Paddle Tail Lure Question

[redfishfan91]

I have used this lure a lot in the past and as much as I use it I get less than average catches with it. I am just curious on the best way to fish this bait. I keep using it because I am catching the fish but I must be doing something wrong on the retrieve. Is it better to just reel in at a fast, slow, or moderate pace or is there a secret to the retrieve.

Thanks in advance for any of the advice I am given.

[redfishfan91]

Just to clear it up a little, by less than average catches I mean I am not catching a whole lot of fish for the amount I use the bait.

Thanks again for any advice.

[due_south_brewery]

This might not be a good answer, but it depends on how they're taking it. It sounds like you're catching fish, just not the quantity/quality you'd like. If you know you're on fish play with them a little. Go fast then gradually slow it down with each cast. There is also the twitch, twitch, pause, reel (repeat) method. You can also start with your rod parallel to the water and slowly bring it up as you reel, then repeat. Just use your imagination and figure out what they like that day.

[Coastal Country]

May also be the color. If it's only a few pickups try a different shade and see if they like that better.

[ADArnold82]

Are you reeling too fast? May need to slow down alittle. What color are you using? Ask others that are having success where you are fishing what color they are and find something similar. Most people are willing to share alittle info. Also you could try spraying some fish attractant on the lure. Red fish love scents.

[Jedi]

Here is a video link that will answer your question. It talks about different ways to work baits in different situations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQZguxebNvM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[M T Stringer]

There are a lot of factors to consider...

I vary my retrieve speed based on water temp, current/tide flow, and depth. (ex. with a fast incoming tide, you may feel like you are burning it in, but really the tide is doing all the work, you are just trying to keep slack out of the line...slow or slack tides you don't need to bring it in as fast. Give the fish some time to see/hear it.)

I like to use darker paddles with Chart. tails because they seem to work best in muddy marshes where I fish.

If I don't get any bumps on a steady retrieve with a short pause every 3 seconds or so, I will switch it up. Sometimes I just bump it around on the shoreline. Sometimes I burn it in, other times a very slow steady retrieve just fast enough to make the tail move is what is needed.

[GoinCoastal]

I fish mostly clear shallow grass flats and I use paddletails a lot! I usually reel them FAST! I have found that in really clear water, a fast retrieve will draw a reaction strike from reds and trout. If they see a bait fleeing, they will jump all over it to keep whatever was chasing from getting it. They live in a very very competitive environment. And in shallow clear waters, they can see and sense that paddletail from a long ways off.

If the fish are laying in sand holes and not coming up to grab the fast moving paddletail, I then start dropping it to the bottom as go over holes. I just stop reeling and let it drop to th ebottom. I jig it a couple of times and then reel to the next hole. I found this technique to be pretty effective as well.

If the water is off color or muddy, I add a spinner blade to them. Now I slow the retrieve way down and put off a bunch of vibration and flash.

[Ms addicted]

I fish primarily for redfish so this is what I do with paddle tails

I am pretty much always fishing shallow (3 feet or less) and I usually bounce them. If its real grassy then I bounce them just into the surface of the grass and if its muddy or sandy then I bounce them all the way down to touch the bottom. You do need to let the fish tell you what they want though, sometimes they want a straight retrieve, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

With some lure types, I dont think color matters much but with paddle tails I think it definitely does (to some extent) so I will always start with my confidence colors which are TTF killer flats minnows in either pumpkinseed/chartreuse or east beast. Find your own confidence colors by trying different ones but dont get too hung up in subtle color variations, have a variety to choose from that include very dark, mid range, natural, very bright (like pink or chartruese) and light. From there, you can find what works for where and how you fish.

Sometimes it is less about which lure you have on but how you are working it. If you have confidence in it, you will work it differently than something you just threw on your jighead that you dont even like.

[Milkjug]

Wow, you got some great replies from a bunch of knowledgeable anglers.

