curious about tail dancers??

[eyewinder]

Has anyone made the Tail Dancer their go-to trolling crankbait yet?

I ask because my experience has been that, while they do catch fish, another bait will almost always outproduce the TD. These observations have been made while pulling the TD at the same time that I'm pulling other types of crankbaits.

Don't get me wrong -- I want TDs to be REALLY good -- I've got way too many of them to want them not to work. I'd love to experience a bite where TDs were the superior bait -- but it hasn't happened yet.

[Suzuki]

I have done better using td's rather than shad raps on small mouth bass near my home. No walleyes yet. What are your hot crank baits?

[Sunshine]

What depths do you guys think they troll at? Let's say at 100' and/or maximum depth range? I've been somewhat guessing up to this point. Anyone know actual figures?

[Dave R]

I used a couple of different colored Taildancers (small size) the first 2 weeks of July on Leech Lake. The northerns absoloutely love them. I didn't use them at night, however, so I still haven't assessed how the walleyes like them. The small Taildancer dives to about the same depth as a #5 shad rap.

[eyewinder]

Shad Raps & Deep Lil' Rippers have outproduced the TD side-by-side. Granted, one may have been running a bit deeper than the other, and this may have been the (walleye's) deciding factor.

But it's kind of been like running Shallow Shad Raps and (shallow) Lil' Rippers side-by-side (in 4-6 feet of water); I've just got a lot more confidence in the Shallow Shad Raps, even though both baits should be running about the same depth.

I am looking forward to trying the TD in smallmouth water. Also, we've been figuring the dive curve on the TD is about the same as the Wally Diver. (I need to do some side-by-side comparisons between the Wally Diver & TD, too, but haven't yet.)

I'm fishing Midwestern reservoirs, for the most part -- Kansas & Nebraska -- I'm anxious to put the TD to the test in South Dakota's natural lakes.