The greatest range of applications within the Keitech
family lies in fishing the Swing impact FaT on an open jig-
head. it’s a seemingly simple technique with a lot of
nuance in its mastery.
The Single Swimmer Presentation
60
The first thing Smith does when he picks up a Swing
impact FaT on a jighead is sink it in the lake and count
how long it takes to hit bottom. The sink rate becomes his
reference point for every subsequent cast, whether fish-
ing on bottom or suspended off it.
“if i’m in 10 feet and it takes eight seconds to get down
there, and i’m going to fish in 20 feet during the day, i’ll
adjust my count accordingly,” he says. “every cast is count-
ed down every time.”
The next step is controlling the bait’s rise during the
retrieve. Smith says the bait could come up as much as a
few feet, depending on several factors, so when he’s wind-
ing Smith pauses his retrieve about one-third of the way
back and again two-thirds of the way back to let the bait
Dialing In
sink (the sudden change also triggers bites) back into the
target zone.
How long he has to let it pause is heavily influenced
by tackle.
“You have to be careful of your line and weight, almost
like a crankbait,” Smith says. “if you’re trying to reach 20
feet and throwing a 6Xd, it makes a big difference if you
have 12-pound line or 17-pound line.
“it’s the same thing with a swimbait. experience and
testing will let you know how far off the bottom that bait
is getting, how much rise it has with bigger line size and
stuff like that.”
The jig’s line-tie angle is important too, which is why
Smith is adamant that his jigheads be made with a 90-
degree eye and not a 60-degree eye. a 90-degree eye keeps
the bait level as it swims, which cuts down on the rise.
“i swear you can use the same weight in a 90-degree
and 60-degree, and you’ll notice an extra second that it
has to fall or maybe a foot more that it has to sink [dur-
ing the pauses in the retrieve] when using a 60-degree,”
Smith explains.
FLWFISHING.COM I SPRING 2019