Bucktail Info??
 

I just recently started using bucktails at the breachways. I was just looking for advice , tips, colors and conditions to use them in, and anything else you guys can throw at me.
Thanks

chartuese (yellow) over white, all white, all black are my top three. Don't forget the piece of rubber or pork rind on the hook. I use my bucktails when the fish are down. I like to use them in rivers when the current is really moving ( makes the fish more aggresive).

What color trailers?
Thanks

All of the above...
use them anytime... inside is deadly....
just dont try and rotate with em :smash: they might push you in :D

if I had one lure to fish all the time at night.. it would be bucktail with trailer...

Trailers are really important, without them bucktails aren't as effective I think.

You can make trailers out of many kinds of materials - in fact, rubber worms, or shad bodies could be used as "trailers."

Strips of fish belly or squid are often used as trailers.

Most people have some made out of pork rind, and the usual colors you'll see are white, yellow, green, chartreuse, red, black, burgundy, even purple.

Experiment like you would a plug.

Certain colors work better at night - like black and red and burgundy and purple.

White, yellow, green, and chartreuse are most often associated with daytime colors, but there are no hard and fast rules they can be used effectively at night too.

The fun is in the experimenting under different conditions. You're only limited by your imagination and what your best interpretation is of naturally-occurring baitfish.

You'll find some interesting consistencies. For example, whenever I drift a green porkrind in The Race (between CT/RI and the North Fork of Long Island, NY) with a white bucktail and the tide is humping, I almost invariably hook up with bluefish.
:smash: Switch to yellow and the bass start to to bite them too.

One thing, it's good to match the size of the trailer to the bucktail (not too big, not too small).

Thanks. Do they only work well in strong currents?

Yup, great in currents. Sometimes you may need a heavier jig if you want to get down deep.
I do very well with white bucktails and white curly tail trailers in the So. Co. breachways.

Sometime the fish are hugging the opposite wall of the breach. I try to cast right alongside the oppostite wall.

But are they good in slack water(no current). Do you wanna twitch the rod at all? Ive got most of my fish on them this year in a strong current , with a slow staedy retrieve nad not mutch rod movement.

Tyler, they work great in the currents, but also in the suds on the beach side or off the beach. Adjust the weight of the jig depending on the current to get it down in the water column. Too little weight and it gets swept up, too much and you'll hang bottom. In the breachway I frequent, I will usually go 1, 1.5, 2, 3 oz in the current. On the beach, I like as little as 1/2 oz, with 3/4 and 1oz seeing a lot of use. You may not be able to throw the lighter ones depending on rod and line size used.

My personal prefernce is the bannana style jigs in the smaller size to 1.5 oz or so, and smiling bills in the larger. I usually just use white, with 6" gotcha curl tail grubs being my favoritetrailer

You don't need to "jig" them, usually just a slow steady retrieve (did I say slow? :) )

I've had better luck in moving currents. I fish them at slack tide sometimes but they catch better (for me) when the tide is pulling.
Maybe a moving tide makes any fish that are likely to strike a bucktail a little more active.
I guess if you think the fish are there (if you can smell them) or see activity, give it a shot. I use them from boat and shore.
All bucktails are just a big old fly with a lead head.
I always "impart some action" when fishing with a bucktail jig.

What is a bannana style jig? I have only used smiling bills.
Thanks again guys

Hey Chef,
If your ever fishin' and you catch some schoolies using surface plugs, put on the jig, cast it out and let it hit bottom. There may be a bigger fish under the school size ones that might hit the jig.
Jigs are great for getting "down" to the bottom where the big ones are grubbing around.