Swimbaits for Dummies

I made the tails and baits a little thicker than norm when I sculpted them, and I use a saltwater plastic for the top pour and most of the tail (dark on top helps too).  It's pretty durable.  Big Hammer uses super soft plastic from what I can see.  Kustom Krafts are pretty soft too.  I don't think it's necessary to use such a soft plastic unless you want to sell a lot of baits. 

A friend of mine just brought me a bag of about two hundred (I made him) and none of the tails were ripped off.  They're actually all still pretty fish-able.  They get torn where the hook comes out of the bait.  I use gorilla super glue from home depot to attach them to the head and to fill in the tear they get from where the hook comes through the middle top part of the bait for myself.  Believe me I wouldn't just say the tails don't get bit off if it weren't true.  I sent some to besteves and he gave them to yakinitup from nwka.  I'll ask him if the tail got bit off on any.   

I use shrimp fly jigs w/1 single and a big treble on the bottom. I also put a little squid or anchovie on the top hook to get things going. Almost anything that flashes works well RF. Try everything you can throw at them and see what works for you.Good luck!