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Lure Review


Decoy Swimbait's HydraTail : Size Just Right - To Be Eaten! (continued)

Rate of Fall: The HyrdaTail is listed as a “slow sink” bait. What that equates to out on the water is a sink rate of roughly one foot per second and perhaps a shade slower than that. Tossed into our eight foot deep test tank, we counted the bait down to the bottom in nine seconds.


From the bottom it resembles a heavily weighted pendulum

The interesting thing here is, while most baits this style sink with a pronounced, head-straight-down-to-the-bottom angle (i.e. perpendicular to the bottom), the HydraTail remains parallel to the bottom, tilting slightly from side to side as it descends. What this means is, you can cast it out, count it down, and in the cases where you’re having a tough time getting fish to commit, work it like a jerk bait, kill your retrieve, and it will just float for a second before it begins its enticing decent back to the bottom.


Time to make a cast!

At full rest on the bottom, the baits rolls over onto its side, so it can’t do it all, but what it does do, it does very well. Give the HydraTail any bit of movement and the tail begins dancing from side to side. While the true intent of this bait is to be fished as slow as possible its potential as a weighted soft plastic jerkbait cannot be overlooked.


The line tie is almost too well concealed especially when trying to tie the bait to the end of braid

Rigging: As with most soft bodied swimbaits, the HydraTail comes with a loop on the bottom of the bait for custom rigging of a stinger hook should you decide to go that route. The line tie is located at the usual position between the bait’s eyes but is concealed very well beneath the plastic.


In the water, this bait is very realistic

This stealth position of the line tie is both good and bad. If you’re using anything other than braid to attach the bait, it’s mostly good. If you’re using braid, then it’s mostly bad. Reason for this being you need to push the plastic around the bait’s line toe to get at the opening, and it can take some doing to get a clear shot so you can get your braid through that hole. With a stiff line such as fluorocarbon it’s easy to puncture the plastic and work your line through in order to secure the bait.


Just ask this bass!

Without that stiff line, it can take up to two people (one to hold the plastic down on either side of the line tie and another to push the braided line through) in order to get the HydraTail tied on.


The Scott family is no stranger to the big bait market, and the HydraTail promises to mark their return in a big way

Availability: The HydraTail is available immediately and can be purchased at stores like TackleWarehouse.com. At fourteen dollars each, it is just a hair under the competition in price point and a fairly good value.

Ratings:

Decoy Swimbaits 5" HydraTail Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality A compact, well made bait 8.5
Performance It performs as advertised and then some 8
Price Just a hair below the competition 8
Features Standard fare here 7
Design (Ergonomics) Nice, compact design, good detailing and excellent tail action 8.5
Application Swim it, twitch it, count it down - it almost does it all 9

Total Score

8.17
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus

Minus
+ Really good, all purpose size - If only it sat upright down on the bottom
+ Light enough to throw on conventional gear  
+ Tail action is superb  
+ Sinks at a parallel position to the bottom  

  

Conclusion: Competition is the fire for innovation. The Scott family is no stranger to the big bait market and the HydraTail promises to mark their return in a big way. It’s not big and flashy like a traditional swimbait, but the market for big, flashy, unbelievably realistic baits is small compared to that of the tournament and recreational bass fisherman market. Size might matter to trophy fisherman, but most anglers don’t have the patience or even the desire to wait a year for that one big bite. They just want to go out, catch something, and enjoy their day away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

 


In this world of big fish eat smaller fish, the HydraTail is sized just right - to be eaten!

Tournament anglers want to be sure they can put fish in the livewell while at the same time, give themselves a chance to automatically cull smaller fish when the situation calls for it. Decoy Swimbait’s 5” HydraTail is tailored to fit these needs. It can’t quite do it all, but what it will do is help you catch fish, and in the big fish eat smaller fish world of bass fishing, the HydraTail could be sized just right.

Looking for Decoy Swimbaits? Try Tackle Warehouse

 

   

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