Just finished reading, Fishing with Bucktails, by William Muller. The primary technique he advocates is a steady retrieve using a porkrind trailer to impart action (as well as scent) to the bucktail. Anyone here ever try that approach? I've always fished my bucktails with a jigging action - lift, drop, repeat. I've also never done that well with porkrind, seems that soft plastic trailers have worked better for me. So this steady retrieve with a pork trailer approach intrigues me. Anyone use this style with success?

Pork rind and less imparted action has given me way higher results than what I used to do, which was more lifting and bouncing. I will give the jig an occasional twitch when it ticks a rock, but thats about it. When you have an area with less of a sweep you may want to twitch the jig a bit more, but in a good current I agree with Muller "less is best".

I have read Doc's book with great anticipation as I love the jig it is one of my favorite lures.I thought it was only OK at best.Seemed like a commercial for uncle josh.Plus I don't care for the swinging hook.Nor do any of the masters who have gave me advice over the years..If u ask me U miss more fish with em an I have never had any trouble landing fish off of the single hook of the jig.The Jig, IMO has the best percentage of hooked to landed fish ratio by a long shot.There are so many ways to fish a bucktail.There are no wrong ways.I have for years primarily fished a weight that allowed be to just fish off the bottom with a comfortably slow retrieve.Occasionally twitching the rod tip.Sometimes more twitch sometimes less I always let the fish tell me what they want.My weight for this method in shallow NJ waters would vary from 1/2-2 oz.s depending on the conditions of the surf. I have also done well with 3 oz buctails.Primarily 3/4's oz was my favorite size..My first trip to montauk I was enlightened to a entirely different approach.The use of a heavier bucktail to reach out a bit further required a much brisker retrieve to keep the jig from snagging along the kelp covered rocks an produced quite well.When u can adjust the weight of a lure with a simple clip it enables the angler to fish in many different ways to be productive.Then there are the trailers. I have used just about every pc of rubber u could imagine on the hook of a jig including many different sizes of pork.I have also caught in a screaming tide in the canal one night with a 6 oz unpainted bare ball jig..Thats no paint,no hair...
While fishing the simple upgrade of a 3/8" strip to the 1" strip can change the fall rate of the jig dramatically.I usually buy the big 2" strips an cut em up myself it's much cheaper this way.I pack em in a jar red and white together along with many different sizes..In rubber I will use Fin-S fish along with other paddle tail type baits.. They all work well I have no real preference from pork or rubber.I have had a fish fold the pork more so than the rubber up on the hook,it does happen with both baits..When it comes down to it. I primarily use what I can present to the fish in a manner that enables me to go slow an still have some action.My biggest jig fish have come on rubber.There are no wrong ways as long as ur catching..

[QUOTE=NIB;564302]When u can adjust the weight of a lure with a simple clip it enables the angler to fish in many different ways to be productive.

does this mean you're using a breakaway clip/snap or are you tying direct. Thanks...

That book is on my "To Read" List this year.

So I got 1st Dibs if you decide to sell it...:hihi:

I agree with NIB as to swing hooks. None of my "bucktail mentors" used them.
As to retrieve, I had success with virtually no retrieve, just a little bit of rod tip action, in strong inlet rips to burning them in the rocks of M. And just about everything in between. Like NIB, I too have used almost everything you can think of as a trailer.
This very basic lure can be presented in an almost limitless number of ways. Good bucktailers have spent years perfecting their technique and that technique will change from spot to spot.
It is a steep learning curve, and you will hang up and loose many bucktails as you learn, but it is well worth the effort. (I have caught more fish over 30LBs on bucktails than all other plugs combined.)
My go is Smiling Bill style. When fishing M, I use Andrus Jetty Casters. Colors - White, Green (chartreuse), White, Black, White, did I mention white?
Also I will NOT ever use a Spro bucktail Ever. (Hooks stink)

It can get really com-plicated depending on where you are jigging. Off a beach . in the canal , out a moderate outflow , dead calm water , etc.

i think you want to try many things with a jig until something works. even the "best" techniques must be abandoned when they are not working.

i wrote something about jigging here about 7 years ago. maybe it can be searched for.

