Paddletail Swimbaits

[Vinny Chase]

I have been using the cane thumper with a lot of success this year. I am just curious of what you guys are using, and how you would compare that to the cane thumper.

Thanks,

VC

[Crestliner2008]

I like the 5" Strike King Shadilicious. Have taken a lot of smallies with this bait rigged on a 1/4 oz. swimbait hook. And LM love them in stained/weedy water as well.

[Bass_Fanatic]

I use the Skinny Dipper, Shadalicious, and LFT Live Magic Shad.

The LFT Live Magic Shad is probably my favorite, but the Skinny Dipper can be hard to beat at times.

[slonezp]

Been using Poorboys Kickin' Darters as a swimjig trailer. Anybody use the Keitech paddletails? I'm looking for a zipper type bait with a little more durability than the Darter.

[hmongkidBee]

I'm a big fan of the basstrix paddletails. They're kind of expensive and are not super duarble, but they work extremely well.

[Hooligan]

I'm not fond of most hollowbelly baits, including the Shadalicious and the Bass Magic, as well as Berkley. I've really grown to like the Grass Pig this year, it's got a lot of action on the drop and you don't have to move it fast to get the tail to thump, unlike the Yum and others I've mentioned above. I've also been using the Swim Senko a lot, as well as the RI baits.

[Primus]

I used the hollowbellys when they came out a few years back and have had some success but rigged with the weighted hook was disapointed with the hook-up ratio. In weedy flats I get as may if not more bites on a swimming grub like a Skinny Dipper or a swimming jig with a grub trailer and my hook-up ratio is better with these baits. If its more open water I prefer a Rago/ Matt lures tournament series/ RTS Bottom Walker/ Osprey over a hollowbelly bait.

If I were to fish a hollowbelly these days I would put it on an exposed jig hook, that said they are not cuurently in use as I prefer the previously mentioned baits.

[J Francho]

Keitech Swing Impact Fat.

[.ghoti.]

I jumped the paddle tail bandwagon a couple of years ago. After fishing them for most of one season I jumped right back off. Poor durability, poor hookup ratio and way too expensive for my taste.

I've stuck with the Swim Senko and Skinny Dipper.

I haven't tried the cane thumper, but it is one I've had my eye on. How are you rigging these Vinnie?

I fish the two baits I mentioned weightless and tex-posed. I'll vary the hook size going from a 4/0 light wire EWG up to a 5/0 EWG superline hook.

I fish them more often on a jighead. The Fin-Tech Swim Jig head is excellent for both baits. Nobody seems to stock these, so I order them from Fin-Tech direct.

I also fish both baits on an Evo Shake2 head. I rig the bait like a grub on a ballhead, with the hook totally exposed. This works nicely for swimming the bait deeper than weightless rigging allows. And it also works very well as a bottom bait without having to re-rig anything. Fished like a jig or T-rigged worm, the Swim Senko on a Shake2 head has an action you have to see. Most importantly, the fish like ie. A LOT.

[Vinny Chase]

Ghoti,

I'm just simply pegging a bullet weight and t-rigging the swimbait with a 4/0 ewg..have yet to have a hook up problem. The one thing I really like on the cane thumper is the channel for the hook to rest. I've found that I can slow roll this bait in weeds and not get hung up, does the skinny dipper have anything like that?

[Crestliner2008]

I use the Skinny Dipper, Shadalicious, and LFT Live Magic Shad.

The LFT Live Magic Shad is probably my favorite, but the Skinny Dipper can be hard to beat at times.

Interesting reply. I've gone through 2 pkgs. of the 5" Magic Shads with nothing to show for it. I keep casting off the tails! Using a lightly weighted swimbait hook (screw type). Not even a follow mind you! I do love the action though. I still have a rod rigged with it, being an optimistic sort of guy.

[Vinny Chase]

^ Speaking on quality, that is another reason why I started this thread. The cane thumpers tear after almost every fish.

[J Francho]

Use a toothpick cross wise through the bait, just inside the bend of the hook. I have caught at least 20 fish on the same Swing Impact, which are notoriously delicate baits. Keep some Mend-It handy for other tears.

[Vinny Chase]

Thanks for the advice J

[bassin is addicting]

Interesting reply. I've gone through 2 pkgs. of the 5" Magic Shads with nothing to show for it. I keep casting off the tails! Using a lightly weighted swimbait hook (screw type). Not even a follow mind you! I do love the action though. I still have a rod rigged with it, being an optimistic sort of guy

Crest....try those magic shads on a scrounger head....thats been a go to bait for me for the past few months..they swallow that thing....

i like the swim senko for the paddle tail...rigged a number of ways.. last weekend fished it weightless over the top of some pretty nasty grassbeds and let it die when i came to pockets

[Bluebasser86]

I've had pretty good success with small 2 1/2 and 3 inch Luck E Strike bass magic paddletails on scrounger heads, pretty good durability too.

