Chickahominy Swimbaiting with Daniel Jones
Some men cyberstalk supermodels or sports stars or all manners of TikTok influencers. My guilty admission is that for the past year I’ve often been hyper focused on swimbaiters – not just the big names like Oliver Ngy or Butch Brown, but also the local and lesser-known experts. In fact, many times I felt like that latter category had more to offer when it came to my own ability to unlock these presentations and the swimbait culture as a whole.
In that process, I came across the social media channels of Daniel Jones, an angler who lives in my home state of Virginia and exclusively fishes big baits on Chickahominy Lake and the Chickahominy River – the pictures of multiple 10-pounders, and many more nearing that mark, drew me in. I never got a chance to speak to him at the September 2022 Swimbait Universe Gathering, but I hunted him down at the more recent Richmond Fishing Expo to introduce myself. He was gracious enough to agree to an interview. If you’re a Mid-Atlantic swimbaiter or would-be swimbaiter, or you’re planning to fish the tournament at this falls’ Gathering, it’s worth reading what he had to say:
HPFC: What was your fishing history before you got into swimbaiting?
JONES: Pre-swimbait, I fished some local bass tournaments with my grandfather, Raymond Jones. He taught me how to bass fish growing up on the Chickahominy River. Mainly we fished the lower end of the Chick, never really went up past Diascund Creek. I also fished several of the Suffolk lakes with a really good friend of mine. He introduced me to my first glide bait in 2015. I was like, “There’s no way you’re going to catch fish on that.” We were fishing the Northwest River and they really don’t eat glides well down there, but we went fishing again and he had a Roman Made Negotiator. He showed me that on one of the Suffolk lakes, and on about his second cast he busted a 7-pounder on it. I was amazed. You’ve got to be kidding me. That day he whooped my butt with that thing and I was like, “This is never going to happen again.” That pretty much introduced me to swimbaits. It was incredible.
My first one was a Megabass 262. It was a giant bait, but it was a good way to start. I caught a 7 ¾ on a semi-private pond, just walking around the bank – that was it, I was hooked. When I started off fishing I was nothing but topwater. I’d throw a Pop Max and that was it. I loved that and frogging. But once I saw that glide bait swim, and saw that big fish come up and eat it, that was the most amazing fishing experience I’d ever had in my life.
HPFC: So what percentage of your fishing is with big baits these days?
JONES: Ninety-nine percent. I will throw a big wake bait or a rat, but 90 percent of the time I have a glide bait in my hand. I do throw soft baits, but only at certain times – if they’re sitting close to the bottom, I’ll pick up a big paddle tail like a Battle Shad or a Bacca or something like that and start chunking it. If I know that there are a lot of schooling fish around me, that’s when I’ll pick that up.
HPFC: So when you said the Chickahominy, that’s a pretty big system. Are we talking about Chick Lake, the Chickahominy River, the James River, or some combination thereof?
JONES: All of the above. I haven’t had as much success on the James but I haven’t fished it as much, either. The river and the lake are a phenomenal experience, but I know that if I could get on the James River more I’m absolutely positive that there are certain areas that will produce on glide baits.
HPFC: The Chickahominy River and the lake are very similar in a lot of ways, but there are some differences, most notably the tidal influence. Does that affect the way that you fish them?
JONES: It does. The current definitely affects the way the glide bait works. Jason from Phoney Frogs and I are close friends and to me he’s got one of the best glides on the market. He started leaving he pins exposed so you can just pull it out and adjust the bait. If the current’s pulling too hard you can tune it to your liking to deal with that. It’s a very versatile bait. You can just do so many things with it.
HPFC: What do you mean? Can you provide an example of an adjustment that triggers strikes or catches bigger fish?
JONES: Sometimes if you’re throwing up by a stump, you can bring it up to that stump and stop it. If you tune the bait just right – a little subtle change like hooks or split rings – you can get that bait to sink a lot slower and stop it and it’ll sit right beside that stump. I’ve had it happen several times where I’ve done that, watched my bait sit there for 3 or 4 seconds, and a 10-pounder comes up and eats it while it’s sitting still. I’ve watched most of the 10-pounders I’ve caught eat the bait.
HPFC: What’s the biggest misconception? For people like me who are just getting into this, it can be hard to get my mind around throwing an 8-, 9- or 10-inch bait. Is that common, or is there something else that holds people back?
JONES: I think that people tend to get defeated. When I worked at Fishing Pro Tech and Hooker Bait & Tackle, guys would come in and ask a bunch of questions. I’d help them out the best I could. I’d try to explain how to use them. They’d buy the rod, the reel, the bait, and then go out there, throw it a few times, and put it back down. You have to commit to it if you want to do it. You have spend time learning. You can’t just go out there and expect you’re going to immediately catch a 10. It took me years and years to really know the bait and what it was doing. If you’re not looking at it visually, and you cast it out and let it sink down, you have to understand what that bait is doing under the water. I think a lot of guys don’t have the confidence in it. They want to go right back and pick up a crankbait or a spinnerbait because they want to catch fish, but if you want to go out and catch giant bass you have to commit to learning the bait, paying attention to everything.
