The temps dropped, the rains have come, all of the jet skier's, skier's, and wake boarder's have winterized their boats and the hardcore fishing has just begun! Here in California the big baits and the big rods come out to play. Big glides and huds are a staple and this weekend I'm going to be testing out a new bait (I haven't used one yet) called the WagTail by ABT Lures in both the 9" and the 10.5". I'll have a write up on my thoughts about this bait later, but what I want to talk about is to boil the tails of a swimbait like a #huddleston, #baitsmith, or this new #wagtail or just fish it right out of the package. Giants have certainly been caught on baits right out of the package, but if you have time you should certainly give the tails a boil bath. There are multiple how to videos to boil the tails and it doesn't take long to do...just don't leave them in there too long or you could damage the bait.
By boiling the tails you will loosen up the plastic and when you hang the bait upside down you can see a dramatic difference in how far the tail comes back towards the bottom. Why is that important? Well the more flexibility you get in the tail means the more action you're going to get out of the tail.
Below are some before and after pics, give it a try and let me know your thoughts!