Plug vs Paddletail: The Distance Difference Shocked Me

When fish are feeding aggressively, the ability to cover more water without spooking fish can make a huge difference in your catch results.

And one of the easiest ways to do that is by casting farther.

But that raises a couple of interesting questions…

1. Which lure actually casts farther: a plug or a paddletail?

2. How much farther exactly can one outcast the other?

I’ve noticed differences over the years, but I wanted real numbers.

So I decided to put the longest-casting 4-inch plug I’ve ever used against the longest-casting 4-inch paddletail I’ve ever used in a head-to-head casting distance test.

Note: I weighted the paddletail with a jighead to make sure they were equal in weight.

Featured Gear

• Rod: Slot Machine 7’6″ Medium Power
• Reel: Otis 2500
• Line: 10 lb J-Braid 8 Grand
• Lure 1: Skinny Lipper
• Lure 2: Mulligan Paddletail rigged on 3/0 Weedless Round Eye Jig Head 3/16 oz
• Luke 3: Mulligan Paddletail rigged on 3/0 Hoss Helix Hook 1/8 oz

The Test

For this experiment, I compared:

• Skinny Lipper (4″)
• Mulligan Paddletail (4″) rigged on a 3/0 Weedless Round Eye Jig Head 3/16 oz
• Mulligan Paddletail (4″) rigged on a 3/0 Hoss Helix Hook 1/8 oz

The Results

Here’s how the tests ended up after averaging out the distances they traveled:

• Mulligan On Hoss Helix Hook: 105 feet
• Mulligan On Weedless Round Eye Jig Head: 118 feet
• Skinny Lipper: 135 feet

The shortest cast with the Skinny Lipper was still longer than the best cast from any of the paddletail setups.

In other words…

The plug wasn’t just winning… it was dominating.

Why Does It Matter?

An extra 15 to 30 feet may not sound like much at first.

But over the course of a fishing trip, that can be significant (especially if you’re fishing next to someone who can’t cast as far).

To put it in perspective, an extra 30 feet per cast means you’ll cover an additional football field of water every 10 casts.

Longer casts allow you to:

• Cover more water
• Reach fish before they see the boat
• Present lures farther away from potential disturbances
• Increase your chances of connecting with larger, more cautious fish

That’s especially important when targeting bigger redfish, snook, trout, and flounder in shallow water.

Why The Plug Casts Farther

The biggest factor is design.

The Skinny Lipper features weight-shift technology that moves weight toward the rear of the lure during the cast.

That helps it fly more efficiently and maintain momentum throughout the cast.

The paddletail setups cast well, but they simply can’t match the aerodynamic advantages built into a lure specifically designed for maximum casting distance.

My Biggest Takeaway

I expected the plug to cast farther.

I didn’t expect the difference to be this large.

For situations where fish are actively feeding and lure selection isn’t the deciding factor, a long-casting plug can help you cover water more efficiently and keep your bait in front of more fish throughout the day.

That’s one of the reasons I’ve been reaching for plugs more often lately.

Not only am I covering more water, but I’m also getting my lure farther away from the boat where bigger fish are often more comfortable feeding.

Final Thoughts

If your goal is to maximize casting distance and cover as much water as possible, this test showed a clear winner.

The paddletail performed well, but the Skinny Lipper consistently delivered the longest casts and the greatest water coverage.

Have another lure you’d like to see tested? Let us know in the comments below.