HPFC: Is it a 12 month out of the year thing? Are there seasonal differences?
JONES: For me, it’s any time of the year. I’ve sold all of my conventional gear. The only conventional rod and reel I have is my frog rod. I’ll still throw a glide in the summertime. I do think that the pressure as the day goes on, with all of the boats and pontoons and jet skis in the summertime does persuade them to stay deeper. Once the river gets rocking and rolling, that plays a role, but if you get there early in the morning or late in the evening – kind of like the topwater bite – you can get them to commit. Or maybe pick up a big rat or a big wake bait, throwing it down the pads. Bass are very territorial, and if something big that they’re not used to seeing comes by them, a lot of times they’re going to come up and knock the crap out of it.
HPFC: Does bait color matter? Are you trying to imitate any particular forage?
JONES: Absolutely it matters. I’ve been out some days with my really good friend William Allen – he’s really good at it, too. He was throwing a pink one and I was throwing more of a natural color and he was just putting it on me. For some reason that pink one was on that day, it was just what they wanted. And there are days when I’ve gone out with the natural and he’s used the pink and I’ve worn him out. It depends on the day. I think the sun and the clouds play a role in what color to throw, and of course water clarity does as well.
HPFC: What’s the biggest one you’ve caught and how many double digits from the Chickahominy system?
JONES: I’ve caught five double digits in the past two years. I’ve got a 10.01, 10.02, 10.06, 10.45 and a 10.80.
I know for a fact that last year I lost a teener. I had one come out from beneath a dock that was every bit of 13 pounds. I watched her engulf that bait. I went to set the hook and she opened her mouth and the whole bait came right out of her mouth. It was incredible. I could never get her to eat again.
HPFC: What is a good day in terms of numbers?
JONES: I’ve caught 10 to 12. A couple of years ago I went out and caught a 30 pound bag, five fish. The more I’ve been fishing the glides harder and harder, I’ve learned more about what they want and how they want it in certain areas.
HPFC: Is it a viable tournament option?
JONES: Absolutely. Me and William fished a local tournament out of Rockahock a couple of months ago and we had 24 pounds for first place just throwing swimbaits.
HPFC: For someone just starting out, can you suggest four or five “starter” baits and color selections?
JONES: I normally fish a high end bait. The Phoney Frogs are a little pricey, but I believe in the custom baits over the ABS plastic baits for the simple fact that you can tune them. I like to adjust the swim, and with the ABS baits you really can’t. If you’re going to go out and buy a Deps 250, you’re still going to pay about $180 for it, but in addition to the lures from Jason St. Mary at Phoney Frogs, Rafael Perez makes a really good bait, too. I support my custom guys who are building in their garage. They’re hardworking guys and I know the money is going to their families.
HPFC: What are key colors in the glide baits?
JONES: I normally have a couple of natural patterns – something with a shinier side and a green back to imitate shad. I also like pink, and bone is always a great choice. It just gets jumped. And you should probably also have a bluegill style pattern.
HPFC: Do you have other preferred tackle?
JONES: I love F5 Custom Rods from Oklahoma. Brad Vanderpool is awesome and I really believe in the product he builds. As far as reels, I’ve been playing between Shimano and Daiwa lately. Shimano has a swimbait reel that technically is made for jigging and I think they have the best drag system. As far as line goes, I love Izorline XXX.
HPFC: Do you have preferences in terms of replacement split rings or trebles?
JONES: I normally go with Decoy – their split rings and their quad hooks.
HPFC: How has having the Gathering on your home waters affected you?
JONES: When me and Wayne talked about it at first, the first one was at Fishing Pro Tech. It went great. There was great camaraderie, a good feel to it, and it continues to get better. I can’t think of any negative impact to it. I like getting the guys together – we have a big tournament. Every year it’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Up until this year, it’s been guys from out of state who’ve won it.
HPFC: Without giving away too much, for someone who’s coming from New Hampshire or Florida or Oklahoma, what’s one tip you’d give them to help them succeed on the Chick?
JONES: Fish with confidence. If you come down there and you have a good idea of what you’re doing, if you head out with confidence and imagine you’re going to catch that big fish you can do it. That’s one of the keys to swimbait fishing – believing that you’re going to do it, believing you’re going to catch that double digit. I spent a lot of time catching my 8- and 9-pounders, but I still hadn’t caught that 10-pounder, but I got to the point that I was just relaxed. I was paying attention, focusing on what I was doing, and expecting that big bite. Once I started doing that, everything changed for me.
If this interview only whetted your appetite for more content from Daniel, stay tuned. We’re already planning some written and video content to further explore this deep rabbit hole of big baits.