Not much to add. I almost always "bounce" my plastics. I raise the rod tip, then drop it back while reeling in slack. I'm trying to keep the jig from falling too quick. I want more of that slow dropping action. I may give it a twitch or two on the fall. Most hits come on the drop.

Not all paddle tails are equal. The stiffer the material, and the less "paddle surface", the less action. Especially at lower speed retrieves.

Jighead weights are important too. I mostly use 1/16oz, but I will go up to 1/8 or 1/4 for deeper water, like fishing near the bottom of a jetty.

Screwlocks are a bit more work to put on a plastic initially, but will save you alot of replacing in the long run. You should see some of the shredded plastics that are still hanging on.

[AggieAngler07]

I know it's TTF's site, but I think that it's pretty relevant to any soft plastic shape and color. There's a chart to explain the various colors, and when to use them. The "Fishing soft plastics" video at the bottom is also a great reference on how to retrieve both paddle and straight tail lures. I found it extremely useful, I hope you do too!

http://www.texastacklefactory.com/index ... Itemid=111

[redfishfan91]

WOW!!!! Thanks all of yall for this advice I'm sure it will be really helpful. I am hitting the water next week no matter how the weather is. I will be on spring break and I've had the itch to go fishing for at least a month now! I will try these tactics yall have given me and if I dont forget I will post up the success I have when I head out.

Thanks again!

[RedWolf]

Another stupid question for all you artie gurus

When fishing an artie with little or no weight, how do you get any distance out of your casts? I've been having to use 3/8 to 1/2 oz jigheads just to be able to cast more than 10 ft in front of me.

[Coastal Country]

Another stupid question for all you artie gurus

When fishing an artie with little or no weight, how do you get any distance out of your casts? I've been having to use 3/8 to 1/2 oz jigheads just to be able to cast more than 10 ft in front of me.

That comes into what your using too cast them. I'm getting a 7'6" spinning rod made by another TKF member Green Water Custom Rods and bought the reel I wanted to use on it where he could tune the rod to the reel. Extreme yea but Jon makes bad arse rods

Any good rod and reel combo rated for light baits ought to get you a little further distance with weightless rigs.

[osochuck]

That comes into what your using too cast them. I'm getting a 7'6" spinning rod made by another TKF member Green Water Custom Rods and bought the reel I wanted to use on it where he could tune the rod to the reel. Extreme yea but Jon makes bad arse rods

Any good rod and reel combo rated for light baits ought to get you a little further distance with weightless rigs.

Russ is correct, a spinning rod and maybe like a 10# line you can cast far, even into wind. I use a 1/8oz jig heads.

[Coastal Country]

Russ is correct...

Those three words ought to be my sig on here

I know it sucks to hear it, but it takes good gear to chunk small. I'm not saying go out and get a straic Ci4 and $300 rod, but the rods TFO makes and others like them (I think kistler is makin a $100 rod too??) for about a $100 with the right action (medium/medium-lite) rated for 6-10# test and super light weights will do the job. I started out with ugly stik intercoastals and 5000 Abu gracias and if you didn't use a 1/2oz jighead you didn't get distance. You also scared every fish around you cuz it sounded like a depth charge hitting the water

[M T Stringer]

I think 6'9" is my shortest rod in the arsenal. I spool everything (Baitcasters and Spinning Reels) with 20# braid and don't have too many issues. 90% of the time I am throwing my paddletails on a weighted shaft offset hook in either 1/16 or 1/8 ounce. I am usually fishing in shallow water, mostly the weight is to get some extra distance in casting, I would be perfectly fine just using a standard offset hook if it wasn't for the wind.

