swing hook bucktails...
 

Any idea of the best...and where to get them????

thanks...looking for a more linear look....

I think Pt Jude Joe sells jigs with swinging hooks. See sponsor section

Terminal tackle carries Blue Frog.
Boater's World has Uncle Josh bucktails.
Both have swing hooks.

I second the Blue Frogs I use them in the 1/2 oz -1 oz sizes and they work great. The hook on the larger sizes seems kind of small as I prefer a7/0 or 8/0 hook.

Blue frogs!!!

Not swing hook,
But Skip Cornell (Hotjigs) makes some of the best jigs around (Lots of the commercial fleet in Green Harbor, Plymouth, Cape, ect... us them)
He uses high quality stainless hooks.

IMO, the words "swing hook bucktails" and "best" don't belong in the same sentence. There is no such thing as the "best" of something that inherently sucks. :hs:

I agree.
I hate swing hooks !

Any insight into why they suck? Don't use them myself, but is there a technical reason, or is it personal preference?

Personal preference, and contrary to what common sense should tell me, I find that I actually hang up MORE with a swinging hook :huh:

There's a certain stretch of bottom along the Canal where I hardly ever hang up with a fixed-hook jig, but I can guarantee a starfish every cast if I don't work a Crippled Herring aggressively. I don't lose the tin, but bass don't seem to show an interest in a Crip with a starfish dangling off the back hook, for some odd reason ;)

My theory on this is that a Canal-style ball jig falls head-heavy and the upwards riding hook is usually clear of the bottom, whereas a swinging hook will eventaully ride under the jig/tin and snag on something.

I don't worry too much about leverage and "accidental fulcrums" as one writer calls them :rollem:

Same here!
Jigging from a boat with wire bouncing bottom, I find far more hang ups with swinging hooks.
Also,
(From a boat again) Hook up rate from a hit is much lower (for me) with the swinging hook.
Most every swinging hook jig I've seen use steel hooks, not stainless = rusty hooks.

thanks for the info...

You hit the nail on the head. The swinging hook is going to hang every time. The same goes for the swinging eel skin jigs. Especially the old chain type. Mike are you still using the eel skin jigs?:fishin:

It's getting hard to find good skins. I did find someone making decent heads that are sold at Maco's. Nowadays, I tend to use Sluggos more and more--the alewife color has the look of a skin fished blue side out.