Boot tail trouble

[jonnylee82]

I can't get my Matt Lures Ultimate Blue Gill to swim. The tail doesn't even move. I caught one fish off a bed, but most aren't fooled because of the fake movement. I tried boiling and reshaping it, but it didn't really help.

Is there anything I can do, or is it just gonna be a fancy looking piece of plastic?

[Mattlures]

Fake movement? No action? this sound like your just bashing me instead of looking for pointers. Fist off the action is made by you the fisherman not the bait. You refered to the "fake movement" durring bed fishing? I have caught many huge bass off the gills on beds when other guys have given up. Many top pros have my gills tied on durring spawn. I had Byron Velvick call me when they broke the record at Amistad and he said 3/4 of all the top guys were using my gills, either as the actual bed bait or a "primer" The technique that you should be using on a bed is that of a pecking gill. Tiny hopps like its eating the eggs. This action is definatly not fake looking. You can also attack the female with the gill. While this may not be natural behavior, I assure you it gets them going fast.
The tail action of this bait is designed to be natural and subtle. It is not suposed to be exagerated so when you say no tail action it might just not be what you expected. However If the bait is not stored corectly it can greatly afect the way it swims. The bait should be stored hanging from the hook eye. The tail section could be crooked. If it is arched up or down this could have negative affects. boiling the back half of the bait and letting it hang and cool will straighten it and it will work properly. One more little trick is to "roll" the section just before the tail. You can use a fat marker like a sharpe or a wood dowl and roll this section like you would roll dough. Dont put a lot of pressure. Just a little and do both sides. This will soften up that area and free up the tail to kick easyer. Also when you sell thousands of baits ocasionaly a bad one will slip through the cracks. I will replace them. So Please before you bash me on a forum give me a chance to help you. If you ever have any problems just send me an email at my website. http://www.mattlures.com I will ALWAYS take care of my customers.

jonnylee82 I must have edited my response about 10 times. I put my soul into my baits so it is dificult to not take it personal. Just send me an email and I will will gladly help you out
Thanks
Matt

[Lightninrod]

Customer support(and info) doesn't get any better than that! .


Dan

[leo33]

Jonny, Matt makes some of the most realistic baits around.your not going to get flashy movements from his baits just natural movements.i have a lot of luck with his baits and will continue to use them as long as he makes his baits.
check out newenglandfishing.net plenty of guys who are satisfied with Matts baits and his customer service fishing in the New England area.

[njvbass]

Gotta love a compnay that not only checks his email, but also responds to many fishing forums questions.

Top notch service.

[Lubina]

Not only best support but complete honesty as a lure maker...
And every time great advice as a fisherman, not even related to his lures.....

Once upon and a while ago my Gill lost one eye on a fight with a pike, I emailed Matt asking for the best way to glue a replacement eye that I already had from my lure making attemps, not only he gave me the info but he sent a matching eye. I haven't need his customer service since but I'm sure he is there if I need it.....

Thanks Matt. I will continuing buying anything you came out with.

[jonnylee82]

I'm completely sorry, Matt. I wasn't trying to bash your baits or your products. I didn't mean to offend you in any way. I love your baits. They look amazingly realistic, and the blue gill I have looks alive. I also have your trout. My buddy uses your East Coast Series and baby bass. He also got a perch Woody.

I've always gotten great customer service from Matt himself. I emailed Matt and got advice on rods and whole bunch of other stuff.

So, let me try to clarify. On a bed, it works great. It looks very realistic, like an egg thief. But when it comes through the water, at any speed, it just moves through the water with no tail movement. It also kind of tilts sideways slightly. I'm not complaining about the lure. I just need a little help or advice.

I know that I must have been doing something wrong, like storing it incorrectly. I read an article by Byron Velvick about boot tails, and I thought maybe mine was just one of those that can't be fixed.

[Mattlures]

Jonny no hard feelings, its all good.
The keys to the boiling trick is to make sure you boiled it enough so that everthing is nice and straight. This could take a couple minutes. The second and extremly important key is to make sure the bait cools down in that straight position. With regular swimbaits you should just hang them from the hook eye. with my gills, because of the way they sit up you could just put them in cold water deep enough to submurge them untill they have cooled down. This works for all soft plastic baits, not just mine. Just dont do it to salted baits becuase you will desolve the salt. Also certain baits can be "rolled" like I described with a wood dowel. This with soften up that area just befor the tail and free it up a little. If none of that works just send the bait back and I will replace it.
The bigest key with ALL soft swimbaits if properly storing them.