Specialization in bass fishing has gained significant momentum in recent years. Some skeptics say it's just for companies to sell more products, but savvy anglers know specialization can, and will, increase effectiveness – especially under difficult tournament conditions.

Take a look and you'll see that just about every component in today's bass-fishing arsenal has been tweaked beyond imagination. Rods are better, reels are smoother, line is tougher yet more pliable, and lures are pieces of art. The venerable jig's been a little slower out of the chute to change, but a few years back, it underwent a revolution too.

The jig started as just a flipping model, then split into flipping and casting versions, then into a spectrum of structure-oriented tools designed for every imaginable application.

One company that's right in the thick of jig specialization is All-Terrain Tackle from Savage, Minn. Its lineup includes Jim Moynagh's Football Head, Scott Martin's Grassmaster, the Rattling A.T. jig, the Big Bass Swim jig, and the new Finesse jig.

The one we most wanted to test was the Big Bass Swim jig. It's built with a Mustad Ultra Point hook, a pliable weedguard, and comes with a swim-tail grub. It's available in 10 colors, including bluegill, Texas craw, black/blue, black/brown-amber, firetiger, bleeding shad, golden shiner, white/chartreuse, and our personal favorite white baitfish.

All-Terrain owner Steve Hauge noted: "The best way to fish this jig is to fish it just like a spinnerbait – same rod, same reel, same line. Once you get the feel, then adjust to what the fish tell you."

Our Tests

For our tests we threw the 5/16-ounce in white baitfish on a 6-foot Setyr STB172M and an Abu Garcia Revo 6.4:1 with 15-pound Gamma co-polymer. The jig is also available in 1/4-, 5/16- and 1/2-ounce models.

We found this jig to be very user-friendly, and we threw it in some tough conditions – around heavy grass, and across and through blowdowns. It'll also work in open water.

The jig has a keeled head, with a rounded bottom and a horizontal line-tie, which allowed it to ride high when we wanted. We simply held the rod at the 1:00 position and it ran true with a nice wobble. With the rod held lower, it ran just as true. It fished like a spinnerbait and we could throw it a country mile and a half.

The skirt placement – about a quarter-inch behind the weedguard – also helped the bait run true. The grub on the packaged bait was a good match, but we also rigged it with a Zoom Fat Albert twintail and a Strike King Denny Brauer Chunk. We did notice the twintail and Chunk worked better over brush and logs, while the grub was better around grass.

The weedguard was a 17- to 20-strand built with supple, .018-inch material, and we felt it didn't need trimming.

It's our opinion that diehard jig anglers will love this jig. It performed as promised with the deadly swim-jig technique, and is the total package.

Notable

> Lakes where crayfish and shad are present are excellent choices for this jig.

> The Big Bass Swim jig retails for $2.99. For more information, or to order, visit www.AllTerrainTackle.com.