Rooster Tails!

[travis23]

I have only been addicted to bass fishing for a year now.  Before that I had Rooster Tails and that is all we ever used, because they worked wonders.  We mostly fished in a small creek that ran through our town, but after hundreds of dollars worth of new lures and gear and woo woo, I realized I don't buy them anymore nor do I ever hear of anyone talking about them.  I certainly don't see any professional anglers with them.  Does anyone have success with them on lakes or rivers?

[Scott F]

I used to use them but I prefer Mepps spinners better. 

[NC_Bass6]

They are apparently very effective when bass are schooling. i use them for panfish mostly, but have caught small bass on them.

[Snakehead Whisperer]

People who fish for muskie use them quite often, but they call them bucktails. Muskie bucktails are a respected technique in those circles.

I still use inline spinners once in a great while but I prefer the Blue Fox Vibrax inline spinners, or I just make my own.

[Cgrinder]

I prefer Mepps but I do have a couple 3/8 oz Roosters that see water once in a while.

[Bluebasser86]

I too first dipped my toe into bass fishing with a roostertail. 1/8oz red roostertail was my magic bait. Now when I throw a inline spinner it's almost always a #3 Mepps, they seem to catch much better sized bass than the roostertails for some reason. 

[Bass Junkie]

I'm exactly the opposite of you guys   No inline spinner I've used seems to match the Rooster Tail for me 

[dday07]

Work pretty good on spotted bass

[dreamertino]

Spots kill them I was fishing one close to a dock like 5 inches away from the wood and one came out and killed mine

[Hanover_Yakker]

Love them - wish they held up better over time, but I made one mod to mine per a post I read on here a while back and that is to use a pair of needlenose pliers and bend the tip of the spinner blade slightly.  This will help the blade rotate each and every time rather than the occassional non-rotating that Rooster Tails are prone to.

 

My four favorites are: black/silver blade, white/silver blade, chartreuse/gold blade and rainbow/gold blade

[deadadrift89]

Panther Martin makes a great inline bait.

[J Francho]

Inline spinners are a staple bait for many fish species.  The reason you don't see too much press about them in bass fishing, particularly largemouth bass fishing, is that they don't work in cover very well.  The modern "R" bend spinnerbait addresses the cover issues and what many throw instead.  That doesn't mean that inline spinners can be ignored.  If you've thrown a few different types, you will notice some work better in certain situations.  Panther Martins take very little retrieve or resistance to get the blade spinning, and are a good choice to throw upstream in current.  Rooster Tails pretty much need to be burned to get the blade spinning right out of the package.  Mepps, Vibrax, and others with an Indiana blade are a good middle of the road, general purpose option. Even though they are completely different baits, I sort of lump inlines with casting spoons (not flutter or jigging spoons) when considering what bait to throw.  They are great option when bait is schooled up in huge congregations up shallow, and they are very easy to fish.  If the conditions allow, I'd rather hook a new angler with a bait like this than a Senko or other often cited "beginner" bait. If there are fish around, of any species, the spinner will get bit!

[J Francho]

Inline spinner "bonus fish."  You can just see the Panther Martin in the corner of the trout's mouth.

 

[tholmes]

Rooster Tails are great, and I've caught a LOT of fish with them, but I've come to favor Panther Martin for inline spinners.

 

Tom

[travis23]

I haven't heard of the Mepps or Panther Martin's, maybe I'll try these.  Rooster tails were so good to me though! Glad to hear people have had a lot of success with them!

[Ratherbfishing]

Inline spinner "bonus fish."  You can just see the Panther Martin in the corner of the trout's mouth.

 

 

That's a beautiful picture.

 

While I cut my teeth using Rooster tails, I much prefer Panther Martins.  Especially once the wire gets bent Rooster tails can be diffcult to coax into spinning properly.  Panther Martins can be fished much slower and almost always spin.  My only issue with Mepps spinners is the squirrel tail (on the dressed versions) tend to rust out the hooks.

[J Francho]

That's a beautiful picture.

 

Thanks!

[.ghoti.]

I have a small plano box stashed deep in one of my tackle bags that is full of inline spinners and roadrunners. One of those two will almost always catch a few fish when nothing else will.

[5fishlimit]

I never met a rooster tail I didn't snag and lose. LOL!

They're fun, but hands down my most lost lure ever.

[Deleted account]

That's a beautiful picture.

 

While I cut my teeth using Rooster tails, I much prefer Panther Martins.  Especially once the wire gets bent Rooster tails can be diffcult to coax into spinning properly.  Panther Martins can be fished much slower and almost always spin.  My only issue with Mepps spinners is the squirrel tail (on the dressed versions) tend to rust out the hooks.

x2! I would blow that up and frame it, love the Fall colors.

[joeyfishes]

I was out on the canoe a couple days ago and found one in a tree. Score!

[moguy1973]

That's all my wife likes to use...And she usually out fishes me when she's using them!!!

[J Francho]

x2! I would blow that up and frame it, love the Fall colors.

 

Thanks.  I actually do have this matted and framed at home.  It's a weird crop, since my feet and a bit of the camera strap are in the bottom of the original.  Looks good mounted 12" wide in a big 14x16" frame in a custom mat I cut myself.

[slonezp]

Haven't used them in years. Caught my PB smallmouth on a chartruse Mepps with a black bucktail. Another good one was a Blue Fox Vibrax. I got away from them for a couple reasons. Like JFrancho said, the issue with cover. Second, I'd catch more snot rockets than bass. If they work for you, by all means use them.

[bigbill]

Wordens Rooster Tails in silver blade with a white body with a white bucktail is one of my favorite trout lures in streams. My next hottest trout lures are Joe's flys in blackgnat. His spin fly.

For bass and pickerel the panther Martin's and mepps never let me down. The Joe's fly in the 1/4oz bass size is a good producer too.

The old inline spinner is still a very hot lure and it's overlooked

by many fisherman. Don't forget the mepps comet minnow too.