Paddletail vs curly tail

[Spoonminnow]

You asked for it so get out the NoDoz or before reading!

I always get mixed up when anglers mention paddle tail grubs or worms. I grew up catching fish on the Sassy Shad which by all accounts is a boot tail grub that was first introduced in the early 80's.

Much later the swimbait design came out with a similar tail, the only difference being the round body shape vs the thin wedge shape of the Sassy Shad. The one below is one I pour in different lengths and body shapes:

The boot tail (or what you call a paddle tail) only moves with either a forward horizontal/steady retrieve or bounced off bottom vertically. It's no different than the retrieve required for a curl tail design like that of a Mr. Twister Grub:


The Slider Worm and others like it have the paddle tail shape as seen here (the one on the right has a thin paddle tail):

All of the above lures catch fish, but not all of them can be used near dead-stop like the spike/stinger tail, paddle tail, claw tail, Mann's Shadow (the one with the tail fin) or thin straight tail shown in the photo you copied in your reply. They can be used on a drop-shot rig minus a jig head. Again, both action designs catch fish but not all on a slowest in-place presentation.

Quiver body and/or tail designs are the ultimate finesse lures unlike crankbaits or spinnerbaits. They can be retrieved medium-slow to very slow horizontally with pauses or jigged vertically (i.e. like under the ice). Most important is for all anglers to note a lure's action before casting it for the first time. You get a sense of what potential retrieves a lure is capable of. Lure shape and action-type account for ALL strikes along with various presentations (retrieve types) that do the rest.

Okay, time to WAKE UP!
Maybe some of the opinions presented are of use. They are this angler's approach to using lures:
unrealistic, unnaturally moving objects that p.o. fish big time!