Doc is a lot like Daignault. His experience is in a very closed universe. Frank says no great fish are ever taken on poppers, and that bottle plugs are only worthwhile as casting weights for teasers.. Doc believes that the bucktailing techniques used in the shallow Long Island inlets are universally adaptable. Cast and bring in a bucktail on a slow steady retrieve in the Canal, and the biggest bass you'll ever catch is about 18".

The funniest thing that Doc ever wrote was that an angler would be undergunned using a Penn 750 SS :rotf2:

And by the way--swinging hooks hang up more than fixed hook, based on my experience fishing the Canal. I can hang a Crippled Herring a lot easier than I can hang a fixed hook bucktail.

I have read Doc's book with great anticipation as I love the jig it is one of my favorite lures.I thought it was only OK at best.Seemed like a commercial for uncle josh.

That's what I was thinking reading it, NIB.

That book is on my "To Read" List this year.

So I got 1st Dibs if you decide to sell it...:hihi:

TDF, you can have my copy if you like, PM me and we can figure something out.

Doc is a lot like Daignault. His experience is in a very closed universe. Frank says no great fish are ever taken on poppers, and that bottle plugs are only worthwhile as casting weights for teasers.. Doc believes that the bucktailing techniques used in the shallow Long Island inlets are universally adaptable. Cast and bring in a bucktail on a slow steady retrieve in the Canal, and the biggest bass you'll ever catch is about 18".

The funniest thing that Doc ever wrote was that an angler would be undergunned using a Penn 750 SS :rotf2:

And by the way--swinging hooks hang up more than fixed hook, based on my experience fishing the Canal. I can hang a Crippled Herring a lot easier than I can hang a fixed hook bucktail.

I got the same feeling, Mike P, seems like a good technique in the right spot, but I kind of expected more from a book that refers to itself as the "ultimate guide to fishing with bucktails". I do fish a lot of shallow estuary areas and I will put this technique to use. I think the information he gives would make an excellent article on bucktailing, but a whole book was kind of a stretch.

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

TDF, you can have my copy if you like, PM me and we can figure something out.


Sounds good, That would be awesome. Much Appreciated. maybe hook up at the same place as last time....unless your going down to Plugfest.


And I think I might just have become the 1st Book Ho...:hee:

Lots of very good advice in many of the above posts. I love reading about bucktailing. It is a fascinating aspect of surfcasting and everyone has there own take on it. The simplicity of the bucktail is amazing yet it can be complicated to use effectively. It is really the "thinking mans lure".

Personally, I think there is a knack to finding the right spot in the water collumn where the fish are (generally near the bottom) without hanging up or snagging something to foul the jig. This is the essence of bucktailing IMO and it can be frustrating to many and it gets complicated when current, distance, and bottom structure come into the equation. However I think that an experienced fishermen, that have a wide choice of bucktails heads in varied weights and tail materials can figure it out and get pretty close. Stay in the zone and think about where it is. Yeah, you gonna loose gear but when you find the sweet spot your gonna pound them.

I have to say I don't agree with everything I read in the bucktail books but it probably does work for them in the places they fish. I tend to prefer heavier bucktails because I want the distance but the trade off (as mentioned above in other posts) is you tend to work them them faster then I would otherwise like. I played with hair amounts and tails to reduce sink rate but still didn't find the perfect combo for the areas I was trying to fish. I did OK and caught fish but I know there is a better way.

