A Beginner’s Guide to Paddle Tail Swimbaits

Whether bass fishing from the bank or a 20-foot boat, Davy Hite ranks the paddle tail swimbait as one the best and easiest baits to fish. We caught up with Hite at Sam Rayburn during the prespawn to get some pointers on how to rig and fish paddle tails — this is pertinent info if you’re new to fishing altogether, or just this lure category.

Davy emphasizes the importance of matching the jig head to the body and achieving a perfectly straight thread; doing so ensures the bait tracks straight and appears natural to the fish. Keep in mind that although swimbaits like the Storm 360 GT Searchbait Swimmer are horizontal search baits, they also let you cover different depth ranges (verticality) by varying your retrieve speeds and/or counting baits down to desired depths.