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When should you use a swimbait with a paddle tail?

Paddle tail swimbaits are versatile lures that can be effective in a variety of fishing conditions and situations. Here are some appropriate scenarios for using them:

Clear Water Conditions: Paddle tail swimbaits are ideal in clear water where bass can easily be enticed by the lure's natural swimming action and subtle vibration. They are less intrusive than spinnerbaits, making them a great choice for clear water scenarios as mentioned in the video by Wired2Fish on catching big bass with swimbaits.
Schooling Bass: During the summer months, bass often school up and chase baitfish such as shad. A paddle tail swimbait mimics these baitfish well, making it an excellent choice when targeting schooling bass. This is supported by the video from Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques discussing swimbaits for summer bass fishing.
Weed Lines and Structure: Fishing along weed lines or near other structures can be productive with paddle tail swimbaits. As the BassResource video suggests, a fast retrieve just below the surface can trigger reaction strikes, especially in the warmer months.
Bottom Bouncing: In colder months or when bass are feeding off the bottom, letting the swimbait hit the bottom and then slowly retrieving it can be effective. Mimicking bottom-dwelling prey like gobies, sculpin, or crawdads can entice bites, as described in the first BassResource video.
Wind-Blown Banks: Wind can create favorable conditions for swimbait fishing by breaking up the surface and reducing visibility. This can make bass less wary and more likely to strike a well-presented swimbait.
Deep Water Fishing: Paddle tail swimbaits can also be effective in deeper water, especially when bass are deep and chasing smaller baitfish. A compact swimbait with a heavier jig head can be used to maintain contact with the bottom and present the bait in the strike zone, as explained in the Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques video on summer bass fishing.

Remember to match the size and color of your swimbait to the forage in the area you're fishing. Also, adjust your tackle setup based on the conditions, such as using heavier line around timber or lighter line in open water, as suggested in the videos.

Overall, paddle tail swimbaits are a go-to lure for many situations, and experimenting with different retrieves and presentations can help you dial in the best approach for the conditions you're facing on the water.

Related videos

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Best Paddle Tail Swimbait Tips for Bass Fishing (These Work!) | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → clipping speed where it just barely breaks the surface where the paddle tail just might be bulging the surface just a little bit but you're bringing it back really fast you're looking for that reaction strike this is great for warmer months in the spring and all the way through the fall you're going right along the weed lines you want to get that fish to react to it so you're bringing it right towards the surface this is great for morning early-morning bites especially if they don't want to hit buzzbaits this is a more subtle approach and you can usually get that bite especially if that Sun starts to come up starts hitting the surface and they've been hitting surface water surface lures that's a real good lure to switch to so you can get to that that can keep that top water bike going so the next retrieve is almost the opposite of that actually it really is and it's great for when fish are feeding off of bottom fish for example gobies and sculpin and even crawdads but what I like to do is let it cast it out let it sit on the bottom bring the rod tip down low and here I'm just crawling it on the bottom I want to mimic that bait meat fish that's it feeds off the bottom this works especially well in the winter time when the crawfish are hibernating you'll get scoping them in and gobies and whatnot that are sitting on the bottom of the bait on the bottom of the

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Target Walleye AND Bass With Paddle Tail Swimbaits by Wired2Fish → when it strikes it'll rip that plastic a little bit you want to make sure that there's no tear in your plastic and so you're good to go on the next cast we were shooting under waters and I watched this Baptist chase chase chase and I just momentarily set on the bottom and then just popped twice and he just inhaled it oh nice smallmouth Oh beautiful part about fishing a swimbait isn't it catches everything regardless of species you know if somebody said you could only take one plastic out especially in the spring barn on a paddle tail just so much fun to fish look at that that's a five-pound fish right there