Moreover, IMO it always bothers me that most bucktails are designed to be worked VERTICALLY and not cast and worked in a horizontal manner from the shore. When retrieved they don't swim right. I wanted 3-4 oz casting bomb that didn't sink fast and allowed me to fly it slowly off the bottom with more control. When I "jig" it I want it to raise off the bottom, not just swim faster at an angle to the shore and crash into the bottom. To that end end I recently created my own bucktail head and I am having a some test molds made to pour it right now. I only have a couple test heads now but I think it is going to work out. (It is a lot differenet looking then any other bucktail and works much differently) I have not fished it yet, so time will tell if it even works but I am pumped for spring already. To be honest, I think I many need a couple rev's before I get it just the way I like it.
When it is all done and I can prove it works I'll post a pic. ( I have a fixed and swing hook version). If it doesn't work out it will be in the scrap pile with all my other brain-farts.:laugha::fishin:

For horizontal jigging u want a bucktails with the line tie forward for vertical jigging u want a bucktail with the line tie aft..I prefer the current for the bucktails.So many ways to fish it.Throw up current with a lighter jig an tick the bottom throw down with something heavier for the plop an lift.. If I can get 150-200 yds or more line out on a long drift I am in heaven.Just lifting the jig of the bottom when the tide an weights are right.Hold on for the strike as u lower the rod to feel for the bottom...Nothing like it..I have caught em reeling back also.The strikes I get as the jig comes by any kind of structure can be mind blowing..

There are so many ways to fish a bucktail.There are no wrong ways. I always let the fish tell me what they want. .When it comes right down to it, I primarily use what I can present to the fish in a manner that enables me to go slow and still have some action.There are no wrong ways, as long as ur catching..

No truer words were ever spoken as they relate to any lure, any bait.
That's fishing, in a nutshell.

Men,
All I can say about this post and the responces to it,is that they are the best I have ever read on this site.Thank you.Joe

NIB knows his chit:wave:

There definitely is a touch and ryhthm component to bucktailing.
You see alot of jiggers jigging so hard that it looks like they are trying to get the jig to rocket out of the water. This is also true on a boat. A slow steady pulsing snap action works very well in almost all applications. A cadence. This technique is the simplest form of fishing yet can be the most complicated based on the conditions and the experience of the fisherperson. It is deadly effective when done right or when luck is on your side.

NIB knows his chit:wave:

Thanks I guess. It's all just common sense really.
I love to fish new places an figure what the proper presentaition is.Once u do that U could fool em with anything. Fisherman tend to over complicate things..Bass are stupid really.One outing in the bay on a friends boat I watched a teenage size bass for a half hr try to eat a clear plastic salad spoon..
They hit needle fish lures...Think about it.. it's a stick with hooks.. Then consider how many different color and weight/shapes I own...which is well over a hundred..:rollem:
Makes me wonder..
One thing I am pretty sure of when the fish are in the current they are there to feed.Either they came in to spawn an they will have the feed bag on going an coming from that affair or they have followed some kinda baitfish into the current.The current also is a excellent source of oxygen that will have fish active in even off temps..I will fish entire tides thru the full bore.I love it..I never get tired of jiggin the current..I know some have said that slack tides are best for big fish.That could be right..Why limit urself to a 15 minute window.If I had to pick My favorite stage of the tide.I would say one hr after the full bore when it starts to slow down like the 4th an 5 hr. I have always found fish will become more aggressive at this stage of the tide..Here's the Key...They will be where they are supposed to be.On the bottom.A one ft depression in the bottom itself is enough to provide a slow water area for a bass to sit comfortably.Slack tide the fish will meander thru the water collum..U have a river or a canal thats 30 ft deep an thats a lot of water to cover.In the moving tide they are much easier to fool.They have to make a split second decision to eat or let it go by..Well like I mentioned they are there to eat..It's how they make a living..U spend enough nights fishing this way and U happen upon things..Fish catchin things..Ur never really sure where the next cast will take U..
Thats the beauty of fishing..

Sounds good, That would be awesome. Much Appreciated. maybe hook up at the same place as last time....unless your going down to Plugfest.


And I think I might just have become the 1st Book Ho...:hee:

I won't be attending Plugfest, I've been insanely busy lately, the next fishing event I'll be going to will be MSBA. My only day off right now is Sunday and I can't meet you this week, already booked up, I'll PM you next week and maybe we can do it next Sunday. As far as the book ho thing, the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem!;)

Thanks again for all the replies, it's great that we have such an awesome sounding board for discussing different fishing techniques and approaches with others who share our passion. Long live S-B.com!!!

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