Few things get an angler's pulse up like watching bass blow up on a school of shad in open water. It's fast, it's visual, and if you're not ready with the right lure, it's over before you know it. That's exactly the scenario Bassmaster Open winner and Ross Barnett local expert Gene Bishop described when he sat down to talk about our TailKicker for a feature on BradWiegmann.com.
Bishop, a former Bassmaster Classic qualifier, explained that his favorite summertime pattern on Ross Barnett is working the drop-offs along the ledges, waiting for bass to start busting shad on the surface. When they do, he casts the TailKicker right into the school and starts working it the instant it hits the water — because that's when the bite is best.
He also broke down exactly why the lure holds up in that kind of high-adrenaline moment. The TailKicker's line-through design lets the lure's weight ride up the line toward the rod tip once a fish is hooked, which keeps a jumping bass from getting the leverage it needs to throw the treble hook. Bishop pointed out a bonus most anglers don't expect: that same dense lure body doubles as a "plug knocker," letting you jar a stuck hook loose without extra tools.
Founder Ricky McKenzie backed up everything Bishop described, and added a tip for anglers dialing in their setup through the season: start with the 3/8-ounce TailKicker when shad are still small, and size up to the 3/4-ounce or full 1-ounce model as the baitfish grow.
Read the full feature: RedLine Lure Company TailKicker Line Through Style Tail Spinner on BradWiegmann.com