i bought a few of these. looks promising. anyone know anything about these? and they're 5" long. would a smallie hit that?

I got a couple before they were released to the public.  Never fished them and the eyes came off.  I'm pretty sure they fixed the problem though.  

I've only thrown them once, I'm not a fan of paddle tails like this, so I was not expecting anything exciting, nor was I excited when I threw it.  They look like every other paddle tail out on the market.  

But I will say that the hidden hook in the dorsal fin idea does work.  At least they didn't completely knock off the whole paddle tail idea and added some sort of innovative idea of their own.

And yes.... smallies WILL hit it.  

The Roboworm swimbait has won several tournaments and works very well, if you fish it slowly. The keel weighted hooks in in size 5/0 or 6/0 depending on the brand work well.

WRB

They work very well for me here in So-Cal on both fresh and saltwater species.