Paddletails on chatterbaits

[TriStateBassin106]

How many of you guys throw paddletails on bladed jigs? I used to cut off a swimin dinger or swim senko and hooked it upside down so the bait wouldn't rise. Compared to the traditional zako style trailers I noticed the action is much more erratic and the bait darts more. Does that have a overall effect on getting more bites or is it nonsense? 

[gim]

One of my friends ONLY uses paddletail plastics on his chatter baits.  He catches fish.

 

I don't care for them as trailers.  Just personal preference.

[Spy]

I personally don't like the action imparted using a paddle tail as a trailer on either chatter baits or spinners, in fact I've had greater success using anything but!

[Choporoz]

I've used paddle tails, Zakos, grubs, rage tail craws, and I don't remember what else.  Nothing ever outfished a Rage Bug....so that's all I use now

[BassinCNY]

I use paddle tails because they catch more fish than other trailers for me. Grass pigs have worked well for me but I have decided on the generic 3.5" swim minnows for 3 reasons. I was looking for a paddle tail with only paddle action and because they have a narrow tail connection they work great at that also they're inexpensive and most importantly they catch the most fish. 

[InfantryMP]

Eeliminator grub is the only trailer I use for chatterbaits and bladed jigs. Unbelievable action with a small profile.  

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-GAMECHLR.html?from=basres

[TriStateBassin106]

53 minutes ago, Black Hawk Basser said:

I started out using a Berkley Grass Pig Jr on a chatterbait a few years ago, and practically everyone seems to use the fluke/Zako style.  I have been trying both flukes and ZMan Razor Shadz this year, but I think I'm going back to the Grass Pig.  It may be other factors at play, but I caught a lot more fish using the paddle tail.

Did you rig the grass pig upside down or did you have the paddletail correctly placed like a swimjig 

[TOXIC]

Zako is now available in a paddle tail.  

[ajschn06]

I'll use a paddle tail on a swim jig, but don't like them as trailers on anything else.  Menace for the chatterbaits and a single tail grub for spinnerbaits.

[A-Jay]

In waters inhabited by goby,

At least half the time my vibrating jig trailer of choice is the hand poured number pictured below. (Zako gets the nod the rest of the time) 

It is Very Soft and has a relatively small paddle tail that's turned up.

Swims back to the bottom on a time line.

(I pinch off the side fins)

#magic

Fish Hard

A-Jay

[Sphynx]

46 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

In waters inhabited by goby,

At least half the time my vibrating jig trailer of choice is the hand poured number pictured below.

It is Very Soft and has a relatively small paddle tail that's turned up.

Swims back to the bottom on a time line.

(I pinch off the side fins)

#magic

Fish Hard

A-Jay

Boy I bet those would do some serious damage on a swing head...

[Black Hawk Basser]

2 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Did you rig the grass pig upside down or did you have the paddletail correctly placed like a swimjig 

Rigged the regular way, with the 'boot' pointing down.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

When I first started throwing chatterbaits I would use a regular swing impact the majority of the time.  I still use boot tailed trailers on occasion, but now my go to trailers are either straight tailed like an i-shad/pintail or fork tailed like a zako/swimmon.  I think that erratic action can trigger a bite especially when break a cadence or changeup speed or direction on the retrieve.   

[MIbassyaker]

I prefer a Fluke, Zako, Blade Minnow or something similar.

[FishinBuck07]

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

In waters inhabited by goby,

At least half the time my vibrating jig trailer of choice is the hand poured number pictured below. (Zako gets the nod the rest of the time) 

It is Very Soft and has a relatively small paddle tail that's turned up.

Swims back to the bottom on a time line.

(I pinch off the side fins)

#magic

Fish Hard

A-Jay

Those are real pretty!  ???

[Luke Barnes]

6 hours ago, Choporoz said:

I've used paddle tails, Zakos, grubs, rage tail craws, and I don't remember what else.  Nothing ever outfished a Rage Bug....so that's all I use now

Rage Bug on a chatterbait? Rigged vertical or horizontal and do you keep the little arms or rip them off and just go with the main flappers?

[Kdizzle]

I think pretty much anything will work on the chatterbait.  The blade is what draws in the fish, not the trailer. 

 

I've caught plenty with a Paca Craw on the back.  Paddletails do add a more natural look though.

[DitchPanda]

I've tried paddletails, craws, menace grubs, single tail grubs, brush hogs etc...my best 2 baits are a regular zoom 4inch fluke and my personal favorite a big bite baits swimon.

[Bruce424]

i try alot of things. i do like paddletails, but i cut the flange off. less drag in the water and more erratic. i feel it causes reaction strikes better.  

[Bluebasser86]

I use 3.8-5" paddletails on the back of mine sometimes. I use a lot of different trailers but paddletails are a good option for sure. 

[Choporoz]

11 hours ago, Luke Barnes said:

Rage Bug on a chatterbait? Rigged vertical or horizontal and do you keep the little arms or rip them off and just go with the main flappers?

So...I'm probably the outlier around here.  I always rig the Rage Bug horizontally on a chatterbait, but a few of the better and more experienced anglers on here generally prefer vertical.  I leave the arms on, but I leave both ends attached...they don't flap.  Pearl or white is the only color I need almost all the time.  ( @roadwarrior and @A-Jay are the two who helped me take chatterbait from bane to favorite in short time)

[Luke Barnes]

13 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

I've tried paddletails, craws, menace grubs, single tail grubs, brush hogs etc...my best 2 baits are a regular zoom 4inch fluke and my personal favorite a big bite baits swimon.

I run a swimon on a fire craw jackhammer and so far I like it. Kind of a weird erratic action and I like that. 

[ironbjorn]

Zakos, creatures, and craws is what I use. Paddle tails are reserved for swim jigs. Admittedly I hardly touch a bladed jig anymore. They've died for me around here. So much so that I got rid of a batch of Jackhammers for cheap. Swim jig is where it's been.

[Ole man Fazul]

On 8/24/2021 at 11:59 AM, TriStateBassin106 said:

How many of you guys throw paddletails on bladed jigs? I used to cut off a swimin dinger or swim senko and hooked it upside down so the bait wouldn't rise. Compared to the traditional zako style trailers I noticed the action is much more erratic and the bait darts more. Does that have a overall effect on getting more bites or is it nonsense? 

I think any tweak to make a lure look more realistic is worth the effort. So if it has more erratic action then its definitely a more realistic baitfish and in my book definitely worth the effort. I use a 4.3 Keitech fat impact as a trailer on the bladed jig. I followed Matt Allen's recomendation to cut off the pedestal portion of the paddle to make it a 2D tail versus a regular paddle (hope that makes sense). Doing this allows the tail of the keitech to move in conjunction with the blade. If i leave the paddle as it is out of the package, the tail is not in rhythm with the blade and looks terrible moving through the water. Also, the 4.3 seems to be perfect to prevent the tail from wrapping around and getting pierced by the hook. 

[gim]

6 hours ago, Choporoz said:

but a few of the better and more experienced anglers on here generally prefer vertical

I like the strike king rage tail menace rigged vertically.  Can't say I've tried the rage bug though.