Still not sure your location or what type of fishing you usually do, but my advice may not be the best for you...I tend to primarily spend my time in shallow muddy marshes. For open water flats fishing and blindcasting, it is easy to chunk it and try to get as much distance as possible, but I like to target and sightcast back in the marshes where distance is nowhere near as important as accuracy

...I am pretty darn accurate within about 20 yards (...I claim no skill on windy days!) after that I start to get a little sloppy, so I am not worried about being able to cast it a mile...as long as I can just put it in front of the tails when I want to...my problem is I always try to sneak up too close for video footage and spook 'em away before I can cast...


edit...did not mean to imply that flats casting requires no skill...you still need accuracy to drop it on sand pockets when needed...

[karstopo]

Yea, there is some great info here, definitely food for thought. You need a rod with a little play in the tip. Those big surf type of rods are way too heavy to toss a tail. Go lighter and you will have more fun playing the fish and be able to throw the lure better. If you are on a budget, I think All-Star and some others have rods in the $50 range that should work. I generally toss a 1/8 oz with my Revo SX reels with not much issue. Your aren't going to toss it a long distance into the wind. A stiff topwater only kind of rod will make it really tough. If you like spinning gear, you will have to ask someone else. I have never been able to get those to cast with much accuracy.

My favorite colors for tails are motor oil ( natural), Roach, Strawberry, Green and white. I have had days where you toss the tail and have to leave it on the bottom for a second or two and gently bump it off the bottom, other times, they want it fast. I do think the clearer the water, the faster the retrieve unless the water is very cold. You can also try putting on a cork and a little GULP tab. Let it touch or nearly touch bottom and pop it every so often. This can work in shallow 18" -48" inches of water and it will catch redfish and flounder in muddy water.

[GoinCoastal]

I think it is a combo of rod, reel, and line that makes casting weedless and weightless plastics work. As said above the rod is very important. I use 6'6" medium TFO HOW rods with Shimano Symmetre reels loaded with 8/30 powerpro or Fins braid. I can not cast weightless as far as weighted but I can get it out there. Braid comes off the spool very smoothly and has little friction even thru the guides. I have found I can cast braid farther than mono. Also think casting technique has a lot to do with it. I "load" my rod when I cast much like loading a flyrod. The other great advantage to a combo like this which is what Russ was talking about... The amount of sensitivity you gain. You have probably been getting lots of soft bumps that you never felt. When you go to light quality rods and braided line, it is incredible the amount of "feel" you gain. All added up, there is a reason most of us use light fast action rods and braided line.

[M T Stringer]

When you go to light quality rods and braided line, it is incredible the amount of "feel" you gain...

...reminds me of something Vincent said once, something about being able to feel a fish fart in the water... When I first switched to braid I thought I was missing bites left and right...I guess it was just farts...

[JonF]

In the Spring of 1988, a small tackle shop in Flour Bluff started carrying a small soft plastic paddle-tail called the “Master Minnow”. The shape of the tail was the same shape found on some of the old Bingo hard plastic lures (ca 1950’s & 60’s). My guess is that one of the old-timer’s in the area (Corpus) that had used Bingos was now putting them out - the packaging was “home-made”. Anyway, the original use of the paddle-tail Master Minnow was for sightcasting. Simply put, you would throw past a redfish [or trout] and rip it quickly to the front of the fish’s face. Now, with the lure directly in front to the fish, you wanted to slow it down while at the same time maintaining its paddling effect. It was great for staying off the bottom [in extremely shallow water] and not “grassing-up”. Sightcasting was still a growing sport back then, mostly growing out of the fly-fishing scene.

Paddle-tails weren’t marketed in the Corpus area until the early 90’s. Matter of fact, I don’t think the tail design had a name. I’d never heard of one….. because I remember in 1994 the editor of Texas Fishing and Hunting News saying, “Jon, can we call it something besides “a little tail that goes back and forth…….”. Heck, me, I didn’t know what to call it….so I told him I would start using the terms “swimming tail” and “paddle tail” to distinguish between the two type of tails I was talking about. Man, back then, fishing reports were a pain - they were done over the phone – no internet.

[JonF]

edit: duplicate post.