September 30, 2013
By Ned Kehde
Strike King Lure Company's Rage Twintail Menace Grub is a multifaceted soft-plastic bait.
Its head and torso are endowed with 18 ribs, and it is twin tails are graced with what the Strike King folks call a "Rage Tail flange." Some anglers call it a rim or a raised projecting edge rather than a flange.
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The flanges or rims lie along the outside edge of the tails, and they provoke the tail to gyrate. And this grub's tails will exhibit a steady and alluring kick or thump during a variety presentations, such as when power anglers wield it on flipping, punching and swim jigs, as well as a trailer on spinnerbaits.
When Strike King introduced it to the angling world in 2012, most anglers assumed that this four-inch soft-plastic bait was limited to the province of the power anglers. But since that initial introduction, a few Midwest finesse anglers, who are always in search of a grub to rig on their jigs, think that it deserves a place in their repertoire.
In finesse applications, Midwest finesse anglers trim five-eighths to three-quarters of an inch off of its head. Then they affix it to a 3/32-ounce Gopher Tackle Mushroom Head Jig, and the point of the hook is always exposed. When they rig it on a 1/16-ounce Gopher jig, they trim about an inch off its head.
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When Midwest finesse anglers employ this combo, they utilize three retrieves: They swim it, using the classic Charlie Brewer do-nothing retrieve, which is the same presentation they use when they work with a three- to four-inch single-tail grub. They also hop, bounce and shake it across the bottom as they would retrieve a small creature bait. Around some lairs, they drag or crawl it along the bottom, which is a tactic some power anglers are now calling bottom bugging, and during the drag retrieve, the Midwest finesse anglers occasionally punctuate it with a deadstick maneuver for a few seconds.
This photograph shows the Midwest finesse angler's rendition of the Rage Twintail Menace Grub. Five-eighths of an inch was trimmed off of its head, and it was affixed to the chartreuse 3/32-ounce Gopher Tackle Mushroom Head Jig. When power anglers use it with an exposed hook around open-water lairs on a skirtless jig, they don't shorten it, and they attach it to 1/8-, 3/16- and 1/4-ounce or heavier jigs. They normally present it to the bass with a slow- to a moderate-pace swimming retrieve.
The Rage Twintail Menace Grub is available in 10 colors. The price for a package of eight ranges from $3.99 to $7.59.
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