Bullets or Smiling bills jigs - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

joebaggs99 · 11-19-2013, 01:27 PM

What does everyone prefer? I prefer bullets with a solid hook and lots of hair in all conditions. What about you?

Saltheart · 11-19-2013, 03:03 PM

Ball jigs with tails , smiling bills with bucktail. Ball jigs get stuck less and smiling Bills wiggle a little.

DZ · 11-19-2013, 03:46 PM

For most surf use I like the bullet style with lots of hair... except when sandeels are the primary forage - then sparsly tied so the profile is thinner. The strong hooks on your heads are excellent.

tlapinski · 11-19-2013, 04:12 PM

I used to be all about smilin' bill heads as somehow I got it into my mind that the "mouth" on the jig made it somehow swim.

As I really thought that through and rationalized how much water resistance was actually caused by the mouth I figured it made little if any difference and put more of the success on jigs in the hands of the fisherman coupled with the amount of hair used. From there I began to experiment with different head styles and eventually settled on bullet style heads like yours and the Andrus jetty caster as I find it to be more forgiving in the rocks.

numbskull · 11-19-2013, 04:24 PM

How about Upperman lima bean heads while we're at it?
Standup saltwater size heads?
Banana heads?

massbassman · 11-19-2013, 04:34 PM

I switch back and forth from both, haven't really seen a difference in catching to sway me either way. But if I had to choose, it would probably be the bullet style jetty caster, for some reason I just feel like I keep better contact.
I've heard good things about your bucktails... do you have a link to check out your work, and order some if needed? Thanks.

Vogt · 11-19-2013, 04:36 PM

I find myself tying on smiling bills more that any other style. Bullets (Jetty caster style) are great too and I'll use both interchangably. Ultra dense hair and a sturdy hook are a must.

Banana and minnow head (i.e. spro style) are two that I primarily tie on for fluke or sea bass. The banana is nice over snotty bottom/Oysters as they seem to pull out of the snags a bit easier that the minnow head. The minnow heads are great over sand and less grabby structure. Fluke jigs get tied sparse and short usually with a pinch of synthetic under the bucktail.

I use the Upperman/Lima bean style for blackfish jigs. But I'm really more of a traditionalist when it comes to tog rigs.

Zeal · 11-24-2013, 08:23 PM

I have a bunch of SPRO bucktails, has anyone found them effective in catching bass from the shore or in an inlet from the rocks?

iamskippy · 11-25-2013, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeal

I have a bunch of SPRO bucktails, has anyone found them effective in catching bass from the shore or in an inlet from the rocks?

I enjoy the SPRO mostly from a boat on a drift cause of the head design and eye placement, makes the jig swim nice and level and can help save from some snags with that minnow type face.

I tried andrus jetty casters this year for the first time and i am in love...
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Liv2Fish · 11-25-2013, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamskippy

I tried andrus jetty casters this year for the first time and i am in love...Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

X2. Check out Blue Frog too. I've ben trying to get RT to bring them in but haven't seen them yet.

piemma · 11-25-2013, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joebaggs99

What does everyone prefer? I prefer bullets with a solid hook and lots of hair in all conditions. What about you?

Your bullet head jigs are the BOMB. I killed Bass on them both in the Canal and on my boat.

PaulS · 11-25-2013, 08:17 AM

I normally get the smiling bills but they end up not smiling after about 1 hour when the smile gets wiped off their face. I agree with Toby that the amount of water displaced prob. doesn't make a difference. I did have 1 weird day last spring where I was doing well with a SB then the front got flattened and I wasn't doing as well and when I switched back to a new SB I did better. Prob. b/c of my confidence.

zimmy · 11-25-2013, 08:56 PM

I'm not sure how much it matters in practice, but the drag coefficient of a smiling bill is probably in the 2-2.3 range and the drag coefficient of a bullet jig is probably in the 0.4-0.5 range. How much wiggle that translates into would depend on a bunch of stuff, but it seems plausible that it could make a difference, particularly with pork or rubber on it. I am not convinced it makes a difference as far as relative effectiveness, but there is a difference in drag coefficient. Just maybe it was more important than Paul's confidence, but we will never know.