Wykyd B8 Posted March 17, 2020 Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 Howdy, I used to be a member here years ago but forgot my handle. Been lurking for a couple weeks just reading and searching threads. One thing I found is that you guys use flexible urethane for tails and fins. So I ordered some at 40 durometer. If I make my regular thickness tail for gliders at 1/8" it doesn't seem to be hard enough. I wanted to test it so I tried it on a thicker tail maybe 3/16 and it seemed a lot better but I don't usually run thicker tails like that one on my gliders. So my question is, before I just order again blindly what durometer flexible urethane are you guys are using for your glide bait tails? I was thinking maybe 60? I have also tried the hardened plastisol but for glide bait tails it just doesn't work for me. Basically I have just used hard tails on my gliders for the last few years. they glide great but I always think what if it costs me that one fish! Anyways thanks for the help! Matt Ds.attack.rat and troutbum24 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted March 17, 2020 Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 Welcome back, Matt. Currently running 50A urethane fir my glides and love it, but I also prefer softer tails. When you get up in the 70A range the material becomes pretty stiff/board-like. Try contacting your supplier to see if they can send you samples of each hardness. troutbum24, Wykyd B8 and DoomDiver 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted March 17, 2020 Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 60A is a good in-between of hard and soft I think. I was running the 70A for awhile and it was just a little too hard for me to use comfortably. In my mind it didn't feel very natural and could potentially cost me bites. Wykyd B8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wykyd B8 Posted March 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 31 minutes ago, danthefisherman said: Welcome back, Matt. Currently running 50A urethane fir my glides and love it, but I also prefer softer tails. When you get up in the 70A range the material becomes pretty stiff/board-like. Try contacting your supplier to see if they can send you samples of each hardness. 28 minutes ago, danthefisherman said: 60A is a good in-between of hard and soft I think. I was running the 70A for awhile and it was just a little too hard for me to use comfortably. In my mind it didn't feel very natural and could potentially cost me bites. Thank you Dan! I did call them yesterday and I didn't think to ask for a sample dang it. I talked to him about what I was doing and what he recommended. He recommended 70 and said it was like taking a sliver off of a car tire which is hard to imagine since I have never done that. When you run the 50 are you loosing any of the gliding action? In all my testing it just seems the softer the tail the more inertia it soaked up and deadened the glide. My thought was to have it hard enough to not give on the subtle side to side of the glider but soft enough to collapse if a fish hits it from the back. Thanks again Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayRe Posted March 17, 2020 Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 There's some information about mixing Flex products on the alumilite site. If you really wanted to dial it in, you could get some 80 to mix with your 60. That way you could find a happy medium. 70 is pretty stiff though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted March 17, 2020 Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Wykyd B8 said: Thank you Dan! I did call them yesterday and I didn't think to ask for a sample dang it. I talked to him about what I was doing and what he recommended. He recommended 70 and said it was like taking a sliver off of a car tire which is hard to imagine since I have never done that. When you run the 50 are you loosing any of the gliding action? In all my testing it just seems the softer the tail the more inertia it soaked up and deadened the glide. My thought was to have it hard enough to not give on the subtle side to side of the glider but soft enough to collapse if a fish hits it from the back. Thanks again Matt In all honesty I have struggled to build a good glide for many years so I might not be the one to talk, but I have learned a ton from experimentation and have witnessed the same thing you mentioned. A harder tail seems to allow the bait to cut side to side easier while a softer tail absorbs some of that directional change. Before I started using urethane for tails, I used hardened plastisol as well...and that for sure killed the action. The tail acted more as the fletching on an arrow instead of a rudder of a ship causing more drag rather than stability. My glides tended to run straight and roll over. So I stepped up in shore hardness to 70A urethane and it made a world of difference. My glides cut side to side with ease and were much more stable. I for one didn't really like how the 70A felt, however. It felt too stiff and, as you mentioned, I feared it wouldn't collapse at all when a fish hit my bait. That's when I decided to switch to 50A and won't be going back now. To me, the 50A is the perfect consistency between harder and softer tails. It's hard enough to not absorb too much action but soft enough to collapse with strikes and actually improve balance by absorbing excessive directional changes if that makes sense. Depending on how you fish your glides, the 50A could "dampen" the action over a harder material. If you like ripping the bait with aggressive sweeps of the rod then yes you will probably notice a difference as the 50A will absorb some of that energy and thus provide a smoother/more-natural swim. Fishing a slow to moderate steady retrieve however I have not noticed any difference in the swim. I use 3/32-1/8" thick tails troutbum24, El_Weruso, Wykyd B8 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wykyd B8 Posted March 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 Dang man I really appreciate the time you took to explain all that. The information you provided is exactly what I was looking for. I think I will order 60 and if its too hard I can mix with my 40. danthefisherman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted March 17, 2020 Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 14 minutes ago, Wykyd B8 said: Dang man I really appreciate the time you took to explain all that. The information you provided is exactly what I was looking for. I think I will order 60 and if its too hard I can mix with my 40. Any time! Glides can be tricky to dial in and the tail is an extremely important component to get right...I figured I'd share what I've learned and hopefully save you time and money haha Happy building and we can't wait to see what you come up with! Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishing goonie Posted June 6, 2020 Report Share Posted June 6, 2020 Hi Matt, all I have been using is plastisol for my tails. What urethane are you guys talking about. Is it a product I can get from smooth-on my resin supplier? Very interested , thanks gabe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted June 6, 2020 Report Share Posted June 6, 2020 3 hours ago, Fishing goonie said: Hi Matt, all I have been using is plastisol for my tails. What urethane are you guys talking about. Is it a product I can get from smooth-on my resin supplier? Very interested , thanks gabe. We were discussing the Alumilite Flex series I believe, but you can check out the Smooth-On Econ urethane as well as a comparable product. Fishing goonie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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