How to rig curly tail grub

[livemusic]

I am hoping for something to catch both bass and crappie in this spawn / post-spawn period on my shallow lakes. I have a very nice ultralight rig capable of landing bass as well as crappie and I'd like to use it because it's so light to use and is fun to catch them on. I am thinking a curly tail grub should work. If it doesn't, will try a ned rig or something else. As for curly tail jig, I just have not found it good to use around here with an exposed hook. There is too much brush/logs/grass/moss. I love to fish soft plastics texas rig weedless. Does this work well with curly tail grub? I have some Zoom Fat Albert Grub, which is about 3.25" long and also some Basspro Crappie Maxy, which is about 2.33" long. I can see my problem is going to be having a small enough worm hook, as I generally use 3.0 and 4.0 worm hooks; I will have to look to see if I have smaller. Other than that, what? I also have some ned jigs and other jig heads and they are smaller. But they are not weedless. I might one or two weedless something somewhere. Hmmm... I just remembered something... some type of plastic extension gizmo that you stretch over the hook to make it weedless. Hmmm...

I just remembered, I think I have some small flukes. I fish a Super Fluke a lot for bass; I think Super Fluke is the 4" size and that is a little too large for most crappie. The smaller version would be better. Maybe that is called Junior.

Of course, I could also use something like a beetle spin but I do like to fish soft plastics.

FWIW, I have small braid line on my spinning reel. Feedback appreciated.

[deathb4disco]

I don't worry about "weedless". Jigs are cheap, and I can live with losing them. If you have to go weedless, I'd go with the crappie slider head or the kind with the plastic bristles that stick up and guard the hook.

FWIW, I abandoned curly tail baits a long time ago. I prefer "stinger" tail like Bobby Garland Baby Shad or a "paddle" tail like the crappie slider or straight tail like crappie magnet.

[deathb4disco]

I love to fish soft plastics texas rig weedless.

Then you might prefer the crappie slider head.

WEEDLESS Crappie Slider Head; Orange 1/32oz CSH32

[silverside]

what he said
In your situation I would definitely try sliders

Sent from my SM-G960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[hdhntr]

like they said use CB sliders as they work well with their paddle tail. tried both weedless jigs and them and they work better.

[livemusic]

I don't worry about "weedless". Jigs are cheap, and I can live with losing them. If you have to go weedless, I'd go with the crappie slider head or the kind with the plastic bristles that stick up and guard the hook.

FWIW, I abandoned curly tail baits a long time ago. I prefer "stinger" tail like Bobby Garland Baby Shad or a "paddle" tail like the crappie slider or straight tail like crappie magnet.

Hello, I'm curious, why did you abandon curly tail for those? What did you find? FWIW, I am casting, not pole fishing. (Sometimes I use a pole, though.)

[deathb4disco]

Hello, I'm curious, why did you abandon curly tail for those? What did you find? FWIW, I am casting, not pole fishing. (Sometimes I use a pole, though.)

I also just cast. I think slower retrieves that work well for crappie work best with the more subtle action of the "other" tails.

IMO, "less is more" when it comes to tail action.

[deathb4disco]

FWIW, don't neglect fur/feather jigs. A simple marabou-and-chenille jig is a killer for crappie, etc.

[Atimm693]

I am hoping for something to catch both bass and crappie in this spawn / post-spawn period on my shallow lakes. I have a very nice ultralight rig capable of landing bass as well as crappie and I'd like to use it because it's so light to use and is fun to catch them on. I am thinking a curly tail grub should work. If it doesn't, will try a ned rig or something else. As for curly tail jig, I just have not found it good to use around here with an exposed hook. There is too much brush/logs/grass/moss. I love to fish soft plastics texas rig weedless. Does this work well with curly tail grub? I have some Zoom Fat Albert Grub, which is about 3.25" long and also some Basspro Crappie Maxy, which is about 2.33" long. I can see my problem is going to be having a small enough worm hook, as I generally use 3.0 and 4.0 worm hooks; I will have to look to see if I have smaller. Other than that, what? I also have some ned jigs and other jig heads and they are smaller. But they are not weedless. I might one or two weedless something somewhere. Hmmm... I just remembered something... some type of plastic extension gizmo that you stretch over the hook to make it weedless. Hmmm...

I just remembered, I think I have some small flukes. I fish a Super Fluke a lot for bass; I think Super Fluke is the 4" size and that is a little too large for most crappie. The smaller version would be better. Maybe that is called Junior.

Of course, I could also use something like a beetle spin but I do like to fish soft plastics.

FWIW, I have small braid line on my spinning reel. Feedback appreciated.

A tiny fluke on an 1/8 oz jig makes for a dynamite multi-species bait. Catch everything on them.

If hang-ups are a problem, you can always use a weedless jig head.

[CrappiePappy]

Hello, I'm curious, why did you abandon curly tail for those? What did you find? FWIW, I am casting, not pole fishing. (Sometimes I use a pole, though.)

I'll tell you why "I" gave up using curly tails : for the simple reason that seemingly no matter whether I rigged the grub with the tail pointing up or pointing down, it would eventually end up stuck on the hook point or the tail would get wrapped inside the hook bend. This would normally happen when casting or even when using a "lift/fall/lift/fall" presentation. Stingers & boot tails don't normally get wrapped or hooked in either of those presentations.
May just be me, but I had enough negative experiences with them that I gave them up in favor of stingers, boot tails, or carrot shaped plastics ... and have had higher success rates, since. (and I use weedless jigheads when casting)