The Schooling Bait Reinvented? At first glance the Longas Baits PDL rig immediately seems familiar.

It looks both like a traditional paddletail swimbait rigged with a jighead and it also resembles a cross between a spinnerbait and an A-Rig, with two protruding arms coming out of the head linking to screwed on smaller swimbaits.

The PDL Rig is designed to be an alternative to both a swimbait and an A-Rig, and yet it is designed with elements of both, and can be described as a hybrid of sorts. Each PDL rig is armed with a single Owner Cutting bait Hook and the smaller 3" swimbaits are unarmed teasers, creating the illusion of a tight school of baitfish.

When you first look closely at the PDL Rig the finish of the bait isn't all that impressive.

The paint on the jighead's finish is average and while the painted eyes do the job they don't really add a lot of realism to the lure. The same can be said about the actual swimbait bodies, they are soft and stay on the jighead well but they are not that refined in profile or finish. The tails themselves have a more angular shape than your average paddletail and they kind of reminded me of swimbaits that we would use in saltwater for targeting Rockfish or Calicos, where refinement sometimes comes second to durability. While my first impression of the finish of the baits was somewhat uninspiring I was still very interested to see how they would perform in the water.

Ready to Fish: This is the Starship Enterprise of swimbaits, not just because it boldly goes where other "swimbaits" have not gone before, but also because it has the PDL's jighead has same profile as the famed spacecraft.

The coolest thing about the PDL Rig is that it comes fully rigged and ready to fish.

No setup required, simply pull the bait out the package, tie it on and cast your own mini bait-ball. 

In the water the PDL Rig comes to life with the slightest movement. You can fish this lure at just about any speed. Let it sink to the desired depth and you can slow crawl the bait back, or simply cast it out and burn it right below the surface.

The same tails that I was critical about in terms of refinement look absolutely great in the water. The narrow tail section and angular tails just looked a little odd out of the package but once in the water they swing and flutter beautifully, even at low speeds. The two "wires" that attach the teaser swimbaits are actually made of heavy mono, and I found that they were firm enough that I could adjust them inwards or outwards to alter the size of the "bait-ball." The wires also add some additional weedlessness to the rig. I was able to fish the bait through grass without hanging up, but if you have a direct impact with submerged timber it still is possible to snag this bait up.

Next Section: Fish the PDL Rig all day...