I have always looked at these with a dubious eye, but hear more and more folks using them.

So I bought a few bags of the Gambler 5 and 8 inch paddle tails.

I know there are numerous ways to fish them, but what is everyone's favorite method, and time when you should use one?

I don 't have a favorite method, the three ways I fish them the most are:

in D-shot,

on a 1/8 - 1/16 oz jighead or

longitudinally wacky rigged with a nail weight inserted in the head.

Did you get them in EP 's Secret ?

I got black, watermelon, black/blue, and pumpkin.  I didn't even see EP's secret... The Bass Pro in Orlando had a very limited supply.

I fish them the same way most of my friends fish ribon tail worms.  FL-rig with light weight or weightless at docks and other targets when the wind allows.

T-rig them with a 1/2 to 3/4 ounce weight and fish them on drops/ledges.  The bigger the worm the better.

The paddletail worm is an incredibly productive soft-plastic, I'd have to think long and hard to name a lure I like more.

A couple of years ago, I purchased every readily available paddletail worm and compared them brand-for-brand.

Surprisingly, the most productive was the Bass Pro Shops Paddle Stik, which is actually the BPS Stick-O with a paddletail.

In the same vein, the new Swimming Senko is nothing more than a senko with a paddletail.

The paddletail worm can be fished anyway you like, my wife fishes a "white" paddletail like a plastic crayfish and does very well.

I prefer a slow-glide as though working a ribbontail worm. By the way, a 5½" paddletail worm will take a 12-lb bass!

The Gambler Flapp'n Tail Worm is another excellent paddletail worm, made of tough plastic and perfect for weed probing.

Another super paddletail worm is a local handpour at Bridgemasters, which is a dead-ringer of the Bass Pro worm

As a reminder, when ordering anything from BPS, click on the Bass Pro Shops banner Right Here in Bass Resource.

If you're interested in the BPS paddletail, you'll need to type "paddletail stik" in the find box.

For some reason the BPS search engine doesn't recognize the correct name (Paddle Stik).

Roger

Bass Pro Shops Paddle Stik,

I saw those, but didn't pick them up because of the price.  All they had was a large 'bulk' bag so I skipped them... Can't wait to try these out now...

AvalonJohn,

With any new lure we unfortunately start out with a confidence tank on Empty.

Before fishing "any" new lure, I would strongly suggest studying the action of the lure

from shore or preferably from a pier over shallow water. Determine the best retrieve to use,

so when you actually fish the new lure, you won't have to guess what it looks like.

You will already know exactly what it's doing and your confidence will already be in gear.

Best of Luck

Roger

Paddle Tail worms are deceiving if you have never fished one- the tail looks like it will just glide and maybe push some water as it falls.  Not so.  The tail has a violent throb on the retrieve...enough to shake your rod tip like a crankbait.  They work extremely well in the stained water here in Oklahoma, with my favorite being the Mann's Dragin' Swim Worm.  I use the 5" and 7" baits.  *** has them for $2.99 a bag.   Give 'em a go!