Thread: Action tail or no action tail soft plasitics - one better than the other?

My introduction to soft plastic lures was catching fish on a Mr. Twister purple (not grape) 6" Phenom Worm with pink curly tail. What followed was catching smallies on a Mr Twister bright yellow curl tail grub on a yellow pearl jig head. The rest is action-tail history that included all shapes and lengths. (Anyone ever use the Snatrix?) But last year I discovered that soft plastics don't have to have an action tail to catch just as many fish!

Last Sept. I caught the usual fish using a Ribbon Tail curl tail grub until a fish bit off the tail. I cast the tailless lure and sure enough fish still bit is as frquently as the action tail. I started messing with other grub bodies with same result: fish after fish.
Then I crafted shapes from other grubs I poured as well as connected grub bodies using a candle flame to melt them together.
Here are a few:
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The same thing for Sassy Shad boot-tail lures:


The above had the tail removed and the belly of the lure cut down to make a slimmer profile. Worked great!
The action of all the above produced a darting wobble with pauses between rod tip twitches. Jig head size was a 1/24 or 1/32 oz. for the best mid-depth lure action.

Who know that stick- or bulb-shaped finesse lures would do so well! Try any of the shapes. You'll be amazed how many fish you'll catch and many species at that!

Originally Posted by gabowman

I longline troll and catch 'em on hair jigs as well as curly tail southern pro hotgrubs.

The bodies of those grubs have a great texure ! I have melted the bodies of two grubs together (minus curl tails) and caught many fish. A great shape even when used with the curl tails on and especailly when used with a Beetle Spin.