Boot tail plastics

Hawnjigs

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Since switching to Gulp! never used em because the Gulp! latex (?) material is prone to permanent package memory which means the tails end up pretty much any which shape EXCEPT the planned straight perpendicular to the body.

However, JiggerJohn suggested a lift drop retrieve for finicky wipers best served by wedge tails which vibrate on a drop rather than my usual tiny fork stick tails of the Gulp! Minnows so I got a few embedded head chartreuse shad 3" Power Bait Pogies from Walmart and they indeed got bit.  Since then I've alternated them with my usual 3" Gulp! Minnows on a jighead with good results, switching between them when the bite slows.  Downside is that the 3" Power Pogy #1 hook seems too small for larger wipers and I got a lot of drop offs recently during a big wiper bite, so currently shopping for Power Bait Pro Shads in 2-1/2" & 3-1/2" sizes to attach onto larger hook jig heads.

So, anyone else like em?  Or not?
 

AtticaFish

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I have used a few different brands of them and they definitely do the trick on some days. However....... i don't really care for the Berkley style. The tails on those ones and some other off brands i have used are fairly skinny and just don't seem to kick as much as others. Especially at slow retrieve speeds. Those pogies just do the shimmy and i would think that is all you will get on the fall from them.

Now on the other hand..... the Kalins and Keitech brands have a completely different shaped boot and they kick so much that they actually cause the body of the bait to waggle opposite of the tail. They do the same thing even at slow speeds and on the fall. Strike King Rage Tail is another good one. If you are wanting a smaller size though, not all brands have the good boots in the smaller sizes. Keitech has 2 different styles also. The Swing Impact has a skinny body, think shiner shape. The Fat Swing Impact has a beefed up belly that reminds me of a tadpole shape. They both have the same boot though and kick really good.

What color of the Berkley ones did you have success with? Last time i was at my local Walmart, i did notice they had some Kalins products.
 

Hawnjigs

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Only tried the 3" chartreuse shad - got em cuz Wally has a VERY poor selection of booties and the Power Baits were the cheaper of 2. Other colors looked good too but the troos works so why fix what ain't broke? $2.96 for 5 seemed a good deal and they hold up for multiple wiper fights.

Good advice on other brands with better actions, but the PBs are getting bit fine right now, maybe the scent makes a difference?
 

Hawnjigs

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Boot tail update:
LOTS of wipers including 3 pushing 15# and occasional pleasant other species surprises.
Yesterday 3 - 22" wallys
Today 40# flathead.
All from the bank.
I've been using various Power Bait 2", 2-1/2", & 3" versions. Fellow bootie fan Rick likes the Mimic Minnow. Both of us favor chartreuse color inclusion.
 

Hawnjigs

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The 2" Power Bait Ripple Shad worked great for trout. Very first test last Friday got a half dozen nice rainbows up to 10+#. No, thats not a typo.
 

Hawnjigs

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Geez, hard to believe that in 4 months thumper tails are my best choice, right now for cold water wallys. Not many around accessible from shoreline but observing other's sharing my spots the booties are producing better than most. Right now despite perhaps lesser thump performance, Power Bait 3" Pro Shads and 2" Ripple Shads are getting some nice ones. Both are nose trimmed 1/4" or a bit more for better jig head fit.

Dunno, maybe other action tails like twisters or bigger size baits would work as well or who knows better, but right now no need to change.
 

hookup

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don't carry or even know how to use new fangled image capture devices.

Just point and shoot

They make it easy now a days

But ......

I call boot tails swim baits

Or in the old days, paddle tails

Right?

And you & AF mentioned Gulp, Powerbait, and keitechs

Gulf and power bait resemble food.  Know that keitechs are scented but do they also sell a "food" type bait like gulp&powerbait

Are the keitechs you mention the impact fat, shiner or impact swimsuit? or does keitech make a food type bait like gulp&powerbait?
 

AtticaFish

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The Keitech's are scented, some packages seem to smell stronger than others but that is probably par for the course. I'm guessing ingredients get fudged from time to time. I've never used the Easy Shiner series of them. I do have a couple of the Swing Impact, they have a pretty skinny body. I have the most color options of the Fat Swing Impact. Both of the Swing styles are ribbed and have a skinny tail and big boot. This makes them kick pretty much as slow as you can reel. They even kick on the drop.

The Strike King Rage Tail Swimmer is very similar the Fat Swing swimbaits i like and have a couple other different color options. These type of swimbaits are hard to beat for bass and walleye.
 

Hawnjigs

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Hookup, only started using booties this year so don't know what they used to be called.

Looked up the Keitechs, too expensive compared to Power Baits. Maybe you get what you pay for, but the PBs are working OK - chunk 21" wally yesterday from a very popular public heavy pressure spot with VERY few fish if any caught by anyone. Popular because tho lacking in #s, the occasional catch is likely to be 20+".

BTW, I had a friendly argument with local EXPERT Neil who claimed the wally was 2 to 2-1/2#. It was a fattie and felt to me more like 3+# in hand. Any opinions?
 

jiggerjohn

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On a recent trip to NC's Outer Banks, a boot tail drove the speckled sea trout nuts. This was the "butt kicker" 4" body by Fishbites, and used on Hawn's superb wide bodied HU jighead. That minnow body was easily cut down to lesser length, as Hawn mentions doing, and no reason this "saltwater" bootie wouldn't work well in freshwater (rainbows & browns have already taken this Fishbites material, which is actually formed completely -not just enhanced- from their time proven scent formula product.
 

hookup

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I had a friendly argument with local EXPERT Neil who claimed the wally was 2 to 2-1/2#. It was a fattie and felt to me more like 3+# in hand. Any opinions?

Carry a golden rule & a scale
 
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