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The Setup: Ideal Rod/Reel/Line Combos For All Presentations | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → All right. The next lure that I wanna talk about is the paddle tail swimbait. It's like a 6-inch or smaller soft plastic paddle tail swimbait. Here, you're using a keel weighted hook, or it's usually a stouter hook like a 4/0 hook. It's got some backbone to it. So, you have to use a stronger rod. However, these baits overall are fairly light. And so you need a limber rod tip to be able to fling it out there. Plus, the bite is kind of interesting. So, let me get into that a little bit. We've got a lot of interesting dichotomy going on that's gonna dictate what kind of rod to use. So, because it's a stouter hook, you can use stronger gear. So, here I'm actually using 17 to 20-pound fluorocarbon line or braid. Braid works really well for this as well. I'll go 20 to 30-pound braid on it. Whichever you feel most comfortable with is fine. I like to use the fluorocarbon because I can cast further with it. But the rod is interesting because I use a medium-heavy power like a 7'2" to 7'4" foot rod, medium to heavy power rod. But the rod tip, I'm using a lighter action rod tip, a light action or a moderate action rod tip for two reasons. Number one, the bait is a bit light. So, to cast it out further distance, I load up more and a limber tip's gonna allow me to cast it out further. But also with paddle tail swimbaits, in particular,

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4 Tips for Paddle Tail Swimbait Fishing Summer Bass by Wired2Fish → it takes wind or overcast or it's just one of those deals but it's it's a kind of a deal you have to check because because what from what I've seen the biggest fish in the lake will utilize these types of areas so with the swim bait I kind of I'll make a nice long cast let it hit bottom and then just slowly start reeling it and I want to keep it closer to the bottom but as the depth changes and I stop I don't touch a rock here at there you know for maybe eight or ten cranks I'll just drop it and kill it and make sure I'm near the bottom these fish around rocks they seem to like to be near the bottom and my best success has come when my bait is just ticking the tops of the rocks some of this stuff gets real gnarly and if you hang out right in the rocks you're just going to be snagged a lot so sometimes I will throw this bait on a Tokyo rig and get through there real gnarly stuff too but this this jighead program at least for today's is what they're dialed in on you know I have a really a pretty good idea how this home plays out based off driving around it getting a sense as well as the mapping but what I don't know is where the fish are set up on it

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How to Catch Big Bass on Paddle-Tail Swimbaits by Wired2Fish → it either wherever you're fishing spring summer fall I don't care what it is you've got fairly clean water you know spinner bait has a lot of flash you know a swim bait has kind of the same characteristics in that tail moves water but it's a much more natural look than a spinner bait with a flashing and flinging of the blades and you know swim bait is always a very viable option spring summer fall whenever you're in clear water especially you know we've got pretty good wind blowing in here on this bank and it's really kind of a perfect setup and that swim bait looks so natural even in clear water that you know a lot of times those bass won't pass it up where a spinner bait puts out so much more flash and so much more of a glow with those blades that a lot of times it did look very natural didn't look very realistic to a bass so a swim bait is another bait to keep in mind it's you know especially if you live on a clear water lake or a clear water environment or I don't care where you're at in United States it's always a very good option you know to fish in the same exact places that you would throw a spinner bait or even a crankbait now ah ah get my hands on you in the swimbait just fell out of his mouth how big is that

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Swimbaits For Summer Bass Fishing | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → At the summertime, I'm using that kind of paddle tail bait. Do you know why? It's they go in deep water, and chasing shad a lot. Also, they are make a schooling especially summertime. So, before fishing deep water, we gotta using the electronics, to found the school. That's most important. Then you gotta choose a little bit compact, small heavyweight swimbait I'm using. I'm using the 3/8 jighead right here with Keitech single impact 3.3. It's a little bit smaller, but they are looking for the little bitty shad. They sometime eating big shad, but I recommend to the 3.3 because it's easy to eat for them. So, that's why I'm using the little bitty swimbait with the tiny, tiny 3/8th jig head. But basically, in the summertime the fish going, it's pretty close to the 20-foot range, so it's okay the quarter ounce, but it take a time... Also, I want to make a kind of reaction bite. So, the heavy-weight jig head make a reaction bite, and make a slow retrieve, and sometimes faster retrieve, and it depends on where the fish are. Then also I'm using the Shimano Zodias 7'2" medium heavy and 14-pound Fluorocarbon Line. But the line, it depends on where you fishing. If you fishing close to the timber, I recommend the 16, yeah, 14, 16. Then if we don't have anything around your fish, I chose the 10, 12-pound fishing line for the baitcasting reel. Then I'm using the Shimano Metanium HG, which is a little high gear ratio.

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