Used to use a tablespoon as a mold - now only a floor tile to make thin tail minnows.

[SPOONMINNOW]

One day I happened to stir hot plastic and noticed a film sticking to the tablespoon. Until now, I hadn't seen thin straight tails sold anywhere but wondered if the thin, flat plastic quiver would be a game-changer when curl-tails failed. So I cut the shape of the minnow from the thin sheet and dipped the forward 1/3 a few time to thicken the body for jig rigging:

Mad did it catch fish!!!
Next, in order to make more lures in one sitting, I had some glossy floor tiles stored from a kitchen floor replacement and figured: why not pour the film down the slanted tile, cut the shapes and pour plastic a few times on top of a part of the film. Then the body shape was cut into different sizes and then could be dipped once to make the body curves:

Just another example of an accidental discovery that led to one of the best all-species, soft plastic lure designs I've ever cast.

A few years later, I happened to discover some molds that did the same thing: the Mojo grub (left and center) and other thin-tail 2-2.5"shapes (two on the right).
When I say they caught everything, I mean EVERYTHING regardless of size or species!





A short time later I figured: why not attach the thin tail to different lure segments such as this one using a candle:



Turns out, the body doesn't have to be round, and in fact, the flattened body of the French Fry stick did great catching fish and maybe the ribbing helped.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Your spoon tails sure have been good to me!

 

[jiggerjohn]

Oh yeah, it IS yer ole buddy here! So glad yer now on this site-where an amazing jigcrafter like you BELONGS!!! I have to mention for our guys here, how I used a whole supply of yer spoontails down south at OBX and the seatrout cleaned me out of them in one evening ; they're even better in freshwater, and fish take more gently than those toothy sea monsters!! I figure your recent stick (plastic) innovations are also gonna set some tails and scales on fire this season , especially under a popping cork !

 

[Hawnjigs]

Most of my sessions anything of proper size works, or nothing at all.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

What about lure design features such as shape and action?

 

[Hawnjigs]

Undeniably the main success factor is right place & time.

Secondly for most fresh water apps slowest retrieve practical is (arguably) a best bite trigger. Slow retrieves are best enabled with lightest possible weight for casting, reaching desired depth, and maintaining line tension for bite feel. Or, use floats. As a corollary to slow lightest practical lowest vis line may mitigate bite wariness since fish have more time to examine & investigate a presentation.

When predators are in active feeding mode bait action will elicit bite responses so wildly flapping tails or shuddering bodies will work. But better than stiffer action lures? Dunno, I prefer stiffies cuz they cast better than flappers and angler imparted twitches seem to adequately imitate prey. So, never use twisters any more and paddle tails almost never preferring stick or twitch minnow baits.

As for shape, vaguely resembling prey seems reliable most of the time. Used to be immersed in the consideration if lure colors or eyes improve the bite factor. Them dayz iz dun, and my catch success here based on prioritizing size vs #s is such I can't share my catch reports locally.

But only going into 8 years with the fresh water game, who knows what tomorrow brings?

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Words such as, "resembling prey seems reliable most of the time" and "When predators are in active feeding mode bait action will elicit bite responses", may be categorical descriptions of why a lure catches fish, but categories don't catch fish - lure action-by-design does.
Line "vis" and "bite wariness" don't even correlate. I used high vis fluorescent, chartreuse monofilament for years and caught fish regardless the speed of retrieve needed for a lure or presentation. If I didn't hate mono, I still wouldn't hesitate to use it for bass fishing.

The problem that has resulted from anglers inventing the above over many decades has resulted in limitations anglers have imposed on their fishing solely based on baseless ideas and assertions. The reasons anglers catch fish or don't, have nothing to do with those assertions. Lures are moving objects that move a certain way - PERIOD. Shape complements action as do the various materials used to make a lure - none of which alerts fish that the object could be lethal. Mepps would have never sold a spinner if that were true. Basic fact: fish bite spinners for reasons having nothing to do with fish correlating the bright flash, metal shaft and clevis and bronze hook to anything that ever lived! Fish react or don't. Simple as that! Lure design variety is a no-brainer, dependent only on what fish detect with the senses and how they react after detection. Over 1000 photos I've kept over two decades attest to that.

This lure designed by Jiggerjohn is not part of a fish's diet yet the unnatural appearance doesn't deter bites - even under a float.


Another example: fish in my pond, birds and my dogs eat pieces of white bread thrown to them and at times go after even small pieces very aggressively. I don't recall the Wonder Bread bite as backed by any theory.

Fish react or don't.

(commas help BTW)