ULTIMATE ANGLING - the Ultimate SA Fishing website
General Angling Topics => Saltwater Lure Angling => Topic started by: carll on September 01, 2014, 11:49:16 AM
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The bucktail or so called Leadhead became my favorite lure after 20 years of artificial lure angling and the bucktail has been overlooked by 90% of lure anglers.
There’s nothing new about the bucktail jig and there’s not really anything new to add to their configuration. Furthermore, there’s nothing special about the techniques that you need to fish them. Im talking here about Shore angling and for this reason, bucktail jigs would have to be one of the most overlooked lures in the world for catching fish and they are deadly lures!
However, these old workhorses have a lot going for them. For starters they are pretty cheap, from R10.00-R30.00.There are some more expensive models around, and you will get what you pay for. At the higher end you’ll get a tougher hook, a durable epoxy paint finish on the head and a secure skirt.
Angling Techniques:
The stock standard technique is to cast out your bucktail and let it sink to the bottom and then use your rod to lift the bucktail up off the bottom, then drop the rod tip to let the bucktail fall back. The upward strokes of the rod that bounce the bucktail on or just above the bottom can be anything between a sharp jerk and a slow lift. Similarly the rod tip can be dropped quickly or slowly. The slower drop controls the lure and is often smashed on the drop. Here are the Alcock’s brothers from PE a great example, they are masters and deadly with their method. They fish the bucktail very, very slowly on the bottom. They then very slowly lift the bucktail off the bottom and drop it back in again. They almost drag the bucktail along at the bottom; they are VERY, VERY successful with this method. They are catching Cob, Leervis, Skippy's and Shad !
Tackle:
I use 10lbs up to 20lbs braided line for bucktail fishing and a 9ft rod for my 1oz – 1.5oz bucktails A rod around 7-9ft’ in length with a softies tip, which allows a bit for finesse fishing, working the bucktail correct on the bottom. With rods longer than 9ft its not that easy to control the lure’s action and feel what is your bucktail doing on the bottom.
As far as reels go, I use the Shimano Sahara 2500 and the 4000 and more anglers these days are heading down the path of the versatile spin outfit, smaller reels with higher gear ratios.
Bucktail Colours:
Any colours as long as it has white in.Some lures will have red or yellow to accompany the white or yellow/chartreuse. But for simplicity, white heads, white skirts/tails and white binding to hold the skirt on seem to be all that is needed. My favorite colours are, white/ black and white/ olive green bucktails.
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Superb post :+ cred: have seen the Bucktails work and outfish other lures a few times this year.
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Thanks Walkers !
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Excellent post carll , and like u say always overlooked , and the retrieve rate is the key factor .. (clap)
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One of my favorite catches on a olive tin bucktail.
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Excellent post carll , and like u say always overlooked , and the retrieve rate is the key factor .. (clap)
:corrct: :corrct: :corrct:
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One of my favorite catches on a olive tin bucktail.
Great Pic and Catch Poenskop ! (clap)
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Thanks Carll, great post on something I've been looking for in particular lately, just wish they were available here, I've been asking lately around tackle shops here in Singapore and Australia, just get a lot of blank looks, so I've decided to make my own, in white of course.
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And another.
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Bucktails will be traveling with my to Vanuatu.
I have a couple of 6oz bucktails that i want to go feed to the doggies and other reef dwellers.
The 2oz bucktails will be used for casting to :dor: and tuna...
Buck tails has been one of my go to or confidence lures of the last 7 years.
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Great post, the old faithfull bucktail never disappoints. Its a must have in the tackle box :+ cred:
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(clap) Great article, thanks for sharing. :+ cred:
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Bucktails are legends and I'm not sure why most of us forget them. I have 6 in one of my small boxes and often get home after a blank spinning session and think, damn I forgot to scratch with a bucktail!!
Thanks for the reminder to put them at the TOP of my bum bag!
:+ cred:
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Fantastic post Carll :+ cred: I have respect for the good old bucktail!!!
