Paddle-tail swimbait

A baitfish that swims by itself: the boot tail thumps on any steady retrieve, so it covers water and finds fish with no rod work at all.

Soft plastics are the biggest family in bass fishing: 36 shapes, each designed for a rig, a depth and a mood.

• Shape = design purpose: fish, worm, craw, creature, tube, frog
• Finesse tier vs power tier: the same shape at 3.5 in and 7 in is two different techniques
• Tail type decides the action; body decides the fall
• Rig it the way it was designed to be rigged

1. What it is — A solid soft body with a flat boot-shaped tail set at an angle; water pushing on the tail makes it kick, and the kick rolls the whole body. Nothing else in the…
2. Designed for — Covering water where bass are on baitfish: grass tops, points, bait schools, riprap. On a jighead it is an open-water search bait; on a screw-lock or keel-weighted…
3. Trade-offs — It is a moving bait — fish that want a bait sitting still will not eat it. Size to the forage: 2.8-3.5 in finesse paddle tails on 1/8-1/4 oz heads for smallmouth and…