[flippin and pitchin]

I fish hollow body baits exclusively on a scrounger head. After they tear, and they will, apply Mend It and get some more use out of them. Use the largest hook you can get on what ever brand head you like. It's the deal.

[BassThumb]

Like Hooligan, I've never been a fan of paddletail swimbaits, but the Berkley Havoc Grass Pigs are starting to grow on me. I've been fishing them on the Owner Twistlock Light 6/0 3/32oz weighted hook that TW carries, on a Dobyns 734 and 12# Hybrid. Lately, they have been catching larger fish than other presentations, my 5 best fish from the last two days have come on this bait. They are pretty durable, too. With a little touch of Mend It before the bait gets completely torn up, I've been able to 6-7 fish out of a bait. I like that this rig can be fished on top like a toad through sparse slop areas with the rod tip high, and then fished subsurface on the edges. They also make a good pitching/skipping bait around docks.

[.ghoti.]

Ghoti,

I'm just simply pegging a bullet weight and t-rigging the swimbait with a 4/0 ewg..have yet to have a hook up problem. The one thing I really like on the cane thumper is the channel for the hook to rest. I've found that I can slow roll this bait in weeds and not get hung up, does the skinny dipper have anything like that?

Yeah, the dipper has a narrow groove in the top for the hook to ride in, the swim senko does not. Do yourself a favor and get some of those fin-tech swim jigs. I used to rig both baits just as you described. I much prefer the fin-tech jighead.

[Bass_Fanatic]

Interesting reply. I've gone through 2 pkgs. of the 5" Magic Shads with nothing to show for it. I keep casting off the tails! Using a lightly weighted swimbait hook (screw type). Not even a follow mind you! I do love the action though. I still have a rod rigged with it, being an optimistic sort of guy.

Keep optimistic. Those things work. I like to fish em slow rolled on points and through sparse grass.

[Vinny Chase]

Ghoti,

Thanks for the suggestion on those jigheads. Now that I look at a picture of the skinner dippers, I have thrown them before but don't remember the action compared to the cane thumpers...another thing I love about the skinny dippers is the color selection; way more extensive than the cane thumper line.

[breezy]

Fished several different paddletails but just started using Skinny Dippers this year and have had great success (Houdini or Bad Shad color). I fish them weightless with a 5/0 EWG hook or a 5/0 weighted Gama swimbait hook. Revo w/ 50# braid on a 734c provides great hooksets on the long casts but I'm looking into a 764c, 735c or similar as I would like a bit more power sometimes.

I love how versatile the baits are. Weightless on a fast retrieve they're almost like a horny toad, fish them slow like a senko, with long pulls like a jerkbait etc...the options are endless.

[ChrisAW]

I'm really interested in trying the new Zoom paddle tail Flukes, they have to be more durable than the Swim Senkos.

But that being said, I do use the Swim Senkos right now, and although their durability is horrible, I am still on the same bag that I start with earlier this year. I've been repairing the crap out of them with Mend It, and it's saved me a lot of money. I'd say I've been able to get atleast 20 fish on each of them before they are too far gone for repair, and I've got about 4 left (Guess I need to buy another bag )

The Havoc paddle tail looks pretty good, and I have't had a problem with the Pit Boss' durability which makes me want to try those too.

[Vinny Chase]

Breezy,

Also try rigging them like I mentioned earlier, pegged bullet weight/t-rigged. That way you can slow roll or jig the swimbait...that is very deadly sometimes.

[CWB]

I like the 5" Strike King Shadilicious. Have taken a lot of smallies with this bait rigged on a 1/4 oz. swimbait hook. And LM love them in stained/weedy water as well.

I like the Shadalicious also in 4.5". My main hollowbody. The Cane Thumper is great but pretty fragile. A one maybe 2 fish bait but it does work. Wasn't thrilled with the Swimming Fluke. I like the Grass Pig. Casts a mile and holds up pretty well. I don't really like the baits with a huge slit in the belly and a thin strip of plastic to bury the hook in (Flukes are one)Texposing the hook and skin hooking it back in does the trick for me. Skinny Dipper and Magic Shad seem better suited as jerk baits to me. Not the great swimming wobbling action of a swimbait. Just bought some Z-Man PaddlerZ and can't wait to try them out. These are just my opinions. I fish all but the Shadalicious weightless.