Super Finesse tail action - the ultimate strike trigger for soft plastic lures

[SenkoSam]

Anglers that troll lure depend on certain lure triggers to get strikes - different than cast & retrieve presentations that vary lure speed sometimes to just a crawl. Trolled soft plastic lures usually have action tails that only move at certain speeds - Sassy Shad and curl tail grubs just two examples. What I've discovered in the last ten years is that much of the time action tails that must be moved faster than at a crawl are ignored. I've tested this with co-anglers many times going fishless in an area I'm able to catch fish, the reason being a much slower rate of retrieve and a super-finesse tail action that moves slightly when paused.An example would be hair or fur tails jigs that flutter with the least jig movement.

Some anglers may think that covering more water catches more fish, which is true to a certain extent. But trolling lures - the technique for covering more water - may not work for many different reasons. Other than discovering a depth pattern, anglers working specific areas towards finding a pattern that may be duplicated in other parts of a lake (which is usually the key to catching more fish when fish are not chasing lures), is not nearly as productive.

I like the use of the word trigger to provoke strikes but believe that the gun must be cocked for the trigger to happen or in other words, the lure must first deliver a strike-provoking action to begin with. When fish are inactive (which I will always assume is the majority of the time), there is something about lures and live bait that irritates fish to attack : a live worm squirms; a cricket twitches; a minnow's tail flutters. A super finesse action tail does the same thing and in my book provokes strike better than any other tail action when the bite is tough for faster moving lures.

The lure shown in the pumpkinseed's mouth is made of very soft plastic allowing lure body squirm & quiver actions on the slowest retrieve.



The lure below is made of harder plastic but the lure's body still waddles along (like a Zara Spook on the surface). The fact that the thin tail quivers at rest is one more finesse action that tests a fish's patience.

These are finesse action tail lures though of different shapes:

The ultimate super finesse tail is the straight, super-thin, action-tail that flutter at any speed:

The above lures caught many sunfish and bass yesterday in water clear down to a depth of 9'. The wind averaged 15 mph and changed direction from hour to hour. The best jig size was 1/16 oz. even in 10' - 15' of water. This particular lake has some of the largest sunfish I've ever caught and the fight on light tackle make you think the fish were bass.

Different patterns existed: weeds on flats that allowed a gap of 2' to the surface; a shoreline / hard bottom pattern that allowed casts under overhanging limbs, cast parallel to straight shorelines but with varying bottom depths; and rip rap dam fishing. In all cases, the finesse worked better than a Sassy Shad which caught few fish. The Ribbon Tail grub by Strike King also did well because the sickle shaped tail design moves at the slowest retrieve as compared to a Mr Twister and Kalin grubs. The biggest difference between those lures and super finesse tails is the greater range of lure speeds on a single retrieve. So in a sense, lure tail action is important but so is variation in lure speed.

A floating Rapala minnow plug allows the same variation though on or near the surface. It's slow finesse action displays vulnerability to fish that turn into bullies at the slightest provocation - a subtle finesse. Finesse fishing may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for sifting water, there is no better way to catch fish especially under a bright blue sky and in cold or warm water.
[signature]