Remove Plastic Jig Tail (Curly)?

[SwampFisher]

To the answer the first question : NO because I always prefer plastic over hair or feather.

As to the second question, a few things are considered when matching jig to lure:
1. length of lure and a jig hook size that is at least close to 1/2 lure body length (not total length)
2. jig weight should depend on how slow you want to work the lure - any lure. A 1/32 oz jig or less will glide at slower speeds than a 1/8 oz. Curl tails can be used with a heavier jig due to tail resistance to the lure's forward motion and still maintain a moderately slow speed of retrieve which will always be as important as lure used.

IMO Crestliner and I usually agree on preferred lure design and presentations and that goes for his post. Flat tail grubs, cone tail grubs, slim worm-like body with no action-tail and spike tails are my bread & butter lure designs for all months, with curl and shad tails taken along just to see if fish will also strike them. 2" Tubes also have their moments.

As far as natural looking or acting, I don't think about it when it comes to lure design. The lure either catches fish or it doesn't.

thanks for the advice

Why do you always prefer plastic?

What do you mean by your first bullet? The jig hook should go halfway through the plastic body?

[SwampFisher]

I like curly tail grubs but I never use them with a slip cork. They are designed to have the tail twirl while retrieving the bait. With a jig and cork you are using more of a stop and go retrieve. For this type of fishing I like a small fluke type bait like a Gulp minnow or a Lunker City Fin-S-Fish in a 2 1/2 model. This combo is deadly on crappie and white bass.

Do you put the Fin-S-Fish on the jig hook or do you use it as the jig body?

[Erin Brewer]

There is nothing wrong with curl tail jig's. What matters most is what the fish want, size color presentation. I have seen days the fish did not want any movement out of the jig had to hold it perfectly still to get hit other days the more it moved the better. It never hurts to have a large selection of different styles and colors when your crappie fishing!

[Spoonminnow]

Why do you always prefer plastic?

I've found finesse action plastics preferable because of basic lure design that goes back to the first grub introduction by Mr.Twister. IMO a grub body is thicker than hair and has a defined shape that serves as a target ; the tail accents the lure's finesse action using a few presentations. If there is no curl tail, the entire body can be moved a certain way with rod tip twitches (IE zig zag or whip). Lure action provokes fish to strike and the body provides the meat.

Hair and feather jigs get matted after drying out, hold water longer and rust hooks faster. For whatever reason, over the last 45 years I always do better with plastics and for more species as compared to other lure materials. And now with my new designs, never fail to catch fish regardless the water temperature or conditions.

What do you mean by your first bullet? The jig hook should go halfway through the plastic body?

The hook shank should not be too short or too long when rigging any plastic lure (except drop shot, nose-hooked lures). If the hook comes out too far back in a grub toward the tail, it may limit lure action; if too short a jig hook is used, I might miss short strikes due to a smaller hook gap and too forward the position of the hook's point. Optimally, the curve of the hook should come out nearer the front of the body at 1/3 its length.

[Grainraiser]

Do you put the Fin-S-Fish on the jig hook or do you use it as the jig body?

I thread it on a jig head just like you would do any other plastic bait.

[wolfhnd]

I catch all my fish on the lures I use :-)

I think that the people that say how the lure is presented is more important than the lure itself are covering the majority of the issue. That said some lures are easier to use for certain presentations. I wouldn't use a curly tail lure if I wasn't moving it enough to get the benefit but I have no evidence that even when casting and retrieving that they work any better than say a tube. I think we should all get together and hire someone to do a scientific study to resolve these questions because I'm afraid I don't believe many things until I see them for myself. On the other hand I always do what someone with more experience tells me works because lets face it most of us don't fish enough to test many theories. When I say test I mean doing everything that an expert would do with the particular lures in question but which expert doesn't have his or her favorites and equal experience using all the available options.

This year I tried inline spinners for the first time and they worked well. It was totally an accident as I had some in my tackle box and said to myself these things have been around long time they most do something. Most of my fishing success I still rack up to luck. The rest of it I credit to people who have shared their techniques. The number of variables are just to huge to have any certainty about what works best.

The best way to catch fish is to see how other people are catching fish and do what they are doing. Occasionally you will be the person that everyone is learning from and that is just the nature of our species I guess. Fish may be stupid but they are highly evolved and more complex than anything humans have invented. Throw in the possible environments you fish in and making fishing a science is going to be about as difficult as forecasting the weather. It can be done to a degree if you have all the right equipment and know how to use it but sometimes it is nice just to call it an art and go with what feels good.

[Spoonminnow]

Years of using all of the lure designs and presentations suited to them has been comparative as to when and where they work and how more often they work as compared to each other. Variables aside such as color, shape and size, lure design that tickles or irritates a fish's senses seem to be the most important aspect when it comes to provoking fish to strike. Slow retrieves matter when it comes to utilizing lure characteristics that do just that.

So, when it comes to using spinning blade type lures, floating balsa jerk minnows, curl and shad tail grubs, speed matters in order to display their actions and the lures are useless using very slow retrieves or used at the wrong depth. Using a lure suited to a larger range of retrieve speeds, in my experience and in the waters I fish, always do better than those with limitations. That's not to say other lures don't do as well at times, but that when conditions are tough such as in water temps under 40 and after cold fronts, slower and finesse rule.

Other than having fun catching fish on many lure types, I would just as soon catch fish using lures initially that have proven fish locators and go from there. So, this year I will fish with more lure types for the fun of it and because of the recommendations given on crappie.com. It's always beneficial to update one's knowledge base than stay with the same thing year after year. When I fished with different partners last year, I couldn't help but notice what they caught fish on and asked to borrow one to try. But as important as catching fish, was where and how that lure was used thereby broadening my knowledge base and fighting the encroachment of angler superstition so prevalent among many anglers and supported by lure sellers.

There is no room for a closed mind when it comes to fishing as clearly demonstrated by those willing to make room for ideas that at first seem implausible. I admit it, I have been guilty of that until seeing is believing changes my mind. One is never to old or experienced to learn....

[Ketchn]

if you want bait without a curly tail I suggest you get that kind of bait myself .....there are about a zillion out there
second the split shot above the jig thing can most certainly cause you to not recognize a light negative bite as well ....
lots of folks I see do this and some do ketch crappie well this way .....but it isn't best presentation ...
that's my 2 cents on it ....