Curly tails, hook up or down ?

[kyron4]

Hello, I have always been told when fishing a Mr. Twister Tail (aka curly tail), that the hook goes up and tail curles down. I have been doing this since I was 12. I have since been told to rig it curly tail up with hook or only with small jigs, or one way deep other way shallow, or on fast retreive or slow retreive. I catch alot of fish and the tail has action , does it really matter. Is there a right or wrong way ? -Thanks

[DRPEPPER]

I have always put them tail up. I don't know that it matters as long as the grub is properly matched up with the jig size and is straight. I tease my son that his looks like a humped back minner. But, he catches his fair share.
DP

[BigMack]

DadGummit.
You guys are always pullin' my old ideas out.
I love these Curly Tails, but I found a technique that drives the fish crazy.



Your welcome.
:D

[Eager Beaver]

It depends on the mood of the fish and switching the tail up or down will change the action of the jig somewhat. I have even hooked the body to be off the side. It gives it a little different action and may get one more Crappie to bite something that they haven't seen before. There really isn't a wrong way to hook a curly tail body. EB

[jimp]

now that's an interesting idea, glad to see you still got all of that finger.

[SEMOmike]

I've always hooked it up, unless I'm tipping with a minnow then I hook it curl down

[CatFan]

I put them on hook up unless I'm casting to something where I'm looking for a strike on the fall. Then I hook then with the tail to the side to get more action on the fall. It doesn't always make a difference, but with a tail that's big in relation to the jig weight, it can make a difference.

[Wiskers]

I tested this up/down deal in a cattle watering troff a few years ago. I tied 1 end of the line to a 1/32 oz jig & the other end to a stationary 2X4 stretched across the end of the troff. I held the jig over the opposite end of the troff & dropped it. Timed it till the jig hit the bottom.

Turning the tail down seemed to make the jig fall slower. Up made the jig fall faster and at a steeper angle. Putting the grub on sideways made the jig walk to the opposite side of the tail.

As you may expect, the bigger the body was the slower the fall was.

This is what happens when you're a towboat pilot, home for 30 days & bored! :D

[CrappiePappy]

I don't use curly tails .... I was always under the impression that the tail up method would wrap the tail around the hook, more often than with the tail down method. This is specific to casting, though. What few times I did use them, when I hooked them tail up ... I did have instances when the tail got stabbed by the hook point, during the cast. (which is why I don't use them, much, anymore). Don't matter to me, though ... I've got more plastics than I'll ever use up, anyway .... LOL !!

... cp

[Turtlebait]

I use the curly tail 90% of the time,hooked both ways and will agree with crappiepappy.Tail up the tail will get caught on the hook point or caught in the bend of the hook when cast.It depends if I want a faster fall as to the tail up or down,its not a big problem tail getting caught on the hook.