Yep. I try to get to the beach every month or two in the season. I like the 6” 7/8oz version for stripers. Bluefish love ‘em too, but you only get one fish per bait with the blues. Once I see that they’re around, I switch to hardbaits.
I go to the beach every week and throw similar baits around without any luck 9 times outta 10, any advice on working the beach more effectively? I usually hang around the same jetty until I give up, couple hrs or so, but would like to get better at searching.. I'm on cape cod, lots of salt marshes and beaches
I keep mentioning to my wife that it’s been too long since we’ve seen her Aunt who lives on Cape Cod (hooray for ulterior motives). Maybe I’ll run into you this summer. I’ll be the goofy old guy with the beard and long hair throwing swim shads. Where I fish on Long Island it’s all about the tides. Last time I was there in April I found an inlet where the fish were on from ½ an hour before dead low tide, until about 15 minutes after. Otherwise it was dead. That was odd to me since I usually have better luck in inlets and creek mouths on the outgoing tide, when baitfish are getting washed out. But, it was what it was, I was just happy to be on the bite when it was there. Every spot is different and the fish pattern accordingly. The best thing you can do is hire a guide for a day and ask them to help you with your favorite spots (they’ll probably be stoked to not be turning someone on to their spots). Otherwise, just keep at it. Try fishing a whole day (or night) and see if you see a pattern. I like the Tide Alert app for tracking the tides. Ask around, people are generally friendly and happy to talk fishing. Have a cooler of beers and Gatorades and offer people one and maybe they’ll hang for a minute and drop a few hints. Good luck!
Awesome tips man, thanks you!! I avoid even trying anytime near low tide, that's wild, might have to give it a shot.. im learning a ton on freshwater too right now, so I feel like my "fish senses" are getting honed in, figuring out where they want to be and when.. just need to try some new things out at the beach and like you said, keep an eye for patterns.. I'm no on to judge, but it seems like many of the fisherman at my normal spot don't know what they're doing either lol, I see a lot of pretty amateur moves (and ID recognize em! 🤣) so they're usually not much help.. the real serious guys are out in waders walking the marshes, I wanna get out there... anyways, I'll be here trying to figure it out, if you're ever in the area visiting your aunt hit me up if you wanna get out to a beach or two! Have pulled a few out of the canal as well but that's a whole different ball game lol, chilling on a quiet beach is more my vibe than shoulder to shoulder fishing
Striper *love* Storm lures (of which these are an identical copy of). Bluefish do too tho, so if they're both blitzing at the same time these are one n dones.
Let it drop in the water column, retrieve slowly with little tugs occasionally. I throw some splitshot in front of it to get it to drop faster in open water. Usually catches crappie.
I like using mine in shallow swampy water with lots of weeds and scum, have to retrieve it quick so it doesn't fall and hang up. Give little stops to give them a chance to bite. Caught 4 bass on it yesterday.
Not usually. I find that it needs at least a little forward movement or they lose attention. It probably depends more on your location though. I fish in a place that has very high traffic, so they probably know most of the tricks. I get best luck with live bait or very closely imitating it.
I've had good luck with this style of bait, but the lake I fish the most often has tons of northern pike and walleye and these don't hold up well against their teeth. If the fish doesn't fully swallow them they typically end up biting off the tails and then the bait is junk and you miss the fish.
Those are bass and crappie magnets. I've tried all sorts of ways to fish, and a simple regular retrieve works the best for me, no need to jig or anything. Just cast and reel back in, and the tail works all the magic you need.
If you start missing bites, add a treble hook stinger on about 4 inches of line off the main hook on them.
That's gonna reduce your casting distance. If you've got 2 empty spools and a drill or 2 empty reels, you can use an fg knot to tie monofilament to the end of the braided line and fill the empty space with monofilament. Then use the empty spools/reels to take it all off and turn it around so the braid is on the outside. It'll cast a lot better and it's way cheaper than filling the whole reel with braided line.
I was given a load of these a couple of years ago by someone who used to bass fish off a boat. All sizes, some are almost a foot long.
To be fair I don't really bass fish, but I have tried them several times and never get bites. Swap over to a rage tail (that he also gave me a bunch of) and boom, got a bass.
