One of The Best Fishing Lures For Catching Bass - Twister Tail

If you like to fish for bass and want a reliable way to catch a nice lunker, this article might help.

This article will show you how to use a twister tail (sometimes just referred to as 'Twister').

More experienced fisherman than me may cry out for a variety of other set ups such as plastic worms, Texas rigs or crankbait or ?? There are a lot of lures and natural bait to choose from. The one that has been working best for me though is the twister on a round jig head hook.

The hook is a hook with a weight on the end or round jig head as shown. It is just a hook with a spherical weight on the top of the shank. The eye protrudes from the weight. The hook also has a ribbed or stepped portion that runs along the shank near the weight.

I use a 1 / 1/2 to 3/0 sized jighead hook. The weight on the jig head hook ranges from 1/16 to 1/8 of an ounce.

Twister bait is a soft plastic bait that has a tail that twists when pulled through the water.

The twister bait I use is about 2 1/4" long. This can vary but this is the size I use most often. Twisters that have a dark- charcoal color seem to work better for me than the lighter ones like a yellow twister. I'm not sure why this is but I have an (probably incorrect :-) theory that I'll share below.

I've had the most success with a twister in lakes, pond and reservoirs. For the sake of this article, all fishing with this lure is in a lake, pond or reservoir.

Typically the water is calm and the underwater surface is fairly dark rock and mud floor. The size of the body of water varies and the depth varies greatly.

I do not know this for a fact, but I believe I am having more success with the dark colored twisters because the places I fish have a dark underwater floor. My hunch is that indigenous bait fish also have dark colors to match their environment. My twister matches this. Bright yellow twisters are avoided since they look unnatural to big bass in this element. I could be completely wrong here or I could be stating something so known and obvious that I am offending your eyes :-) Feel free to let me know your thoughts.

I'll use a hook with a shank that is just about the length of the body of the Twister.  Start by putting the point of the hook right in the center of the head of the twister.  When you do this, start the hook so that the bend of the hook and the tail of the twister are both facing the same side.  Hard to articulate this, so look at the picture on the right to see what I mean. See how the tail and point in the picture are both on the right side. The reason you want to start the hook this way is because you will eventually want the twister and the bend to face OPPOSITE ways.  This helps to prevent your line from twisting.

Continue to work the twister all the way up trying to keep it as even and concentric to the shank of the hook as possible.  Punch the hook out the side of the body toward the tail (see picture below).  Slide the twister tail all the way until its head touches the weight.

As you do this, keep in mind the goal here is have to twister on the hook straight and even. You don't want the lure twisted on the hook or bent or angled in a way that will cause it to move in an erratic way in the water.

There are various ways you can retrieve a twister.  The way that seems to be working for me is doing as slow a retrieve as possible that still allows the tail to twist in as natural motion as possible.  Test this first in the shallow water near your feet. Put the twister in and reel slowly to see what kind of tail action you are getting. If the 'body' of the lure stays straight and the tail whips around like a propeller, you are doing a great job. If it isn't moving like this, reel at a different speed. If that doesn't help, inspect that the twister is on the hook properly. If it is on the hook OK, try another twister. Sometimes I get a bad one in the bag that refuses to give good action no matter what you do.

When I retrieve, I keep the road parallel to the ground or slightly elevated most of the time. As I retrieve, about every 5 feet or so I'll jerk the rod backwards with a sharp but very limited motion (probably only an inch of 'jerk' travel). This sometimes excites a fish. I get plenty of hits by jerking the rod.

The jig head will keep the twister on the lake floor or close to it.  You'll feel it hit rocks occasionally on the bottom which is a good thing. Bass are curious animals and react to motion and things clunking around (crankbait is a classic example of this).  Don't let it drag too much though and get hung up.  Let yourself get familiar by trial and error in a particular spot.  This rig isn't nearly as expensive as most other rigs so if you lose one, don't worry about it.  Just tie a new one on with a cinch knot and you'll be ready to go.

I am not the most experienced fisherman.  I started fishing very late in life compared to others.  I am still learning how to fish every time out but it is exciting.  In spite of my inexperience, this method I described in this article lands me a bass more often than I deserve.   I see guys out there catching nothing with much fancier outfits than me.  I feel bad when I pull up a nice bass and they are getting stumped.  That said, those fisherman are probably catching more fish in greater variety  over time than I am, so in that respect, they are better men than me.

I enjoy fishing a lot. I like to write about it because it helps me to learn plus I like to participate in helping others to fish as well.  If you have any comments or suggestions, let me know.  I'd love to use your knowledge and experience to better my fishing experience