Gene Larew Lures' Tattle Tail Worm

Andrew Upshaw says Gene Larew Lures has a new six-inch worm that might catch the fancy of Midwest finesse anglers, who will employ it on a 1/16-ounce Gopher Tackle's Mushroom Jig Head with an exposed hook. It is called the Tattle Tail Worm.

Upshaw of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a talented 26-year-old angler who currently competes on the Walmart FLW Tour and Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open events. He works for Dollahon PR, Inc. of Tulsa, and they work with the folks at Gene Larew Lures.

Before he worked at Dollahon, he received a bachelor's degree in marketing at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas. While he was a student, he won the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship in 2011, which allowed him to be the first collegiate angler to compete in the Bassmaster Classic. At the Classic on the Red River at Shreveport and Bossier City, Louisiana, he caught 20.1 pounds largemouth bass and finished in 31st place. Subsequently, he placed second at the July 19-21, 2012, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open at Lake St. Clair, Michigan. During the past two years, he has become a devotee to various finesse tactics.

Upshaw said the Tattle Tail was designed by John Murray of Phoenix, Arizona, who has fished the Bassmaster circuit since 1986. Murray's initial attentions were to create a drop-shot worm. But as Upshaw and several other anglers spent a considerable amount of time field-testing various prototypes of the Tattle Tail at Grand Lake, Oklahoma, and Tenkiller Lake, Oklahoma, during the spring and early summer on 2013, they discovered that it is a multifaceted soft-plastic worm.

It exhibits what Upshaw calls "a natural quivering action," which is created by a unique, tiny, and semi-diamond-shaped paddle that is attached to the end of its tail. The action is also enhanced by its pencil-thin torso and its extremely thin tail, which Upshaw described as being "slightly thinner than the lead in a pencil." And in order to generate the utmost quivers, Upshaw says, it is essential to rig it so that its flat belly is down, not to the side or on top.

Upshaw says, "It is going to be an amazing fish catcher for all who use it. To be plain and simple: It just works.  I think it will be easier for someone to go catch a fish on the Tattle Tail worm than any other Gene Larew worm made. When its all said and done this is easily the most versatile worm in the entire line up."

Besides employing it on a drop-shot rig, as Murray likes to do, or on a Gopher jig, as Midwest finesse anglers prefer to do, Upshaw says their field-tests revealed that it will allure scores of black bass when it is rigged on a shaky head. It will be effective when it is employed on a split-shot rig or finesse-style Carolina rig, used as a swimming worm, and attached to a whacky style jig or unweighted hook. He suspects that it will work well on a 3/16-ounce Gene Larew Biffle Hardhead, which sports a 3/0 offset hook.

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It is available in nine colors: Dark Brown/Pumpkin (Laminated),Green Pumpkin, Green Pumpkin/Purple (Laminated), Junebug Lite, Light Brown/Magenta (Laminated), Morning Dawn (Laminated), Shad Flash, Sooner Run (Laminated), and Watermelon Pepper. Three more colors will be added in 2014. A package of 10 retails for $4.99.

End notes:

In a Sept. 23 e-mail, Upshaw noted that "we just got the main mold in for the Tattle Tail Worm; so production starts this week." To purchase them, anglers can contact Gene Larew Lures at (918) 949-6291.