Apparently when you pull your line it pulls the string and winds the motor that flaps the tail. Not sure how durable it would be but I would think bass would bust it.

 

Tried it in the fish tank.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tspmuwUWYTg

_{Nice, whats it called?}

Oh yeah Moto Minnow

Its that Chuck Woolery's lure. Its been out for awhile, I think.

Probably kill them when there's big cicada hatches going on. I don't see that tail lasting more than a fish or two though.

If that isn't the Chuck Wollery lure, it is VERY  similar to the one he marketed in the late 90's.  I had one.  It did work.  Eventually the spring inside the lure would break and it wouldn't flap the tail any more.  The tail on the Wollery lure was very durable, in my case the spring broke before the tail did.

 

I don't remember that color pattern though, so it is probably a newer version of that idea.  I remember the bait, but I forget the name of the bait, and I remember that Chuck Wollery pimped it.  

That bait has the same problem as live bait - control.  I have control issues, and need to be the one that adds the action.

a buddy has one he uses at night tourneys.... the bass crush it!!  darn near had a heart attack one night....i still give him a hard about it.

My buddy has one.  It didn't work on the day I saw him use it but the fish refused to go anywhere near the surface on that day so...

 

 

There was also a lure called a powerpack back in the day.

Not sure about how it works... but how's the hook sets with it? Does setting the hook pull out the line?

Yup. In fact the one I have is a Chuck Wollery signature edition   

 

Ya the pull string becomes a leader when fighting a fish.

 

The tail seems pretty durable.

I have two of those things. I only bought them as novelty items as there seems to be way to much going on mechanically for them to be very reliable lures. Everyone gets a kick out of them though when I show them how they work.