Paddle Tail soft plastics

[SteeleKnight]

Looking to buy some paddle tail soft plastics and would like some advice on which ones to buy, which colors and why. Thanks in advance.

[texnomad]

I quit using paddle tails when my curly tail grubs were out fishing them about 6 to 1 last year. Before that my best paddle tails were the Bass Assassin sea shad series in 4".

[SteeleKnight]

What brands/colors would u recommend on the Curly Tails?

[LocoSeamonkey]

you will get a variety of answers on a topic like this.

for me, I have started preferring soft plastics that can hold up longer when getting chewed on by fish after fish. On the rare occasion that I can get on the fish . But anyway, I like Egret baits (the bayou chub is their paddle tail and their wedge tails work great too) and Z-Man are probably the toughest in that they have so much stretch to them.

colors? chartreuse(bright yellow), chicken on a chain, morning glory (dark purple), opening night (clearish pink). I like ones that have the bright colored yellow tails. I also like the Houdini color from Z-Man and Cajun Pepper from Egret baits.

[texnomad]

For the middle coast anything with white or chartreuse in it has been good for me. Mr. Twister, H& H, and storm are my usual baits. Again around 3 to 4 inch ones in the waters around Rockport/ APass. Flounder seem to like the 3 inch models when mounted to a spinnerbait frame and dragged slowly across the bottom. Silver or gold on the flasher seems to make no difference.

[TroutSupport.com]

The My Coast Outdoors controlled decent paddle tail is an interesting little bait. You can put a foam insert in it to give it more buoyancy.. sometimes it will trigger a finicky fish to bite.

as for colors it's more about lite and dark and picking some and getting confident with them. I like to have 2 lite colors and 2 dark colors with me and that will cover just about any occasion.

Some that I have confidence in
Chicken on a chain,
plum treuse
watermelon
pumpkin seed
black chartreuse
pearl
bone

If you like chartreuse tail then get those but I've found many baits that I like don't have to have it.. you can always add a chartreuse jig head or not. I've caught a lot of fish with just an unpainted lead head on natural color plastics. It's more about finding the fish and being in fish and then making a good presentation.

The wedge tails are good and are a great little paddle tail.

[mhudson1331]

Personally I'ma big fan of Down South Lures. They're a smaller paddle tail but have out fished all the other soft plastics i have thrown. I also use procure with them and have good results when fish are present. I like the true plum and then dip the tail in white myself, key lime pie, red with the white tail, and candy apple southern shad.

[texnomad]

" It's more about finding the fish and being in fish and then making a good presentation. "
Now that is the real story from my experience.

[JimBeaux]

" It's more about finding the fish and being in fish and then making a good presentation. "
Now that is the real story from my experience.

Hohn-gry fish

[cristivnm]

DSL

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[Southtx]

Down South Lures are pretty tough to beat. I have also always caught tons of fish on DOA CAL shad

[Yak-n TX]

I've been using Dockside Matrix Shad for a little over 3 years and they are by far my favorite. Why? To be honest I catch fish with them so I have confidence in them. They hold up pretty well and have some nice colors too. My favorite is Lemonhead.

I'm not sure how easy they are to find around TX but I buy a bunch off the internet at the beginning of the year.

http://matrixshad.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Yaklash]

First of all, anybody who is sponsored by a manufacturer isn't necessarily promoting just because they are sponsored. Those that I know were using certain brands before they got a sponsorship deal. Unfortunately, there are some who would talk up a brand just because they are sponsored. I know a few guys who swear by Down South Lures, mostly saying they are the toughest on the market. For a guide, durability is key. A good guide hands out bags of soft plastics to his clients when they go out that are current, successful colors for those conditions. If a guide does his job - puts his clients on fish - any brand will work, but durability saves him lures.

Tough baits last longer, soft baits feel more realistic but tear up after a few fish. Kinda have to pick your brand based on which if those traits are more important to you, but there are ways to prolonged the life of a really soft plastic, like the way you rig it and what type of jig head you use. For instance, Bass Assassins are supersoft but if you use is a screw lock jig head, they will stay on the jig head longer. And a bait that has a happy medium of soft vs hard may be a good idea.

But IMO, dark to light is more critical than an exact "color" written on a bag.

That said, for about 3 years, and after years of being a heavy user of Assassin products, I've been using and happy with Brown Lures, Big Eyes, especially their Flappers (paddle tail). They are like little, jig-head versions of the Corky Devil lures (which I love), plus they come in a paddle tail version. The colors I like and that cover my Dark to Light needs are Black Cat (morning glory w Chart Tail) for dark, TX Roach for a medium range and TX Chicken for light. I also have them in the Devil Eye type, a rat tail if you will. They are not as widely available as some brands, but they are worth it.

[Spoonbill]

Good ole Morning Glory H&H Cocahoe (as far as I know all morning glory have the chartreuse tail, but maybe that's not the case). Seems like if the bite isn't there, I can put that plastic on just a plain grey jighead, and within a few casts the skunk is over . That's my confidence lure, for sure. When it's overcast, it's the first plastic I'll tie on. When skies are clear I start with something else but at least 9 out of 10 trips I'll throw that specific cocahoe.

As for durability, they're pretty soft and I don't expect them to have a very long life at all.