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How can I get more action out of my swimbait tail?
To increase the movement in the tail of your swimbait and give it a more enticing action for bass, you can try several techniques:
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Tail Modification: As Mike Iaconelli suggests, you can modify a traditional paddle tail swimbait by cutting the tail at an angle, which can unlock more action. For example, make a cut from the base of the tail towards the top at an angle similar to 11 o'clock on a clock face.
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Removing Flanges: Jacob Wheeler mentions that on some swimbaits, like the Largo Shad, there's a flange that connects the tail to the body. Removing this flange can increase the tail's free-swinging action, which might be particularly useful in dirtier water where extra vibration can help bass locate the bait.
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Dyeing the Tail: Adding some chartreuse dye to the tail of your swimbait can not only change the color to better mimic prey like bluegill but also sometimes alters the texture of the plastic, potentially enhancing the tail's movement.
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Carving the Tail: If you want to increase the tail's action when fishing your swimbait weightless or at a faster retrieve, you can carve out some of the plastic around the tail to make it smaller, as suggested in the BassResource video. This can make the tail wiggle faster and allow for quicker retrieves without adding weight.
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Practice and Observation: Study the movement of the prey fish you're trying to mimic and practice in a swimming pool or clear water to see how your swimbait moves. Adjust your retrieve speed and rod movements to create a more natural, erratic action that bass find irresistible.
Remember, the key is to mimic the natural movements of the baitfish as closely as possible. By experimenting with these modifications and techniques, you can find the perfect action that triggers more strikes from bass.
Related videos
Transcript
Video14:04
15:11
Best Paddle Tail Swimbait Tips for Bass Fishing (These Work!) | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → action on the tail you can do it that we
just carve it off another thing you can do with this tail is just dip it in some
chartreuse dye in my neck of the woods the fish are feeding on bluegill all the
time especially in the summertime and actually this is throughout the United
States fish feed on bluegill in the summertime way more than they're doing
in the crawfish so what you want to do is dip that tie that this this tail and
some chartreuse dye and make it look a little bit more like a bluegill
something else that you want to do with these paddle tails a lot of guys don't
take the time to do this but you want that bait to mimic the prey and I'm not
talking about the color or size I'm talking about how it moves in the water
study it watch youtube videos watch other videos study how these fish move
naturally in the water they don't just come in a straight line all the time
they don't just stop and go but they go one way they slow down a pause they move
a little bit more it's a little erratic so pay attention to how they swim then
go to a swimming pool hopefully you've got one or maybe you know a buddy that
does but go toss it in a swimming pool and practice mimicking that fish you
want to mimic the way it moves in the
Transcript
Video03:23
06:33
How to fish a Swim Worm!!! (Everything you NEED to know!!!) by Mike Iaconelli Fishing → really make these fish want to eat this bait and that style tail that paddle tail cut tail Style produces a vibration unlike any other worm and that's really the key that movement of that tail that vibration that's going to create these strikes um why had these baits here I do want to show you real quick a few modifications you can make to the tail before we rig them up okay so the first one is a regular paddle tail and if if these are the ones you own the ones that have the traditional tenant tennis racket style tail there's a modification to make this bait better and really all I do is I get the bait this is this is actually believe it or not is an old man's worm just like the one that I used to win the classic and if you hold that paddle tail up and it really now looks like a tennis racket right looks like a tennis racket with the handle down all I'm going to do is make a cut in that tail from the base toward the top of that racket the top of that paddle on an angle right on an angle if you were looking at a clock let's call it 11 o'clock so I'm cutting from the base up to that tail and I'm unlocking more action in that paddle tail so I just I made the cut myself okay on these other brands
Transcript
Video07:38
09:02
Jacob Wheeler's 5 Ways to Rig Swimbaits for Bass by Wired2Fish → of the largo shad towards the tail you have this little flange that sort of connects the tail to that what that does it really keeps that that tail more horizontal rather than having it come up a little bit but you do sort of hinder the action just a slight bit but it keeps it to where it's almost more natural in my opinion but if you want a little bit more action you want a little bit more kick maybe if you're in dirtier water or whatever that might be you can remove that little flange don't you don't have to you know grab any scissors or anything just grab your hand take that little flange and that's going to allow it to have a little bit more free swinging action so nothing crazy but it's just going to be a little subtle difference that can maybe make it have just a tiny bit more action and get a few more bites
Transcript
Video04:55
07:54
Chatterbait and Swim Jig Tricks You Actually Need To Know!! by TacticalBassin → if i'm fishing around a lot of grass calmer conditions i'm turning to that swim jig the swim jig is more subtle than a chatter bait the skirt if you pair it up so this is a river to seed d walker and there are three or four really good trailers out there that i've found that will make a swim jig do what it needs to do if you put a kytek on the back of this if you put one of a lot of different baits on the back of a swim jig will it catch fish of course it will but are you maximizing your time no what you are looking for is a trailer that will kick so hard it will move so hard that it actually starts to wag the head of the bait as it's swimming either side to side or up and down and as that happens that skirt on its own will begin to pulse and to flow and that is secondary action when that skirt is doing that the tail kicking his primary action that's skirt pulsing and moving that's secondary that's going to imitate what a swim bait never can the swimbait only has primary action that swim jig will imitate fins moving flash coming off of scales all those things that actually make a fish look real and a swim bait look fake if you can get that skirt pumping it fills in that middle ground you get
Transcript
Video08:56
10:14
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
Transcript
Video12:54
14:04
Best Paddle Tail Swimbait Tips for Bass Fishing (These Work!) | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → give you some really good tips for
maximizing how many fish you can catch with these paddle tails I'm telling you
what there's a lot of guys who've stopped watching at this point so you
guys are the ones that are gonna have it over on them when you're fishing these
baits so here's the great tips first of all you want to match the hatch the
first thing you want to do is if the fish are feeding on rainbow trout or
sculpin or if it's gobies or you know whatever is the main forage base in your
leg perch bluegill what-have-you you want that bait to match that color and
match the action of that of the bait fish so pay attention to that very
closely and see what the fish are feeding on and that will up your odds
there's another quick tip if the active paddle tail is just a little too slow
and you want to bring it back faster especially say for example you're
fishing it weightless and you want to bring it back quick
but that little tail isn't gonna let you you can grab a pocketknife and carve out
some of the plastic around that tail make it a smaller tail haven't done it
on this one but I'm just telling you where to do it
carve around that and get some of that plastic off of it now that tells gonna
wiggle a lot faster it's gonna allow you to bring that weightless bait back
quicker or if you just want a faster
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