i've been trying to read up on bucktails this winter and plan on using them as often as possible to target the lower portions of the water column. zeno's book was very helpful, but i also wanted to hear other bucktail testaments.

i'm wondering about the purpose of trailers. how important are they? are they just to enlarge profile? hook up ratio with vs. without.

far from an expert but sink rates etc can also be adjusted with the trailer. Do a search we got nib to spill his guts pretty good on this last year.

Funny you mention this. I was studying up on bucktails this winter also to add it to what I use. Read some online articles and Doc Muller's book. picked up some different weights with the Pork Trailers to try......time will tell

:read: Those books are OK (I have them all too) but bucktailing is a learned art form. You really need to spend a some time and cast different bucktail designs with different trailers. One expert once told me ..."The purpose of a buckail is to deliver the pork")

Trailers will effect decent rates but some effect distance and action. IMO you just need to play with these "knobs" ( weight/head design/trailer type and size) and learn the feel for them. Eventually you will know where it is off the bottom and if you need a lighter/heavier jig or a longer tail. Just go out and do it on a sunny day when you have nothing better to do. I like reading about this too but the books are kind of basic and it is hard to explain the feel, you need to cast them.


IMO with the exception of the serious canal fishermen (who have this down pat) few guys around here use bucktails all that often. I think for the reason is they get hung up with them, get annoyed and fish plugs. Another reason is it can be maddening to fish right next to someone who is hammering them on a bucktail and you are right next to him doing squat. I have seen this happen. I have seen guys leave a good bucktail bite because they are being out-fished big time. You just have to get in the groove with them, almost like a Zen, many nights they will out produce plugs. I think it all has to to wit the depth, some nights the bass will not rise to take a near surface plug but will strike a bucktail or RonZ like no tomorrow. Why? You put it right in their face.

Weed and structure can be a problem but the single hook sure makes it sweet for an easy release. Also, once hooked...you rarely loose them. Also it is fun to fish with a home made jig that cost next to nothing and fish pound like no tomorrow.

Good luck with it.

scott, I have Muller's bucktail book and you're welcome to borrow it. Or I could just some it up for you: cast and retrieve, vary the retrieve and weight of the bucktail and trailer size so you tick the bottom once in a while without getting hung up - that's about all I took away from his bucktail book. I really think its a feel and confidence thing, not something you can read about. You just have to go out there and do it until you get it. I've been saying I'm going to do it for a few seasons now, but its just really hard to go away from tactics that I have more confidence it.

That pretty much sums it up......thats what I got out of it.

[QUOTE=Mr. Sandman;584823many nights they will out produce plugs.
[/QUOTE]

If it the conditions are ideal for a bucktail, I find this to almost always be true. I can't really think of anytime where there was enough current or depth for a bucktail that I caught on plugs and not the bucktail. Maybe have to try different trailers, but between all the sizes and types of plastic and pork, you can get almost unlimited profiles and wiggles. The only time bucktails aren't great is where it is shallow or not enough current to use a bucktail.