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Thanks Carll. I do have a some in my box but never fished with them. Your post convinced me to test them when next in SA.
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spot on Carl - the bucktail rule is : never leave home without them! As I have learnt, they are equally at home in a freshwater box as they are in the saltywater box.
Dont forget the blistering retrieves for kingies as well, when you just cant reel them back fast enough!
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Shad just destroy the bucktails hair .. hahah. I was at the South Coast last month for 3 weeks and after the fourth shad your
bucktail need to be refurbish but its still great fun to catch any fish on them !
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:corrct: I always have a few on the boat - 1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz and 3oz - caught dollies, yft, small couta, kawas, skipjack tunas........................very good for rockcod bouncing on the reef!! (For dollies try and get brown or 2nd choice olive green) :hnthnt:
Be careful what you buy, and don't worry too much about the colours, it may look ok but the hook can be crap, Spro make quality ones with good quality Gamakatsu hooks.
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I always carry at least one in my lure pouch. Have not used it for some time though, I prefer surface lures and spoons for my short (1 hour or so) spinning sessions before work each morning. I like to experiment with the bucktail jigs during those longer sessions when I spin at Cape Vidal etc. But maybe I must give them more focus again, because the spinning on lower north coast is really poor at present and the surface lures are not producing. The areas I spin before work are quite full of structure though and bottom lures are real rock magnets! But that is all part of the game with its associated risks/rewards!
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And it is much cheaper losing a bucktail jig to hidden structure than a CID Shiverstick!
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@ Carl.................good post you started.......
Do you know any DIY-anglers tying their own bucktail jigs & who is also selling ?
The gripe I have with Tackle-shops is that if you look for small 1/4oz & smaller to say 1 or 1,5oz in certain colors , then its either they don't have , out of stock , will order , never get the stock , or some excuse.
Where do you guys buy from in yr area ?
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I know Alcocks in Port Elizabeth make their own bucktails.
Contact details on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Alcocks-Fishing-Tackle-280188895426320/ (https://www.facebook.com/Alcocks-Fishing-Tackle-280188895426320/)
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I make them for the fun of it, more satisfaction when you get a fish on it. w;k
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Thks....will give them a try. :tkx:
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I make them for the fun of it, more satisfaction when you get a fish on it. w;k
Gav please post some pics
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I haven't made in a while but I just received some new jig heads that need to be painted and dressed :hnthnt:
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Nothing like catching big fish on artificials (70 m down). We got 7 out of 9 fish this size on bucktail jigs in 40 minutes. In fact the cob seemed to prefer bucktails to pilchards and squid. I attach a large plastic grub to the jig hook to accentuate the vibration. Bounce the jig on the bottom a few times then work it up a couple of metres in case the fish are off the bottom. Drop down and repeat, nothing frantic. Tip: Make sure the fish are showing on the sounder before you try this or it might become a long day.
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Booooooommmm!!!! Thats the way you do it. :welc: Moby. Great fish and that rod doesn't look too heavy, do they give you a fight?
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They fight really hard in the beginning, you got to hang on a bit, gets easier when you eventually get their head up. Exhilarating stuff! Also good fun catching big fish on jigs in your own back yard.
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Great Catch !
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@ Carl.................good post you started.......
Do you know any DIY-anglers tying their own bucktail jigs & who is also selling ?
The gripe I have with Tackle-shops is that if you look for small 1/4oz & smaller to say 1 or 1,5oz in certain colors , then its either they don't have , out of stock , will order , never get the stock , or some excuse.
Where do you guys buy from in yr area ?
Thanks Moby
I bought most of my Bucktails from the Alcocks Brothers
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:welc: Moby...
I have to say (Besides the fact that I am a terrible artificial angler) that bucktail jigs are pretty awesome. Gav gave me one to test out in December and managed to get a few bumps on it. He has caught plenty Garrick and Kob and hooked 2 or 3 Springer in a session fishing with them as well. I do need to fish them more!
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It has to be my go to lure when it comes to saltwater.
