Straight tails beat curly tailsl by a mile!

[Spoonminnow]

Fished my usual weedy lake today for crappie and other panfish. The lure that caught most fish was a straight tail minnow-type grub. Curly tail grubs failed and I believe I know why.

The straight tail is very thin and flutters at a very slow speed; curly tails need a faster retrieve.

If you want an erratic retrieve, straight tails dart in all directions far easy than curl tails which can't dart with rod tip twitches. I truly believe the darting motion along with the flash of metal flakes got fish to bite. Usually I'll jerk the bait and turn the reel handle slowly two or three revolutions, pausing the lured to a dead stop at times before continuing.

In water 6' or less, I work different depths on the same retrieve. Today jig and lures size was crucial - 1/32 allowed for a slower motion than a 1/16 oz. Sometimes slow is the only way to catch fish in 84 degree water and under a cloudless sky. The 1/16 jig did okay, but the 1/32 oz caught over 50 fish to the 1/16 oz 10 fish in the same school. The best hits came on 2 or 2 1/4"; not as well on 2 3/4" or larger.

Curly tails have a time and place, but for may money, I use a straight tail 99 % of the time.

[PawPaw Gene]

I must agree spoonminnow, it's my go to bait 99% of the time. Curly tails don't seem to work well they need a design change.
"gene"

[Crestliner08]

Ever since I "discovered" straight tails (BGBS's) back about 3 seasons ago, they have certainly dominated my tackle satchel. For many years I only used curly tails. Then I switched to tubes. Now the straight tails have accounted for the majority of my catches. Recently, I won a bunch of Charlie Brewer's "Slider" grubs in a contest here. Gotta tell you, if you haven't tried these "boot" tails, you may be missing out. They work equally as well as the straight tails, as far as we can see this season (first time we've tried them actually).

Whenever we're out, we are always switching up from one style to another, to see if the bite improves or decreases. Some days it's one thing and another day it may be something else. This is why they call it "fishing" and not "catching" I guess!

[Spoonminnow]

Slider Grubs also haven't been producing for me for the same reason curly tails haven't - you must move them at a certain rate to get any tail action. Today I fished with a buddy on a larger lake than above and he used Big Bite Bait 2" Crappy Minnr, a rat-tail that quivers nicely. I caught more fish on my creation but he did well with most of the species we found in different locations. I'm convinced that the design is worth stocking in different colors and will also try the ones I made this evening to see how they compare.

You can't argue when someone catches bass, yellow perch, sunfish and crappie on a lure that has an action you know works 99% of the time!

[genec]

I TOO MAKE MY OWN STYLE STRAIGHT TAIL BAITS AND THAT IS ABOUT ALL I USE ALL YEAR ROUND AND 90 PERCENT OF THE TIME I USE 1/32 JIG HEAD,I MOSTLY FISH SUPER SLOW

[Cincinnati]

I love, love, love using straight tails - but how com my GL - Slow'Roll'rs sometimes are the ticket. "Dang Crappie!"

[ifish]

Hey spoon, what is the bait you are making? I make the Mo Magic and is one of my all time favorites. It has a straight tail and is very versatile.

[Spoonminnow]

My hand poured Super Minna:


Big Bite Baits 2" Minnr"



Arkie's Sexy Tail Shad:

The plastic Minnow imitator the Crappie can't lay off of. These popular baits have a lively tail action, and can either be cast and retrieved, or fished under a bobber. The slightest movement creates tantalizing tail action.

A quote from a customer:

We are using them tied to 4lb test line with the vertical type bobber. Cast them out and just wiggle them and within 1 minute a crappie will pull your bobber down. Sometimes the crappie hit it as it enters the water. Needless to say I've ordered more. Much easier to use than the curly tails because you don't have to continuously retrieve them. Just a little tug on the bobber sets them off and the fish just can't stand it. Fantastic product!!!

Update:
An old friend was at the lake today with his 8 yo granddaughter and I gave her a few my 1 3/4" creations. I told her how to use them with a stick float after I rigged the lure on a 1/32 oz jig. He is an experienced angler and she still kicked his butt - 15 to his 5!

I found a pattern going on relating to weed drifts in 6-7' of water plus my usual 14' deep, quality-crappie hangout and the fish slammed my lure and another from BigBiteBait's - 2" MinnR. The wind was high, the sun bright (after a cold front) and the water 81 degrees. I found that using a special retrieve made all the difference in the world :

I dragged the lure a foot or so with the rod tip - stopped - turned the handle a few revolutions, paused the retrieve a few seconds and repeated. If the lure felt like a lightly snagged weed, I swept the rod at a moderate speed, low away from the fish reeling fast. The fish panics and sets the hook for me. Knowing that the bottom was weed free allowed me to detect the soft bite all day long and I boated over 45 fish (4 species).

It pays to know the lake bottom and learn seasonal changes that affect fish location. Another lake I've fished for over 35 years I still don't know and have a hard time patterning crappie except that many are found in the pads. The one fished today I learned more and will continue to discover after 20 years fishing blind.

[Spoonminnow]

Hey spoon, what is the bait you are making? I make the Mo Magic and is one of my all time favorites. It has a straight tail and is very versatile.

Do the tails quiver with the slighted motion?

[shipahoy41]

I agree with genec. I handcraft my own straight minnow and fish it 85%of the time. The restof the time I am fishing a teardroplikein my avatar or alive minnow. I have confidence in those three presentations fished under a slip float.