Trailers are a vital part of fishing, for nearly every species of fish—bluegills, crappies, bass, walleyes, pike, muskies, trout—and the list goes on.

A trailer’s primary purpose is to add attraction to a lure. This is accomplished through color, action, scent/flavor, vibration/sound, and overall changing of lure appearance.

Two types of lures utilize trailers most: jigs and spinnerbaits. Trailers can be either live or artificial. Using live and preserved baits this is usually called “tipping,” but it is still adding a form of trailer. Artificial trailers come in pork, plastic, foam and the new Z-Man Elaztech plastic. This article discusses various factors of artificial trailers in connection with jigs and spinnerbaits.

Color

At times, a lure needs the addition of second or third color. One good example is when fishing a chartreuse-and-blue spinnerbait. This color combo always seems to perform much better with a white trailer. Other times, a color in the skirt needs to be enhanced, and the trailer is matched to that color.

As applied to jigs, color is a matching affair. For example, a chartreuse/green/black jig would be matched with a black, chartreuse, or black/chartreuse trailer. Some companies manufacture trailer products which match their jigs.

Action

One of the major roles of a trailer is action. Split tails, pork frogs and craw worms exhibit a kicking action, while curly tails provide a more violent ripple and undulating motion.

Action can be altered, especially on pork baits. A pork frog, which is not mentioned much these days, provides more flutter and less buoyancy if some of the fat is trimmed. In fact, by just switching from a No. 11 Pork Frog to a No. 11 Tennessee Trailer exhibits a marked difference in action.

Scent/flavor

The ability to add scent and flavor via trailers dates back to pork baits. Pork baits remain among the best choices for this purpose. Their two main additions are salt and meat flavor.

Other excellent products in this category include Berkley Power Baits, and Natural Forage Baits with the addition of Kick’n Bass attractants of different scents. A product like Kick’n Bass can also be added separately.

Vibration/sound

Every trailer adds some type of vibration and sound. However, this can be enhanced with the addition of rattles in slim glass, metal or plastic tubes. Insert these inside the trailer, just not where the hook passes through.

Appearance

Trailers change the appearance of lures in more ways than already mentioned. They can extend the length of the lure, give it a different profile (claws, tails, etc.), flare the skirt, and change the rate of fall.

In spinnerbait fishing, extension of the bait can make all the difference in productivity. Simply changing from no trailer to a 3-inch trailer, or from a 5- to a 6-inch trailer with same design and color, will spark fish into striking. This also pertains to changing trailer thickness on both spinnerbaits and jigs.

Different profiles are obvious. Craw Worms provide claws, while split tails will give a more streamlined appearance.

Skirts can be flared to a certain extent by most trailers, but those with twin swimming tails or legs provide the best flare and action.

All the above-mentioned changes affect a lure’s rate of fall. The best rule to follow is, the more thickness, length, and skirt-flaring ability used in a trailer, the slower the fall rate. Slower fall rates are desired when slow rolling a spinnerbait, or when fish respond best to a longer look at a jig, usually after a front or during dormant periods.

In many cases, using trailers does not mean having to make additional purchases. Most plastic worms and grubs can be used for this purpose and are very effective. For example, a 4-inch Natural Forage Baits’ black/blue fleck R4 finesse worm, which I normally use with a lead head jig or Texas-rigged, when teamed with a Blitz black/blue Finesse Jig as a trailer, can be a deadly combination for finicky bass.

A certain “allure” accompanies using and experimenting with trailers. This feeling can help you become more productive.

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