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love using them when light jigging but the cuta love them just as much.........have lost 5 in quick time gets a bit pricey
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here is our new foster kitten - we named him Bucktail! :-)
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Who can tie me a bunch of bucktails I got a few nice moulds just need them tied in calf tail , don't have the time ? Happy to trade a few doz for a few tied .
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Thanks for the good read .
Never really worked a buck tail in the rivers sor surf , but will get a couple of smaller ones and give them a go.
I have a couple of big ones and have also been successfull on kob from a boat , and some tail .
@@tw , I have some time , and plenty of bucktail , send me a pm and we can see if I could help .
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Nice article thanks. Recently got back into fishing and giving spinning/dropshot a go. Will definitely be giving bucktails a go!
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:welc: Sean happy :fshn: :fshn: :toppie:
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I am here in my favorite hunting grounds the Kowie river.
I want to be less dependant on prawns etc and try lures more.
I have never caught anything on lures except deep-sea. Or Zambia while Trolling.
So now I am trying both buck tail and surface lures.
The water is very clear at the moment and I see no life around.
Normally I would see lots of mullet but nothing today.
Any advice for buck tails in very clear water.
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If I had to choose one lure for the rest of my life, this is it. They come in a plethora of shapes and molds are relatively inexpensive. You don't have to use bucktail for the tail, you can add feathers, flash , plastics too. I always have a few with synthetic tails, lasts better with toothy fish like shad. We have caught pretty much everything on them over the years, including natal snoek and Couta.
You can even use them to swim a deadbait in a pinch. They do this a lot in the US.
Colour is not critical, although I prefer the naturals like olive ,Brown etc.
Lately I have had some good results with clear plastic heads. Bit light but very effective. Made by Doug Swannel , under duress on request for good mates.
On occasion when we have lost all or even forgotten them at home , we have improvised with a saltwater fly and a ball or oval stinker, works like a bomb. Try them they work like hell.
Retrieve is the key though.
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Great post! I'm off from UK to Plett for a month in February and having already packed all my lures had completely forgotten about bucktails which I will now remedy.
Thanks again
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Hi Grumpy. Won't you elaborate on the retrieve mentioned above. Much appreciated.
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Hi Grumpy. Won't you elaborate on the retrieve mentioned above. Much appreciated.
Bucktail jigs do not have much natural movement/action compared to a needle nose plug or a paddle tail for eg so you have to help create that movement that would resemble a small bait fish. The idea is to entice a strike by the predatory species that you are targeting by "working" the bucktail.
If you look at this video below you will see a bucktail being retrieved 'uniformly' and to my point about the lack of movement/action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLeX4OTcYU0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLeX4OTcYU0)
The two easiest ways to work the bucktail is with a a) bump-bump-stop or a b) jerk-jerk-pull action. In respect of 'a', hold the rod tip fairly high, probably at around 75-80 degrees to the ground or 10-15 degrees to your body. Once the bucktail has settled bump the rod twice like you setting the hook into a karanteen or blacktail and then let it sink. The "sink" is where you gonna drop the rod and retrieve line. The "bumps" should be soft as you just want to make it look like a small fish swimming around.
The jerk-jerk-pull is similar but the jerks are sharp. I have posted the video below to give you an idea of the action. Here Barry Wareham is working a shiver stick. Pay attention to his second technique as this is what i am talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuknqmyBQ_U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuknqmyBQ_U)
Happy fishing.. w;k
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Good post! :+ cred:
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Bounce them on the shallower reefs (15-25m) and you will come right, this day I got about eight small catface on 3oz bucktails :rck"
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Retrieve really depends on the shape. Some are made for high speed and others for bumping along the bottom and a hundred other shapes in between. Locally we seem to be limited to a single fish head shape that looks good but many other shapes available. Hopkins make really good one and others like Hilts molds and other online companies. Search the net.
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Hi guys brilliant thread! Wanted to share a few of my bucktails i feel like a proud father when i catch on one!
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A few more... I like the round head when working off the bottom as it helps the lure fall to its side like a feeding fish