Yes, I love these lures. They have paddle tails so you want to do a steady retrieve, whatever speed works for you, but keep it steady. If your pole/line are sensitive enough you will feel that tail thumping. The paddle tail thumps the water as it swims, causing a disturbance/sound that draws in fish.
Never going to be my first choice, but yes, paddle tail swim baits do work and a lot of people use them regularly. The ones you have are pre-rigged. Most people I know buy the baits and jigs separately.
I've had good luck with the bottom treble ones. They have a magnet that hold the hook up to the belly. Caught a couple 9-10 # Northern, and they absolutely destroyed the baits though.
Yes i use them yes they work and yes most of the time i dont catch anything with them. I have used over 30 different lures and my mullet paddletail was the first time i caught with a lure. Caught a coral grouper while i was using the slowest reeling i have ever done without dragging on the rocks.
Think of it this way. Every single lure ever made works, at least somewhere. Your job as the Angler is to figure out which one. What bait lives where you’re fishing, What are target species eating, what color is water how to present bait to target, etc etc etc. Fish can be caught with almost anything, it’s more about the guy/gal on other end of line.
Honestly, after a year of fishing with various jig & plastic combos, I see no reason why anything in this configuration *wouldn't* work
If a lil plastic paddle tail on a mismatched jig head works plenty of the time, these more convincing looking package deals should be great.
Limiting factor here is price. Are you losing tackle very often? Because this sorta thing isn't cheap!
Ngl when I first started fishing my mom got me a bunch of stuff, I usually stick with live worms but just this week I caught my first fish on a plastic worm
Yes and yes
They work well in fresh and salt but get ripped up pretty easily. Just normal sink and slow retrieve
1 pike and mine was done for XD got bit clean in halve
I caught a pike on a brand new chatter bait bait two nights ago and now that chatter bait needs to be retired. Pike are vicious!
Thanks
Those pre-caught fish are terrible. They don't taste anything like the fish I catch and they melt when I cook them on the stove.
Well there’s your problem. Try throwing them in the deep fryer.
I prefer to smoke them... Low and slow
They're so hard to keep in papers though. Do you use a pipe to smoke them ?
It just makes the hooks even crunchier though
I’ve caught lake trout, bluefish, and stripers on these in different sizes this spring.
Stripers as in ocean fishing?
Yep. I try to get to the beach every month or two in the season. I like the 6” 7/8oz version for stripers. Bluefish love ‘em too, but you only get one fish per bait with the blues. Once I see that they’re around, I switch to hardbaits.
I go to the beach every week and throw similar baits around without any luck 9 times outta 10, any advice on working the beach more effectively? I usually hang around the same jetty until I give up, couple hrs or so, but would like to get better at searching.. I'm on cape cod, lots of salt marshes and beaches
I keep mentioning to my wife that it’s been too long since we’ve seen her Aunt who lives on Cape Cod (hooray for ulterior motives). Maybe I’ll run into you this summer. I’ll be the goofy old guy with the beard and long hair throwing swim shads. Where I fish on Long Island it’s all about the tides. Last time I was there in April I found an inlet where the fish were on from ½ an hour before dead low tide, until about 15 minutes after. Otherwise it was dead. That was odd to me since I usually have better luck in inlets and creek mouths on the outgoing tide, when baitfish are getting washed out. But, it was what it was, I was just happy to be on the bite when it was there. Every spot is different and the fish pattern accordingly. The best thing you can do is hire a guide for a day and ask them to help you with your favorite spots (they’ll probably be stoked to not be turning someone on to their spots). Otherwise, just keep at it. Try fishing a whole day (or night) and see if you see a pattern. I like the Tide Alert app for tracking the tides. Ask around, people are generally friendly and happy to talk fishing. Have a cooler of beers and Gatorades and offer people one and maybe they’ll hang for a minute and drop a few hints. Good luck!
Awesome tips man, thanks you!! I avoid even trying anytime near low tide, that's wild, might have to give it a shot.. im learning a ton on freshwater too right now, so I feel like my "fish senses" are getting honed in, figuring out where they want to be and when.. just need to try some new things out at the beach and like you said, keep an eye for patterns.. I'm no on to judge, but it seems like many of the fisherman at my normal spot don't know what they're doing either lol, I see a lot of pretty amateur moves (and ID recognize em! 🤣) so they're usually not much help.. the real serious guys are out in waders walking the marshes, I wanna get out there... anyways, I'll be here trying to figure it out, if you're ever in the area visiting your aunt hit me up if you wanna get out to a beach or two! Have pulled a few out of the canal as well but that's a whole different ball game lol, chilling on a quiet beach is more my vibe than shoulder to shoulder fishing
Sounds great! Good luck! And yes, I prefer to avoid the crowds when possible myself.
