Story by Todd Goade | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
There’s one thing about bass fishing that is always true—change is always happening and bass tell us every day that there never is a perfect answer for every situation.
One of the most popular techniques of the past 10 years or so, probably utilized by almost every angler across the nation, is the bladed jig. While each bladed jig has its own nuances, the type of plastic that you pair with it can drastically affect how the bait acts in the water. More often than not, bladed jigs are used to imitate baitfish of some kind, and the trailer builds that profile.
The two types of trailers commonly used across the country are paddle tail swimbaits and straight-tail/fluke-style baits. At first glance, these two styles of baits don’t seem all that different. However, this difference can drastically change how the bait runs, hunts, and comes through cover.
The biggest key that I think about is the type of vibrations the bait will produce. Paddletails thump side to side and produce their own vibration, essentially giving the vibrating jig two separate sounds for fish to key in on. The paddling vibration will be much slower than the vibrations of the blade.
Straight tails don’t produce a consistent vibration by themselves. Instead, they move and flutter with the blade’s vibration. In this way, the plastic complements the bait’s cadence and allows for a higher range of motion, such as darting and hunting to the side.
I throw them both at different times and in different situations. Let’s start with the paddletail.
I like a standard paddletail that’s about 3.3 inches in length. I like it a lot when you’ve got slightly stained to stained water, that paddle tail gives off a little more vibration and it helps slow the bait down a little bit.
The paddletail also provides drag which in turn lifts the bait up. This is the reason the vibrating jig can be fished slower and stay in the strike zone longer. This is beneficial when fishing shallow water and around shallow cover such as grass and wood. It definitely “floats” the bait better than the other style of trailer. A 1/2-ounce bait is my go-to size with that paddletail. If you’re throwing it around laydowns or grass, whenever it rips free, it seems to flutter more than just dying straight down.
My favorite straight tail bait to throw on a bladed jig is the Zoom Shimmer Shad. When I’m wanting to fish fast and cover water, this is the style trailer I use. I think the straighter tail gives it more of a shad-like and erratic action.
Since the straight-tail style bait doesn’t produce action of its own, it gives off the action of the bladed jig blade. It also doesn’t restrict the movement of the bait itself, which allows it to hunt and dart. The more erratic action can be the key to triggering a reaction strike.
So, which do you prefer? There’s certainly no right or wrong answer, and it really comes down to personal preference and confidence. I like them both!
See y’all on the water!
Todd Goade – Angler Profile
