lures.

Dan shows us the clean design on the Swim Jig. Each head and skirt was specifically designed for the application

Next Section: Pro Angler Bobby Lane fishes the Swim Jig...