Let me start by saying "I am not bashing" just looking for a little help.

I just bought some more Shads and this bag does not have the action that the last 5-6 bags had. No matter what I do I can not get the tails to work right. If I real slow they just kind of wallow on the surface, and if I go fast it flips around like when you have a popper with a tangled hook.

And before anyone says it, I did rip the little attaching thing off so the tail is free to move.  ;D

I bought this bag at Academy. Every other nag I have bought has come from Walmart....I doubt that makes a difference though.

Other than that no complaints. I have been catching bass left and right with the shads and the toads. My wife even caught her first bass out of our pond with the craw.

Every other nag I have bought has come from Walmart

Hmmmmm.....I didn't get mine there but I wonder if they'll let me trade her in anyway......she's malfunctioning........nags too much.  ;D

Every other nag I have bought has come from Walmart

I think they school up there!!! ;D

BrianB, just woke up and had my first cup of coffee, and when I read your post, I spilled some in my lap.  ;D

Sometime during shipping the tails will get jumbled a bit causing deformation. If this happens just take the baits out and reposition them on the clear plastic insert that is in the package, the opposite way tails are off and place in oven at 170 degree for 10 to 20 minutes. Won't hurt em a bit and will reform the plastic to original shape. Some folks reform soft plastics by placing in hot water for same time but I like the other way better.

If the plastic is slightly more firm than the first ones you used, then you can also stretch the tail at the sharp U bend, careful not to tear it and this also helps to tune the shad for the type of sound you prefer.

The firmer plastic Shad are being used on salt water flats applications as well and will hold the hook a little longer.  

BTW  what color shad are you throwing for best results and is this package the same color?

Below is a photo showing shad placement to reform.

Big O

www.ragetail.com

Brian,

Here is a photo of the Shad tail tuning for less agressive action on the firmer plastics. Stretch the tight U bend area of tail as shown but be careful not to tear.

Glad you are smackin the fish on'em and let me know if I can help you with any more info

Big O

I had one in my package that was tougher than the others.  I took my pocket knife to it and slimmed it down some.  Big-0's way is better, but the good ole tuning knife works every time on every lure ;D

Hadn't heard of that Brian but sounds like you gott'er done. Learn something everyday.

Thanks for the info

Big O

Now that you have all seen that I am a master at spelling ;D

I will try to tune them a little bit. I never knew you could do that with plastics.

Many plastics won't tune because they are really not designed for a particular action, but more so for a basic shape or look. If those stlyes of plastics get out of shape, they can be reshaped in the oven as well or in hot water. Be careful with the heavily scented plastics in your oven because Little Momma might take offense to smelling up her house.

Big O

www,ragetail.com

Does it have to be a regular oven or can this be done in a Microwave?  If so, how long do you set the MW for and at approximately what power setting?

MNGeorge, Microwave is a No No with formed soft plastics because it melts them quickly. Some use micro to melt plastic to pour your own but must be extremely careful and cautious or it will burn the plastic and give foul smell and other bad results.

Big O

www.ragetail.com

I have given up on this bag

I tired everything mentioned and a few other things I found on line and the action of this bag (not nag.... ;D) just sucks. I don't get it.

Big-O, any idea on how often this happens?

I was very happy with the shads up until this bag. Was there some change made to the material recently, or did I get a bad batch? I can't afford to spend money on lures that don't perform.

Sounds strange to me BrianB.  What color are these you are referring to?

Big O

Smokey Shad

Smokey Shad is a popular color and is a # 28 durometer plastic hardness. If you use Hot water as you mentioned, just heat water to too hot for touch (not quite boiling) and place the baits in water and let set for 10 minutes or 15 minutes. Take directly from hot water and place in cool or cold water and leave for same time.  DONE!

Big O

I did one of them in the hot water. It was probably hot enough as I could not keep my finger in it. I don't think it was for 10 minutes though....I may have taken it out too early.

I will try it with another after dinner and let you know how it goes.

I have not found a nag worth getting yet.

to funny  ;D

I put the rest of them in 170f water for about 10 minutes, then in cool water for about 10 minutes.

I did soften the plastic quite a bit and the tails were re-centered.

The side affect was that the tail lasted about 40 to 50 casts and had a tear at the bend, and the shad rode down the hook a little easy.

The action was much more smooth and the shad went through the water much smoother. I did notice that the splash and wake was smaller than I had seen before. I had to reel a little faster to get a the splash and wake to really get going, but the lure tracked very, very well at slow speeds.

Now that I have done this, will the plastic firm up a little?

If not I will heat them for 5 minutes next time.

Yes Brian they will firm up with time. When plastics are produced, it can take up to 6 wks for them to cure completely and the final product will wind up being  approximately 25% firmer. Most plastics are cured to 90% over a 1 week time period and the final 10% over the remaining period. Not really noticeable on normal or less action style soft plastics. But with the super action designs, the hardness ranges become much more important and sometime require tuning as previously noted. This in turn makes the smallest differences from perfect shape and hardness more noticeable to us. Not sure how much the fish care but ultimately our confidence in the baits action and performance is a big key to our overall success.  

Good job,

Big O

I know nothing is ever perfect, and there are lemons, but if I had to boil or cook plastics before using them I would find other plastics to use.  Especially when the maker knows about the flaw and cannot find a way to correct it.  And this comes from someone who really like the Rage Chunks.

I have to agree with Pond Hopper. If it doesn't fish as advertised out of the package, then I will find another company that I can fish their lure as advertised.  I don't have time to find out once I get to my fishin hole that my lure has to be baked, cooked, deep fried, or microwaved.  My 2 cents worth.

Catch your drift Pond Hopper. Sometimes one of these bags of soft baits get smashed up a bit from shipping and handling and need a little attention. This is tough to control but I'm working on it. We all have gone into the stores and reviewed the baits on the shelf and all of us like to feel the baits. Heck that's part of the fun in buying softy's and most of us do our best to place them back like we found them, but some baits won't get placed back exactly correct and even these still work fine most of the time.

Big O

i think this is one of those things that is just a 'cost of doing business'..........on both ends.  Soft plastics are just that ; soft.  (add shipping, and fancy individual-type packaging, and you have quite a few variables to deal with 'O'.  )

i know when i put 50, 7" baits in a bag, that some of them are going to need a little room before they're "ready".   Usually this comes, as you leave the 'crooked one' til last.   ;D

Aint it the truth Brent, Nothings perfect in this world but that's what you and I are for, to make it better and get it a little closer to perfect than the other guys.

Big O

Yeah, I really don't want to cook any lures before I use then either.

But I like the Shads and Toads so I will continue to buy them as long as the majority of the bags are fine.

I am going to get a few more bags and check them out before I go to Florida next weekend.

Big-O,

Not a big deal, like I said I have had no issues with the Chunks, and after Brent chiming in(who I have a few of his baits) I see it is just a cost of doing business.  Now that I think of it Mattlures says to boil his baits to get natural form too.  

Not trying to downgrade the baits, just the curiosity that killed the cat I guess.