DUO Realis' V-Tailshad

A shad-shaped worm has played a significant part in the repertoire of Midwest finesse anglers since Shin Fukae of Osaka, Japan, and Palestine, Texas, revealed its manifold virtues to us on April 1, 2006.

Thus, every time a tackle manufacturer creates one, a member or two of the Finesse News Network will alert us, and they will suggest that we publish a gear guide about the new ones.

But, for some unknown reason, DUO Realis' V-Tailshad, which was introduced to the angling world in 2017, eluded all of us for 13 months. When we finally crossed paths with it, we readily admitted that it was a whale of a case of short-sightedness on our part for not having published a gear guide about it in the summer of 2017.

To belatedly make amends for this misdoing, here is a gear guide about the V-Tailshad.

Some folks refer to it as a micro-finesse bait.  It is manufactured in two sizes. There is a three-inch model and a four-inch one. Duo Realis describes it as a three-dimensional and pulsating shad worm that exhibits what they call a unique darting action.

According to Duo Realis' press releases, their research-and-development team created something that they called a ballast system. To achieve this ballast, they employed several types of salt grains to facilitate the balance of the V-Tailshad. And it is engineered to possess specific densities of salt and leeching ratios of salt. The leeching factor of the salt is aimed as an attracting agent for black bass. The developers and researchers also worked on finding a body or torso that would diminish the effects of what they describe as "underwater drag." And they wanted its soft-plastic body to exhibit a "unique, pliable profile" that "will replicate a lively bait[fish] in various conditions."

The three-inch V-Tailshad is actually 2 3/4-inches long.

The tip of its head is flat and three-sixteenths of an inch wide with a circumference of about seven-eighths of an inch.

From the tip of its flat head to the beginning of its clitellum or egg sack, its torso is encompassed with 17 minuscule ribs. This section is a half of an inch long and three-eighths of an inch wide at its widest spot with a circumference of 1 1/8 inches.

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Its clitellum is smooth-skinned. It is a quarter of an inch wide with a circumference of about 1 1/4 inches. It is also a quarter of an inch long.

From the end of its clitellum to the junction of its tail, there are 25 tiny ribs.  This section is 1 3/8 inches long. It is seven-sixteenths of an inch wide at its widest spot with a circumference of about 1 3/16 inches. The circumferences of the ribs become smaller as they approach the tail. The torso at the junction of the tail is an eighth of an inch wide with a circumference of about three-eighths of an inch.

Between the twenty-fifth rib and the beginning of its forked or V-shaped tail, there are four pronounced ribs adorning this area. We call this area the junction of the tail. Duo Realis says these ribs create micro vibrations. This section is about three-sixteenths of an inch long and three-sixteenths of an inch wide with a circumference of a half of an inch.

One and a quarter inches of its dorsal area or back is slightly concave. The concave design is said to "control the rising and sliding" of the V-Tailshad when anglers employ a shaking presentation. What's more, it is said to "efficiently transfer a realistic pulsation towards the tail section." From the 11^th rib to the 25^th one, the dorsal area becomes convex.

The ventral area, which encompasses its breast, pectoral, and pelvic sections, possesses what Duo Realis calls a keel-shape.  Duo Realis notes that the soft-plastic material of its pectoral and pelvic areas are denser and weighted with salt, which keeps the V-Tailshad when it is descending from the surface to the bottom in a horizontal motif rather than a vertical one. The profile of the ventral area possesses some of the characteristics of a young threadfin shad or skipjack herring.

Its caudal fin or tail fin is V-shaped. It is about three-eighths of an inch long. The surface of the tail is littered with many tiny pimples or bumps. The edges of the tails are adorned with an array of small ribs. It possesses a shape that is somewhat similar to the shape of a gizzard shad's tail. But unlike a gizzard shad's tail, the V-Tailshad's tail lies horizontally rather than vertically. Some anglers describe each sector of the V as possessing a shape that is similar to either an elliptical-shaped leaf or a spear-shaped leaf, and it is about three-sixteenths of an inch wide at its widest spot. According to the folks at Duo Realis, the water that flows around the torso and radiates onto the four ribs in the junction area of the tail, and this flow generates the tail's "very natural movement."

It is manufactured in the following colors: Ayu TT, Bluegill, Clear Red Pepper, Ghost Pearl Silver Flake, Green Pumpkin Red Flake, Moebi, Silver Chartreuse, Silver Smoke, Sukapanon, Violet Wakasagi, Wakasagi TT, and Watermelon Red Flake.

Besides being impregnated with salt, they are permeated with a squid scent.

A package of eight three-inchers costs $5.49, and a package of seven four-inchers costs $5.49.

Endnotes

(1) Here is a link to Duo Realis' website: http://duo-international.com/products/realis-v-tailshad.

(2) Here is a link to our Midwest Finesse column that features Shin Fukae and his work with the shad-shaped worm in April of 2006: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/a-midwest-finesse-tribute-to-shin-fukae/#ixzz5K1cApHka.

(3) Duo Realis says anglers can rig the V-Tailshad nine ways. But Midwest finesse anglers will rig the V-Tailshad onto a small mushroom-style jig with an exposed hook, and they will present it to their black bass quarries by employing all six of the standard Midwest finesse retrieves or variations of those retrieves. Here is a link to a Midwest Finesse column that explains how those six retrieves are implemented: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/.