Lure of the Month: Fish Stalker Lures Slab Tail
by Terry Madewell
Just because a crappie lure has been around a while, it doesn’t mean it has an expiration date in terms of the potential to catch crappie. This month’s CrappieNOW “Lure of the Month” started strong and continues to perform at an amazingly high level after 34 years.
I’m speaking of a lure that does exist – the Fish Stalker Lures Slab Tail grub. The lure has withstood the test of time and is a crappie-catching machine in multiple fishing scenarios. It’s continued to produce, and the initial design is still the same, but the lure has been so productive the size ranges have been expanded to meet different fishing scenarios.
The Fish Stalker Lures Slab Tail grub, in the 1.5-inch size, is the March 2025 CrappieNow Lure of the month. I recently learned about it from first-hand experience.
Lure designer Tom Mundy, owner of Fish Stalker Lures, had the mindset for the Slab Tail before he ever built the first prototype.
“I knew the size and profile I wanted, so we made a mold, tweaking by hand to get the precise design, especially for the unique tail profile,” Mundy said. “At that time, the tail on lures I’d found and fished all had to have fisherman-induced action for the tails to move. I wanted my lure to have a tail that could not be held still; it would always move and do so with perfectly natural action.”
Munday said it took attentive work and patience, but he finally produced a mold that met his strict parameters to produce one lure at a time.
But soon, friends, and then friends of friends, began wanting Slab Tails, and in 1993, he finally made a production mold that allowed him to make 50 Slab Tails at a time to begin the lure business.
“As more people fished it and caught crappie, the demand increased, and we eventually made a 200-unit mold and now have four of them,” he said. “We produce 3,500 an hour and still can’t get ahead of demand. And I’m ok with that!”
Originally, the company name was T’s Custom Lures, but it eventually became Fish Stalker Lures. Mundy’s brand has expanded to multiple types of lures, including jigheads with gold, bronze, and red hooks and bass fishing lures. It’s taken on a life of its own.
“The key to this lure is in the name, it’s the tail,” Mundy said. “The lifelike movement that can’t be tamed is the key, along with the ingredients of the lure. It’s soft, but tough, and it took a lot of trial and error to get it exactly how I want the ingredients and oils.”
I was introduced to the lure via Crappie Tournament Pro, former National Champion of the Crappie USA Tournament Trail, Will Hinson.
“I’ve fished for crappie for 40 years and fished tournaments for many years,” Hinson said. “The slab tail is the best crappie-catching lure I’ve ever fished.”
He said the lure’s tail action is why it’s productive. Its lifelike quality weakens the will of the oft-finicky slab crappie, the heart and soul of crappie tournament fishermen.
“The larger fish, the gold standard for tournament anglers, are often shy and finicky,” Hinson said. “The Slab Tail excels on getting these big crappies to bite.”
Hinson (843-618-5776; Livescope Consulting) said big fish appeal is only part of what he likes about the Slab Tail. It’s versatile, and he’s fished it in multiple ways.
“I employ forward-facing sonar (FSS) a lot now, and it’s ideal for targeting individual fish or groups of crappies orienting to structure or roaming,” he said. “I’ve used it effectively for long line trolling, cast and retrieve, vertical fishing, and fished under a bobber, and it’s highly effective for shooting docks.”
The day I fished with Hinson, he fished multiple types of cover, including stumps, logs, downed trees, and caught crappie consistently. The most impressive aspect was that finicky crappie seemed unimpressed initially and wouldn’t take the bait. Hinson would work the lure using on-the-spot improvisation. Adding this ‘personal touch’ to a lure with a magic tail, often sealed their fate when they couldn’t say ‘no.’
And wise crappie fishermen won’t say ‘no’ to the Slab Tail either.
Terry Madewell of Ridgeway, S.C., has been an outdoor communicator for 50 years. He holds a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management and has a long career as a professional wildlife biologist/natural resources manager. He’s passionate about sharing outdoor adventures with others.
