i recently stocked up on some 5″ berkley split belly paddletail swimbaits from academy which were on sale for $2.01/ea for a 3-pack. i quickly cleared the shelves as it was an absolute steal!
tennessee shad. i run the 5″ paddletails with a 6/0 owner beast hook and a 2/0 mustad triple grip stinger hook (plastic tubing to help keep stinger from slipping). i found the stinger to be important for those short strikes…i’ve landed some fish that were only hooked on the stinger.
easy on. the split belly makes rigging simpler when compared to the hollow body swimbaits (yum money minnows, shadlicous, basstrix, bass magic, etc). with the split belly you only have about 1/8in of soft plastic at the spine that the hook penetrates thru as opposed to the latter, anywhere from 3/4in – 1in from belly to spine.
long-lasting, durable. with hooksets on the hollow bodies, the hook shank is forced thru the belly and spine of the paddletail. the resistance generated from 1. the hookset and 2. force of the bass can render it useless, often tearing it in two. the split belly design allows the shank of the hook to drive inside the cavity of the paddletail with little resistance for a good and proper hookset. i’ve been able to use the same split belly on a whole day float even after it’s been chewed up on hookset after hookset — it still ran and rigged perfectly.
after this 25″ striper hammered the paddletail, opening the hook entry at the spine of the lure, i continued to use the same one the rest of the day…just because i could.
lights, camera, action. as like other manufacturers, berkley has several colors to match main forage species. anything from gizzard shad to trout — pearl to firetiger. i’m more conservative in my selection, so i stick to shad colors (gizzard and tennesee) and the almighty pearl. i have confidence in these colors and they always seem to produce for me on other lures, too (crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, etc.).
while other paddletail swimbaits have more body roll in their swimming action, the berkley is subtle. the body is slender and not full or rounded so this probably adds to its conservative movement. with its trimmed, skinny tail and big boot the tail action is wide, generating a lot of vibration and movement underwater.
on one river outing, i stood above a rapid and decided to prop the bait in the current to see how it would affect the baits action. at first glance it looked like the tail wasnt moving at all. but, when i looked closely, the tail was kicking so fast from side to side it created a flux in the current all the while staying true in the rapid.
here’s a 19″ 4lbs shoalie caught on the hooch on a 5″ gizzard shad split belly.
swimbait fishing is lots of fun. it’s another tool to have in your arsenal to keep you engaged in this great sport! get you some.
