Kut the Tail, Stick the Fish - Fishing the Kut-Tail Worm
January 14, 2009
In every lure company’s arsenal of product offerings, there are always certain lures that are your go-to favorites, lures you just know will catch fish for you. Since coming on board With Yamamoto in 2002, those lures have been the five-inch Senko, the Big Ika, the Fat Ika, and the six-inch Lizard for me. All of these lures were instant winners for me, and I feel very confident using them.
However...
The Lure
The Kut-Tail worm, which was added to the lineup about three years ago, was not that kind of lure for me, at least initially. But this little salty piece of round plastic with the funny, defective looking tail has gone way, WAAAY up in my go-to lure hierarchy.
The point of change for me came one day in June about two years ago, on Pickwick Lake. I was fishing one of my favorite Carolina rig holes and had been catching fish, and things just died as they often do on summer structure holes. I had just watched a segment of In-Fisherman in which Al Lindner was fishing a jig worm on deep weedlines. It was just one of those moments where the light bulb goes off, or maybe it’s on in this case.
I had a spinning rod on deck rigged with a four-inch Yamamoto grub, a lure that I had tried on this spot with no success. I replaced the grub with a 5” Kut-Tail in the 208 color (Watermelon Black/Red Flake), and quickly dipped the tail in chartreuse dye. The K-Tail 
never made it to the bottom. About halfway to the bottom, the line just swam sideways, and, as they say in my house—“It was on!” Count ‘em – thirty-seven largemouth and spots later I was out of worms, but I had a new confidence lure, and a great tool for catching finicky fish.
Since that June day two years hence, I have caught hundreds of bass on this amazing little worm, fished open hook or Texas rigged on a spinning rod. It has placed me high in several tournaments, qualified me and my partner for three consecutive Fishers of Men regional events, and just flat made it fun to go fishing. The Kut-Tail is really a fun, easy way to fish.
The Technique
The basic technique that I use with a Kut-Tail is so incredibly simple that I’m almost embarrassed to write about it. I’m simply rigging it Texas style, on a 3/16 or ¼-ounce minnow head jig, one that I pour for myself with a 4/0 Gamakatsu wire hook.
This oversized hook in what is a relatively small head gives a great hookup potential to the lure. My favorite Kut-Tail is the 5” (7L) size, but I also find myself using a lot of the 5¾-inch size (7C), especially in the hot summer, when schools of largemouth are holding on deeper structure and cover.
I’ve caught more fish on the 5-inch, but the 5¾-inch has accounted for more fish in the three to four-pound range. The biggest Kut-Tail, the 6¾-inch (7X) is too large for my purposes here, and does not work well on a jighead, although it is a great worm rigged in the normal Texas style.
The very small Kut-Tails, in the three and four-inch sizes (7S, 7) don’t have the bulk to handle the hook/head combo that I want to use, so I save them for drop shot applications, where they perform very well, but that is fodder for another article.
There is really no mystery to fishing a jig rigged Kut-Tail:
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Cast the lure out
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Let it fall on a semi-slack line to the bottom
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Watch for a strike on the fall.
Once the lure is on the bottom, I employ two basic retrieves:
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I shake the worm, drag it about two feet, and shake it again, repeating this sequence all the way to the boat.
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I pop the lure up off the bottom, pop it again, and then gently shake it as it falls back to the bottom.
One or the other of these two methods seems to get the job done for me, in almost all situations. This is a great technique to use with folks who are not real comfortable fishing “passive” lures, since they don’t really have to do much except the get bait to the bottom and pull it along with the rod tips.
Strikes are easy to detect since fish just eat the bait, load up the rod, and then swim off. The super-sharp Gammy jig hooks set easily, even in deep water. All that is really necessary is to reel tight and lift the rod tip. For the inexperienced, it is a much easier plastic worm technique than the classic Texas rig, and in many instances has proven far more productive for me.
