I got a question for you other jig fishermen out there.  When do you pick a chunk over regular soft plastics for a trailer and why?

100% of the time I use a "regular" soft plastic lure such as a beaver, craw, grub, etc.  I've even used senkos, trick worms, and just about every other soft plastic lure.  As far as chunks go, I don't see the value in them, excluding pork.

To me, I put a trailer on a jig to define shape, add action, increase bulk, add flash/color, and slow the jig down.  Yeah, a chunk does all of these for me except the last one.  I don't see how it can possibly slow down a jig as much as a 4.5in beaver, 6in brushhog, or hula grub does.  Where is the benefit of having a chunk in my tackle box at all?

Like a yum chunk or the chunk that looks like a tooth?

As a matter of fact, some chunks do slow the fall of a jig if in fact they have or cause enough resistance to do so. Many of the chunks on the market today have relatively no water resistance as you have mentioned. Any chunk or trailer that has a noticeable swimming action definitely slows the jigs fall rate to some extent over no action chunks of the same weight and size. With this said, thru testing many of the most popular trailers on the market, I have found that a twin tail trailer is much better for achieving this result over a single tail. If you have access to a swimming pool, I would encourage you to test these findings for yourself and I advise starting with a 1/4 oz jig and your favorite chunk styles. Mine as you probably can tell, is the Rage Tail Chunk. During the design phase, I took the time to make sure that it not only had tremendous action but also slowed the fall rate of the jig to hold it in the strike zone just a little bit longer. My challenge was to achieve this along with the slightest movement of the rod tip providing a flapping motion to the pinchers. Took a while, but got'r'done. Also had to take into consideration the durability factor, so I asked the Plastic shop to design a more durable plastic that would accomodate this effort and "WA-LLAH" the Rage Tail Craw and Chunk was born. Kinda makes me tear up a bit just think'in about it. Hope you get a chance to ck out fall rate info as discussed and would like to hear your findings. Bend a rod

Steve Parks

www.ragetail.com      

I will use a chunk type plastic for cold water applications with a Zoom Swimming Chunk my #1 choice.  

http://www.basssnacks.com/

His trailers are the ONLY chunk trailers i use.Comparing his stuff it's as soft as a senko and gives me some great action! I won't buy any other types of trailers.Maybe give his a try...i felt the same way about those tooth looking chunks as well.

http://www.basssnacks.com/

His trailers are the ONLY chunk trailers i use.Comparing his stuff it's as soft as a senko and gives me some great action! I won't buy any other types of trailers.Maybe give his a try...i felt the same way about those tooth looking chunks as well.

Joe S. is one of our members!

8-)

As a matter of fact, some chunks do slow the fall of a jig if in fact they have or cause enough resistance to do so. Many of the chunks on the market today have relatively no water resistance as you have mentioned. Any chunk or trailer that has a noticeable swimming action definitely slows the jigs fall rate to some extent over no action chunks of the same weight and size. With this said, thru testing many of the most popular trailers on the market, I have found that a twin tail trailer is much better for achieving this result over a single tail. If you have access to a swimming pool, I would encourage you to test these findings for yourself and I advise starting with a 1/4 oz jig and your favorite chunk styles. Mine as you probably can tell, is the Rage Tail Chunk. During the design phase, I took the time to make sure that it not only had tremendous action but also slowed the fall rate of the jig to hold it in the strike zone just a little bit longer. My challenge was to achieve this along with the slightest movement of the rod tip providing a flapping motion to the pinchers. Took a while, but got'r'done. Also had to take into consideration the durability factor, so I asked the Plastic shop to design a more durable plastic that would accomodate this effort and "WA-LLAH" the Rage Tail Craw and Chunk was born. Kinda makes me tear up a bit just think'in about it. Hope you get a chance to ck out fall rate info as discussed and would like to hear your findings. Bend a rod

Steve Parks

www.ragetail.com      

Yeah I've played with a bunch of trailers and I came to a similiar conclusion that you did.  'Curl tail' things slow down fall rates better than 'straight tail' things.  I've used a beaver and a hula grub as my primary jig trailer for years.

On a side note...y'all over there at Rage Tail/Strike King did one heck of a job developing your stuff.   I absolutely love the Rage Tail Craw for just about every application in bass fishing.  I haven't tried the shad or frog yet, but most definitely will.  Make Wal-marts in Texas carry watermelon-red in your shad  

Hey Brian, Wal-mart orders there color schemes a year in advance as do most large retailers and that color wasn't on their list. I think Academy and BPS have them. When you ck out the Shad be sure to run it as a swimbait as well. 5/0 keel weighted hook will suffice. Lot of folks using it that way and I just heard about it the other day. Ckd it out and it works  and it will run on top like that as well. Huh' learn something everyday. Good fishin

www.ragetail.com

Yeah the shad got it's first run through today.  I got one topwater and then tried swimming it.  It kept wanting to roll around and act funny, so I put a splitshot on the bend in the hook and that worked pretty good.  No strikes on the swimbait version but it looked good.

Your frogs work great as a jig trailer as do the craws.  Haven't tried the chunks, but until I get a good reason as to why a chunk performs better than a craw, beaver, or double tail grub, then I'm sticking to my guns.  I thought that I was done with "mainstream" soft plastic lures, but rage tails have earned a place in my box.  Definitely a good design.

The only advantage to the chunk is that it is made from a slightly stronger plastic to punch with and to hang on the jig hook better. The durometer (hardness) difference is about 15% for durability.

Steve

www.ragetail.com