The curly tail grub has been a fish-catching bait for a long time. Learn how to rig the curly tail grub and how to fish it here. This easy-to-use bait can amaze you with how effective it can be for pressured fish.
How to Rig a Curly Tail Grub
The traditional way to rig a curly tail grub is to simply take a ball head jig and thread on the grub. This works and will continue to be a player when fishing the curly tail. In fact, on a trip to Lake Powell a few years back this simple and inexpensive rig outperformed against our expensive Ned baits and heads.
The next way to rig a curly tail grub is to Texas rig it. This allows you to fish this bait in places that you never could before. If you are on a grub bite but are getting hung up too much, the Texas rig is the way to go. You can peg your weight or leave it free on your line. A quick tip: If you leave the weight off when you Texas rig your curly tail you can fish it as a topwater with that tail gurgling on the surface.
The final way that I suggest rigging a curly tail grub is on the Tokyo rig. This fishes like a hybrid between a Texas rig and a drop shot rig and can be a fish-catching machine. You can fish this by pitching it into heavy cover, or you can swim it on the bottom but either way, it will catch you fish.
The other way that I typically use a curly-tailed grub is as a swimbait trailer. We get in the habit of turning to the swimbait so often that we forget how well the curly tail works on the back of a spinnerbait or swim jig as a trailer.
How to Fish a Curly Tail Grub for Bass
With the three rigging methods laid out above, now let’s look at how to fish the curly tail grub for bass and other species. This bait catches pretty much everything.
Fishing it on a Jig Head
The first way is to cast it out, let it hit bottom or desired depth, and just use a steady reel back to the boat. This is a lot like fishing a swimbait and it works like a charm. Sometimes this is all you have to do to have a great fish-catching day on the water.
The next way to fish the grub is to let it hit the bottom and hop it off of the bottom while letting it fall back on a semi-slack line. You want to stay in some contact with the bait so that you can detect bites when it is falling. This can be dynamite when the fish are holding to the bottom.
Fishing it on a Texas Rig
When we move to the Texas rig and the Tokyo rig you are going to be fishing around weeds or brush piles or some type of heavy cover in most cases. If I’m fishing the curly tail grub in heavy cover 9 times out of 10 I am dragging it with my rod.
Get My Favorite Texas Rig Hook Here
I will sweep, or lift my rod tip anywhere from a couple of inches to a few feet depending on the mood of the fish. Then I will return my rod back to the position I started in and reel up the slack and then drag again. The sweeping motion allows you to creep the bait through heavy cover and feel the kind of cover you are coming through. It also helps you to feel the bites.
Pitching it on the Tokyo Rig
If you are fishing with the Tokyo rig, punching heavy cover with the grub can be another killer option. The only frustrating part will be that the tail will hang up on pieces of cover. The Tokyo rig does help to lessen this issue.
To fish it this way you will pitch it bait into a weed mat, let it fall to the bottom while following it down with your rod, giving it a couple shakes or hops, and pulling it out to cast at another target.
Curly Tail Grub as a Topwater Bait
Another couple of ways to fish the grub are to swim it on open water like a buzz bait, or to swim it over vegetation like a toad-style bait. You can swim it in open water on a long shank worm hook or you can Texas rig it and make it more versatile to fish over weed and grass.
I hope this helped you learn how to rig a curly tail grub and how to fish it to catch more bass.
I hope this helps you go out and get on some fish with the curly tail grub!
To your success,
Jonathan Burke