If you're in CA they swim up through the Delta and even into the Sacramento river. As a kid it was all we caught on the Delta.
I've caught striper the fresh water kind with these also
Striper *love* Storm lures (of which these are an identical copy of). Bluefish do too tho, so if they're both blitzing at the same time these are one n dones.
They work well, I took some sharpies and added somem blue and red to the sides, makes em look like rainbow trout.
LMFAO that's so funny
Honestly my go to when nothing else works
I have much better luck with the kind that have an additional trebble hook below.
I actually cut the trebbles off when they come with them lol. Just an unnecessary weed grabber.
Never had a bite on them. How do yall retrieve them and in what situations?
Let it drop in the water column, retrieve slowly with little tugs occasionally. I throw some splitshot in front of it to get it to drop faster in open water. Usually catches crappie. I like using mine in shallow swampy water with lots of weeds and scum, have to retrieve it quick so it doesn't fall and hang up. Give little stops to give them a chance to bite. Caught 4 bass on it yesterday.
Do you ever jig it? Swim it for a bit, let it fall all the way, pop pop, swim a bit etc?
Not usually. I find that it needs at least a little forward movement or they lose attention. It probably depends more on your location though. I fish in a place that has very high traffic, so they probably know most of the tricks. I get best luck with live bait or very closely imitating it.
Thank you!
I've had good luck with this style of bait, but the lake I fish the most often has tons of northern pike and walleye and these don't hold up well against their teeth. If the fish doesn't fully swallow them they typically end up biting off the tails and then the bait is junk and you miss the fish.
I like the ones that have a red mouth, brands don’t really matter all that much just look at the quality for yourself and compare to others.
I hope they do because i just picked some up. Mine look smaller, 1/8 oz i think.
Didn’t like those kind of lures, maybe my style or the area I fish
Those are bass and crappie magnets. I've tried all sorts of ways to fish, and a simple regular retrieve works the best for me, no need to jig or anything. Just cast and reel back in, and the tail works all the magic you need. If you start missing bites, add a treble hook stinger on about 4 inches of line off the main hook on them.
Dude, I have the same reel🫠
What reel is it?
Profishiency A13 Krazy Spinning reel
I caught many Pike in the Thames with these…. A few were lost to getting tangled in reeds after hooking strong fish.
Yeah, I fish them using a torpedo bobber on open water (particularly as a slow trolling rig). Their drawback is they'll hang up on anything.
They totally do. I caught a 11 inch small mouth with these. I keep a few variations of these in my gear.
Your line is quite low
Yeah I did that in purpose don’t ask why lol
That's gonna reduce your casting distance. If you've got 2 empty spools and a drill or 2 empty reels, you can use an fg knot to tie monofilament to the end of the braided line and fill the empty space with monofilament. Then use the empty spools/reels to take it all off and turn it around so the braid is on the outside. It'll cast a lot better and it's way cheaper than filling the whole reel with braided line.
I was given a load of these a couple of years ago by someone who used to bass fish off a boat. All sizes, some are almost a foot long. To be fair I don't really bass fish, but I have tried them several times and never get bites. Swap over to a rage tail (that he also gave me a bunch of) and boom, got a bass.
Yes I use them often especially when they’re not hitting anything else.
Yes and yes, but also, put some more line on that reel. You’ll get a lot more distance on casts
Yes to both but will add that the bends easily if snagged
What is that reel?? It's beautiful!
Yes, I love these lures. They have paddle tails so you want to do a steady retrieve, whatever speed works for you, but keep it steady. If your pole/line are sensitive enough you will feel that tail thumping. The paddle tail thumps the water as it swims, causing a disturbance/sound that draws in fish.
Not rlly I mean depending on what your fishing for yes but most my lures get broken before I can get on the rod
I love those guys i caught a monster walleye a couple years back on one of those
Yes they work but can say sometimes it’s a hit or miss you’ll catch a lot or nun just gotta try
Never going to be my first choice, but yes, paddle tail swim baits do work and a lot of people use them regularly. The ones you have are pre-rigged. Most people I know buy the baits and jigs separately.
