A few weeks ago, I had a really, really, really good week on paddletails on a total whim. The crappie were schooling up in gigantic schools, and I found a few. I was averaging 30 fish a day, so I figured I’d throw paddletails more, and I caught a ton of big pike and bass. Thus, I’m on a paddletail kick and now I’m trying to find the world’s best paddletail.
So a few comments on these two – The Keitech smells, like, smells a lot. The moment you open the pack, you smell the Keitech – Which means that the “strong squid scent” totally not a lie. I have no comments on whether the smell actually works at attracting fish though. The Powerbait smells a lot less, and in my experience, the Powerbait plastics don’t really do much fish attracting with the scent, I mean, the claim on the box is “fish hold on longer”, which I tend to think is true.
Both of these paddletails have a fantastic action when thrown on a half head or round ball jig. The Keitech might have a slight advantage in action, but I feel like the advantage is slight. The Keitech is far softer than the Powerbait, and herein lies the problem – If you don’t use glue (which i try to avoid, I’m the klutz who glues his fingers together), the lure just tears and falls off so easily, even on jigheads with decent hook keepers (The Keitech Round Ball Jig is completely hopeless with it). Whereas the Powerbait does a decent job staying on just plain round ball jigs.
It really comes down to this – The Keitech could probably only survive 1 fish, and occasionally even gets pulled off and torn when you snag it in weeds. The Powerbait on the otherhand, survives a decent number of bass, and even the occasional pike – although I find that the survivability of the 2.8 and 3.3 inch to be good, the survivability of the 2 inch is terrible. Oftentimes with the 2 inch, you’d get a little perch nibbling the tail off.
So IMO – The Keitech has incredible action and a very strong scent (although I cannot establish whether this scent actually works), but is too easy to tear. On the other hand, the Powerbait isn’t as soft, but still has decent action and a decent scent. I’d personally lean towards the powerbait, despite the fact that weirdly enough, the Powerbait is harder to find near me.
Next week I’ll give the Crush City Mayor a shot. But does anyone here have any paddletail recommendations?
badfish_G59 on
I go with strike king rage tails. Best value imo
StayPuffMyDudes on
I’ve noticed the squid doenst make more fish bite but makes them bite twice more often. I think they taste the squid sent instead of plastic grinding them to think it’s real. Another good one is the BPS paddle tails
patrickthunnus on
Depends on species, FW/SW etc. What’s best for LMB isn’t the best for Stripers inshore, for example. SW Spotted trout, reds are a different ballgame.
4 Comments
A few weeks ago, I had a really, really, really good week on paddletails on a total whim. The crappie were schooling up in gigantic schools, and I found a few. I was averaging 30 fish a day, so I figured I’d throw paddletails more, and I caught a ton of big pike and bass. Thus, I’m on a paddletail kick and now I’m trying to find the world’s best paddletail.
So a few comments on these two – The Keitech smells, like, smells a lot. The moment you open the pack, you smell the Keitech – Which means that the “strong squid scent” totally not a lie. I have no comments on whether the smell actually works at attracting fish though. The Powerbait smells a lot less, and in my experience, the Powerbait plastics don’t really do much fish attracting with the scent, I mean, the claim on the box is “fish hold on longer”, which I tend to think is true.
Both of these paddletails have a fantastic action when thrown on a half head or round ball jig. The Keitech might have a slight advantage in action, but I feel like the advantage is slight. The Keitech is far softer than the Powerbait, and herein lies the problem – If you don’t use glue (which i try to avoid, I’m the klutz who glues his fingers together), the lure just tears and falls off so easily, even on jigheads with decent hook keepers (The Keitech Round Ball Jig is completely hopeless with it). Whereas the Powerbait does a decent job staying on just plain round ball jigs.
It really comes down to this – The Keitech could probably only survive 1 fish, and occasionally even gets pulled off and torn when you snag it in weeds. The Powerbait on the otherhand, survives a decent number of bass, and even the occasional pike – although I find that the survivability of the 2.8 and 3.3 inch to be good, the survivability of the 2 inch is terrible. Oftentimes with the 2 inch, you’d get a little perch nibbling the tail off.
So IMO – The Keitech has incredible action and a very strong scent (although I cannot establish whether this scent actually works), but is too easy to tear. On the other hand, the Powerbait isn’t as soft, but still has decent action and a decent scent. I’d personally lean towards the powerbait, despite the fact that weirdly enough, the Powerbait is harder to find near me.
Next week I’ll give the Crush City Mayor a shot. But does anyone here have any paddletail recommendations?
I go with strike king rage tails. Best value imo
I’ve noticed the squid doenst make more fish bite but makes them bite twice more often. I think they taste the squid sent instead of plastic grinding them to think it’s real. Another good one is the BPS paddle tails
Depends on species, FW/SW etc. What’s best for LMB isn’t the best for Stripers inshore, for example. SW Spotted trout, reds are a different ballgame.