Ok, I'll do my best to answer your questions:

>I remember reading one time that someone trims the tails of
>their slammer. How much do you trim

The stock bait is fine, no need to modify the tail. If you lose your tail or it gets torn up, the replacement tails are a little longer than you need. I would trim it to be the same as the original tail. You could use this picture as a reference if you don't have the original tail any more:

http://www.msslammer.com/colors.html

>and how do you get the tail off and back on? Are there nails or
>just glue holding it in.

There are nails holding it in, no glue. The easiest way to get the tail out is to rip the old tail out and pick out any left over plastic. Then take a pair of needlenose and reach into the slot and grip the nail toward the pointy end and push it out. If you want to try to preserve the tail when you take it out, it's possible, but you have to pick out some of the paint/wood around the head of the nail to get a grip on it to pull it out. I wouldn't do that unless you really had to.

>Also why do you trim the tail? Better action?

A longer tail will slow down the action. A shorter tail will make it kick back and forth faster. Mike Shaw explained it to me best by comparing it to the tail of a kite. A kite with a short tail will dart back and forth. A kite with a long tail will move much more gradually through the air.

>I threw mine for the first time last week and had some followers
> but no takers. Drove me nuts. Also how do you get a soft
> presentation throwing this lure. I think that might have been half
> my problem. Thanks...

I'm not sure what you mean by soft presentation. If you would like the lure to make less of a splash when it hits the water, you just need to cast underhand and feather the cast at the end. With practice you can make a 9" Slammer land with almost zero splash by killing it right before it hits the water. When you're retrieving the bait, it's supposed to make noise, throw a wake, etc. My best baits are the ones that go clack clack clack and throw a big wake on the surface. Don't get discouraged on that aspect ;) If the water is very calm during the day, just crank the bait down so it runs 6" under the surface. That's a good retrieve for those conditions.

Don't get too concerned with followers. After the thousandth fish follows your bait, you'll start to realize that if you see the bass following your bait, it probably sees you, and it's probably not going to bite. Yeah we all have the stories of the fish that was so stupid it hit the bait 3 feet from the boat. But by now most fish in California have seen a few swimbaits go by and they're kinda on the smart side. If they won't eat your Slammer, mix up the retrieve or throw a different lure out there.