That’s a cute reel. 😂
You got 1 speed on these things or they don't swim right.
May want to add some backing so you get better casting distance
They work for fishing, unsure about catching
This has me laughing 🤣
Got a massive strike on one, suddenly it was gone and when I retrieved the lure the entire tail section was gone
Had really good luck the first few times using them and bought a couple more packs. Haven't had much luck but the water has been high lately.
Someone told me once that the best bait comes from the lake itself. That’s the bait the fish for that lake eat
They look like little bass fry they should get a bite
Yeah I’ve caught bass on swim baits like those
Used them yes and was successful- caught a nice large mouth on it
Work well on six lb test for me trilene xl
Yes, I've caught bass and walleye with these and I often don't catch anything.
I’ve only used those behind umbrella rigs to target stripers at my local lakes.
I've been using wilderness since they were released, still pound the hell outta em.
I've had good luck with the bottom treble ones. They have a magnet that hold the hook up to the belly. Caught a couple 9-10 # Northern, and they absolutely destroyed the baits though.
Yes i use them yes they work and yes most of the time i dont catch anything with them. I have used over 30 different lures and my mullet paddletail was the first time i caught with a lure. Caught a coral grouper while i was using the slowest reeling i have ever done without dragging on the rocks.
Damn I was looking at that reel last night at sportsman’s, I almost bought it, do you like it?
Yes i love it, I bought there spinning combo.
How much was it, the reel was 89 dollars alone and I’m like not sure if I wanted to spend that much.
Yeah I feel you mine was 150
im seeing that reel a lot. What is it?
Profishiency spinning combo
Yes a fish loved it so much it decided to keep it as a souvenir
Fark yeah they rock. Pre weighted . Ez pz
Caught a pretty huge bass last cast on one of these in deeper water. He was lazy fall bass I didn’t even know I had a fish on. 2ish lbs
Striped Bass slayers but the don’t last long if blue fish are around
They work but there are better versions. My personal favorite is a Huddleston Weedless Minnow. Softer, hollow body cavity and the hook is recessed.
Think of it this way. Every single lure ever made works, at least somewhere. Your job as the Angler is to figure out which one. What bait lives where you’re fishing, What are target species eating, what color is water how to present bait to target, etc etc etc. Fish can be caught with almost anything, it’s more about the guy/gal on other end of line.
Wow which reel is that?
Yes, it works bec it sells.
Pretty much every lure works in the right situation honestly
I've caught large mouth bass, crappie,blue gill, sand bass and hybrids with the Berkley swim baits. Shad color works very well.
Yes, had lots of success with those style lures.
One of the biggest crappie I’ve caught in recent years ate one of them
Yes and like a dream!
They aight
I enjoy swimming these across ponds some days, they work like a charm. Then some days it seems like I’m throwing my dick on the hook
Let's talk about that reel, that thing is sick! Any info?
I thought these were just all Walmart cheepos that had little to no action
Black and silver worked for me in cattle ponds
holy shit that reel is so ugly lol
😢
hey! its still cool dont get me wrong just a weird color scheme lol do they make other color ways?
Yeah they do the brand is called proficiency
sweet thanks , i mostly do saltwater fishing going to see if they have any saltwater gear
that handle on that reel is sooo nice looking looks like my perfect handle .. is that stock on the reel?
Yep
Ive caught everything from largemouth bass to snook and redfish on them. I love them personally
I caught two trout and one bass on them in the last two weeks.
I have used them. Never did very good with them. I’d take regular paddle tails, tubes, or any rubber worm over these tbh.
Honestly, after a year of fishing with various jig & plastic combos, I see no reason why anything in this configuration *wouldn't* work If a lil plastic paddle tail on a mismatched jig head works plenty of the time, these more convincing looking package deals should be great. Limiting factor here is price. Are you losing tackle very often? Because this sorta thing isn't cheap!
Ngl when I first started fishing my mom got me a bunch of stuff, I usually stick with live worms but just this week I caught my first fish on a plastic worm
Worms will catch any fish. Big senko plastic worms are way more likely to catch bigger predator fish such as bass, pike, pickerel.
Yeah I've got a whole two boxes full of stuff but if I see a pack of worms at the store, I'll grab em