Back with another installment of the DeBAIT as we cover the nuances of different approaches to certain tactics. In many instances, both may have their place. However, everyone has their preference they swear by and will spend considerable time explaining why it’s the only way to go.
In the world of bass fishing, constant changes and the unforgiving nature of bass has proven there is never a perfect answer for every situation. However, we will dig into both sides of the DeBAIT your buddy brought up by the bonfire on Saturday night and aim to shed light on which may work better for you. And why not bring in the perspectives from the best to ever do it on the Bassmaster Elite Series?
In this DeBAIT we will be looking at one of the most popular techniques of the past decade. This bait, utilized by almost every angler across the nation, is the vibrating jig. While the bait is fairly standard across the board, the type of plastic an angler pairs with it can drastically affect how the bait acts in the water. More often than not, vibrating jigs are used to imitate bait fish of some kind, and the trailer builds that profile.
The two opposing trailers commonly used across the country are paddletail swimbaits and straight-tail/fluke style baits. At a 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 to think about is the type of vibrations the bait will produce. Paddle tails thump side to side and produce their own vibration, essentially giving the vibrating jig two separate frequencies for fish to key in on. The paddling vibration will be much slower than the high-frequency 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 compliments the bait’s frequency and allows for a higher range of motion such as darting and hunting to the side.
Paddle tail
Elite Series pro Luke Palmer is known to be quite proficient when it comes to fishing a vibrating jig, and he chooses the paddletail swimbait as his go-to trailer. “I prefer the paddle tail over the fluke style (or straight tail), I throw a Yum Pulse in the smaller 3-inch size. That’s one of my favorite trailers, and I’m probably going to throw it 75% of the time.”
“I like it a lot when you’ve got slight stained to stained water, that paddle tail gives off a little more vibration and it helps slow the bait down a little bit.” The sixth-year pro sticks almost solely to the smaller 3-inch Pulse to give the bait different vibrations in the water. Pretty much all paddletail swimbaits are going to have a much slower thump than the high frequency of the blade.
The paddle tail provides drag which in turn pushes the bait up. This is the reason the vibrating jig can be fished slower and stay in the strike zone longer. This is very 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. I primarily throw a 1/2 ounce as my go to size (JackHammer ChatterBait) with that paddle tail. If you’re throwing it around laydowns or grass, whenever it rips out it seems to flutter more than just dying straight down.”
Palmer finds that not every paddle tail works well and pretty much always sticks to the small 3-inch bait. He’s learned that larger swimbait trailers don’t work well for him. “It seems like the bigger pulse really drags the bait — it’s got too much tail action and it kind of defeats the purpose of the ChatterBait.”
The extra wide thump of a larger swimbait can throw off or distort the natural vibration of the blade to the point that it might as well be on a regular jig head. However, the small one provides the perfect combination of extra vibration, lift and flutter.
Straight tail
Brock Mosley has an incredible track record as a consistent angler. Much of that success can be attributed to his strategy of keeping things simple and sticking with what works. Mosley likes to stick with a straight-tail bait the majority of the time when fishing a vibrating jig. Like Palmer, Mosley prefers the 1/2-ounce ChatterBait JackHammer but will also adjust to the 3/8 or 3/4 in certain situations.
The one and only straight-tail bait he throws is the Yamamoto Zeko. “I like to fish fast and cover water,” said Mosley. “A lot of the places we go the water is cleaner, and to me, the straighter tail gives it more shad-like and erratic action.”
Although Mosely believes the paddle tail has its place — especially in colder and dirtier water — he picks up the Zeko at least 75% of the time and basically always in clearer water conditions.
“It’s a confidence deal; I’ve got more confidence over the years throwing the straight tail.”
Since the straight-tail style bait doesn’t produce action of its own, it produces the action that’s given to it by the vibrating 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. “The more action with a paddle tail the more you’re taking away from the bait actually having that hunt action. The less plastic the more that bait will hunt.”
So, which is better for most circumstances? We’ll let you decide. There’s certainly no right or wrong answer, and it really comes down to personal preference and confidence. We hope this DeBAIT sheds some light on both options whether you regularly use both or are just picking up your first vibrating jig.
Don’t forget to vote on which you prefer, and we’ll break down more fishing nuances in the next DeBAIT.