The Tackle
I prefer to fish my jig-rigged KutTails on a 6’6” or 7’ medium heavy Falcon spinning rod, with a 4000 series Shimano Sustain reel, and 8 or 10-pound Sugoi fluorocarbon line.
Line Choice
Fluorocarbon line is a valuable addition to this set up for a several reasons:
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Its unique formulation allows the lure to fall quickly into the strike zone.
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It is hard for fish to see fluorocarbon in clear water.
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It is very abrasion resistant.
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The low-stretch properties of fluorocarbon greatly improve your ability to feel the lure and improve the quality/reliability of your hooksets.
The one drawback with fluorocarbon is that it is much more difficult for me to see in certain light and wind conditions. With that qualifier, I recommend 8 to 10-pound Sugoi fluorocarbon whenever you can make it work for you. I’ll add that I’ve not found a lot of difference in the number of strikes I get between 8 and 10-pound line, so as a result I most often use 10-pound. I always like to be prepared when that big fish shows up.
Reels
I strongly recommend the 4000 series spinning reels, simply because the larger spool diameter on these reels creates far fewer line loops and “windmills” when casting than occur with smaller series reels.
Another plus is the additional cranking power of these larger reels – really appreciated when “MeMaw” decides to show up and eat a “little worm”. Other than an ounce or so more weight in your hand, the larger reel has no negatives and offers several advantages over smaller spinning reels.
Rods
Almost any spinning rod in the 6’6” to 7’ length that is of medium to medium heavy action will work for this technique. Some of my favorites over the years have been the SJR 783 GLX and IMX Loomis, and my current new favorite, the Falcon Cara 4-169.
All of these rods offer quick, fast tips that add to both the length of the cast and hooksetting power, coupled with the strong, solid backbone that I prefer. Again, I want my tackle to be ready when the really big fish shows up. These rods have all handled smallmouth over six pounds, so I have a great deal of confidence in their fish handling qualities.
The Places
Okay, if you’ve read this far, then you know what to throw, how to throw it, and what to throw it with. Now…the WHERE. I use the Kut-Tail in the same places that I would throw a jig, crankbait or Carolina rig. Whoa, there Fat Boy---everyone reading this is thinking “But, that’s everywhere I fish”. EGGZACTLY, Grasshopper!
That is the magic I’ve found in a jig-rigged Kut-Tail. Throw it in the same places that you throw other techniques. Rigged Texas Style, it will come through cover, over and through rocks, and the bait works wonders around docks, pilings and man-made cover.
It is a “must-throw” lure on places that you normally beat to death with a Carolina rig. I make it a consistent practice before I leave a deep water spot, one that has already seen a Rig, crankbait and a jig, to throw the “Little Worm” several times. So many times in the past three years, this one additional presentation has triggered key fish that would not react to other presentations.
One of the best days I’ve ever had on a Mississippi river oxbow was during a time of low water when the only cover left in the water was manmade iron pilings, boat docks and barges. My partner and I had a great day with 5-inch jig rigged 7L’s, in the 208 color.
The fish were suspended and feeding around these artificial types of cover. The bass would just pound the small worms worked vertically or horizontally around them. They absolutely would not touch other, larger lures like 10-inch worms or Senkos. I suspect that they were getting hammered by larger lures, but the smaller finesse offerings presented far less negative clues.
And Finally
One final tip—smallmouth and spotted bass will also inhale these Kut-Tail offerings if you get it around them, but I have noticed a definite increase in number and quality of fish when the tail is dipped in chartreuse dye.
Two of my most consistent colors have been the 208 and the 303, just so long as I add the chartreuse tail. I believe that this coloration is a mimic of the yellow tail on the threadfin shad that is so populous in Southern reservoirs. Whatever the reason, I know it increases the end result!
So there you have it—nothing special, nothing dramatic, just a funny little worm, with a funny Kut Tail. But put a funny little worm on a simple little jig head and you have created a 12 month, year round, fish-jerking tool.