Paddletails for Pre-Turnover Smallmouths

Prior to turnover, paddletails and swimbaits dominate. When this bite peaks, the boat goes through 2 or more packages of tails per day.

Many brands feature different designs and variations, models, colorways, and styles. Yellow perch patterns, and natural minnow patterns replicating smelt and cisco, are favored.

The 3.8” Strike King Rage Swimmer annually accounts for explosive strikes, and huge numbers of smallmouth from many clear water lakes. Its thin tail produces a slow wag that’s irresistible. Keep in mind the yellow perch connection, so matching the hatch is of utmost importance. Ayu and KVD Magic are the only colors we throw.

Less durable but far more effective some days is the 3.8 Keitech Swing Impact Fat. These are must-haves as well, with Pro Staff Perch being the favorite. To help prolong shelf life, Freedom Tackle’s FT Swimbait Head and its double-keeper is a winner. What commonly lasted only one or two fish apiece can now last anywhere from 5 to 10 fish per bait.

Way more durable in texture and nose segment is the Kalin’s Sizmic Shad 3.8”. Our favorite is White Crystal and Arkansas Shad.

Larger baits can often entice bigger fish in fall, and weed out the small ones. That’s the best way to describe the 5-inch Big Bite Baits Suicide Shad. When big smallmouths are favoring a slightly larger swimmer profile, this bait is enticing.

We retrieve these swimmers with a combination of 3/8 oz. and 1/2 oz. heads that include Freedom Tackle’s FT heads, Trokar Boxing Glove Jigs, and Northland Tackle Slurp! Jigs.

And might the smallmouths need something compact, Z-Man’s 4-inch Diezel MinnowZ replicates the look, action and strike-evoking attraction of a live minnow better than any other swimmer. These bite sized paddletails, rigged up with a Z-Man Finesse EyeZ head, Northland Slurp!, and Freedom Tackle FT Swimbait Head rapidly became one of the most productive baits for my boat during the past few seasons. Their ElaZtech formulation creates a lifelike swimming action and durability. Available in dozens of colors, I gravitate to the Smelt, Ayu, and Motor Oil colors most often. They just work on every water type and clarity. The Deal is another good one. Newly released Pro Team Perch and Disco Cisco got lots of usage also, and do well wherever perch or cisco are the dominant lake forage species.

Might you need something beefier for hawg hunting, the same Diezel Minnow is also available in 5 and 7-inch models. I also elect to fish a 6-inch Megabass Mag Draft, but without any internal weights it has casting distance and diving depth limitations.

Post-turnover, the swimbait game changes drastically. At this point, all artificial lures for casting must dive deep, sink quickly to fish, be bottom-oriented, and deflect from rock. Instead of swimmer style heads, we opt for swinging-head styles and football head shapes such as Big Bite Baits Swing Heads, and Freedom Tackle Swinging Footballs and Zodiac jigs. Cast, slow-roll, and slow-swim along the bottom. Most sizes and weights fished are in the 3/8 ounce to 3/4-ounce class.

Cisco and whitefish spawn during November’s full moon when water temperatures are in the low to mid 40’s. Slow-rolling these same swimmers rigged on heavy heads produce from daytime staging locations in 20-25 ft. On cisco fisheries, the placement of some smallmouth wintering locations can be within close range to cisco spawning sites.

For most swimbait slow rolling and slow retrieving, I recommend casting rods with some extra length and softer tips as most strikes will happen far out and down deep. The St. Croix Legend Tournament Warhorse (LBTC75MHF) is a favorite. Meanwhile on downsized offerings, like a 4-inch Z-Man Diezel Minnow on 3/8-ounce heads, I select a 7-foot 6-inch MF St. Croix Legend Elite (ES76MF) paired with a size-30 spinning reel spooled with 15-pound Cortland Masterbraid.