Paddle Tail Query.

[Husky]

Most paddle tail lures are made from commercial molds, BUT if you were designing a lure with an action tail, what would influence your design?

[TheRegulator]

The amount of wobble would be number one for me. I like to see less wobble and more kick from the paddle tail. From there, something that the nose would hold up better on.

[longhorn]

Excellent question. Yes, most swimbaits are probably made from store bought molds. I wanted to have a design of my own. My short cut was to buy several swimbaits...test them in the water...and then make my own design which doesn't copy any of them but incorporates the proportions of the ones that work well. I was lucky enough to get a winner on my first carving and have caught several hundred bass on my design. No..the design is not magic...the fish have to be in the right mood to hit swimbaits. When they are in the right mood any design that swims well will work.

[Husky]

Excellent question. Yes, most swimbaits are probably made from store bought molds. I wanted to have a design of my own. My short cut was to buy several swimbaits...test them in the water...and then make my own design which doesn't copy any of them but incorporates the proportions of the ones that work well. I was lucky enough to get a winner on my first carving and have caught several hundred bass on my design. No..the design is not magic...the fish have to be in the right mood to hit swimbaits. When they are in the right mood any design that swims well will work.

I lucked out and made this 3" swimmer, pretty much from scratch. ;

the model

the mold, made with a squish mold,

the lure

but now I'm looking to put a little action tale on these.kind of lures.

I was curious about how just an offset of about 45 degrees for the tail's last 5/8" would do. Presently the water here is very hard and all lures will remain on the surface, so testing will be limited, Has anyonr had success just offsetting the end of the bait's tail?

TIA

[longhorn]

My master and bait.

Edited December 17, 2009 by longhorn

[Husky]

My master and bait.

That looks great. What contributed to your tail design?

[longhorn]

A few things. I made the top wide for easier release from the POP mold. I had used a few swim babes in different sizes and liked the way they swam. I looked at lots of photos on tackle warehouse and noticed that most popular hand poured swimmers had similar tail shape and angle so I tried to keep mine similar. I think the most important aspect of the design is the approach to the tail. Too thin or thick may not work. I designed a fat 5" bait from scratch the looked great but didn't swim well with a light weight a slow speed. I had to do a couple designs of my 3.25" bait before I got one that I was satisfied with. Here's my 3.25" (from RTV molds)

Edited December 17, 2009 by longhorn

[Artificial All The Way]

Nice looking baits guys.

Husky have you played with the tail end at all? Try making the tail end that attaches to the tail thinner? Kicking the tail out from the 90 it's on. If size isn't a big issue than a longer thinner part attached to the tail will give it tons more action in the back end.

[Husky]

Nice looking baits guys.

Husky have you played with the tail end at all? Try making the tail end that attaches to the tail thinner? Kicking the tail out from the 90 it's on. If size isn't a big issue than a longer thinner part attached to the tail will give it tons more action in the back end.

Merry Christmas Lupo,

I'm going to try making a mold of the 6" in Bugeye Sluggo type with the offset in both 45 and 90 deg. I'm curious how much action I can get w/o using that wide paddle.

What I did with that 3" was I cast the tail in a Swim Bait Silicone mold out from UR. Then I had a good base line to start mods on. No need to reinvent the wheel. Then I epoxied it to a hard bait body I made. After Bath Tub testing. I'll see what results.