Hair raising action!

A refresher course on this extremely versatile and effective artificial.

The bucktail jig has consistently been ranked by saltwater anglers as a top choice when it comes to artificial lures. These magical jigs hold top ranking due to their versatility and effectiveness both inshore and off.

There are a number of guidelines you should take into consideration when fishing with bucktail jigs in order to increase your action and your results. The four major factors that should be considered when selecting the most appropriate bucktail jig for a given situation are as follows:

The weight of the jig is the determining factor as to what depth you'll be "working" in the water column. In addition, the velocity of the current is a crucial factor in determining the proper weight of your bucktail jig. Areas like inlets and passes, and powerful spring tides will generally necessitate heavier bucktail choices. The informal rule for you to remember is to choose the lightest weight bucktail that will get the job done.

The shape of the jig head is mandatory for you to consider because it totally affects the performance of your lure. It is easy to predict the performance of different jig head shapes. Horizontally flattened heads track better in very shallow water where hopping the lure gently along the bottom is your goal. Torpedo-shaped heads perform better in situations where faster lure sweeps and deepening water are the relevant factors. Lima bean and round-shaped jig heads function somewhere in between. Remember to keep a
thorough assortment of bucktails with different head shapes to meet the ever changing conditions and species specific requirements.

The placement of the hook eye is a subtle but essential factor for you to consider. Hook eye placement determines where the hook gap and point of the bucktail will be riding as the lure is retrieved. Hook eye placement also determines how a lure rides and tracks on the retrieve. Inshore fishermen bumping the bottom for bonefish, pompano, redfish, and flounder prefer their bucktails riding hook up: this results in more fish hookups and less bottom snags. In situations where your retrieve is more vertical, such as when vertically jigging for kingfish in 100 feet of water, hook eye placement is less crucial.

The color of your bucktail jig can also be quite important. Color choice should be determined by what will generate the most strikes and there are two main factors to consider. The first is the classic concept of matching the hatch. This simply means to choose your bucktail colors based on what your target game fish is currently feeding on, or is known to feed on. When I tarpon fish the bridges at night, I will use a white bucktail during the mullet run. During the winter, when more shrimp predominate as the food source, I switch over to a tan/beige bucktail. These choices are based on many years of experimentation.

Another way for you to achieve a successful color for your bucktail is to choose contrasting non-hatch colors to entice a strike. Knowing which colors do not represent a natural food source takes a great deal of experimentation and experience. You can also learn color preferences by inquiring with local experts. A classic non-hatch favorite for snook is a red/white bucktail tipped with a long plastic worm. Marine fish can definitely discriminate color, particularly in shallow depths where sunlight thoroughly penetrates the water column. Research indicates in deep ocean waters with much less sunlight, white and blue colors seem to hold up the best.

There are three major factors that you, the angler, must consider which affect the retrieve of your bucktail jig: these are speed, depth, and style of retrieve. The speed of retrieve has many considerations. Remember that fish are cold-blooded life forms and the lowered temperatures that effect inshore waters will lower their metabolism and cause these fish to slow down in all their activities. Qualifying this is also the specific temperature tolerance range of each individual marine species. The shallow-dwelling species of South Florida such as snook, redfish and seatrout will slow down their momentum when the temperatures drop. In order to continue to have success with your bucktails during cooler months, slow down the speed of your retrieve in order to get the slower, water-chilled strikes of these three species. Spanish mackerel on the other hand, can tolerate chillier water and will continue to swim and feed with vigor. In this case, continue to retrieve your bucktail with rapid sweeps, and hang on!

The speed of your bucktail should also duplicate the relevant behavior of the pursued bait. Bonefish and redfish will strike a slower retrieve that mimics the short hops of fleeing shrimp or crab. If you spot a school of big jacks running mullet along a seawall, toss your bucktail into the melee, and scream it across the surface. Watch it closely so you can enjoy the explosive surface strike accompanied by the sound of your drag dumping out yards of line!

The depth of your retrieve should simply be governed by where your target game fish are either holding or feeding: you cannot catch fish in empty water! South Florida snook provide a great example as to differing bucktail depth strategies. My home waters of Miami's Biscayne Bay provides excellent urban habitat for snook with all its lit docks and bridges. When I spot snook holding on the surface along a shadow line, I'll toss a light 1/8 or º ounce bucktail out, and retrieve it at a moderate pace so it will not sink, but meet eye to eye with the linesiders just under the surface. During cooler weather snaps, I know the fish will be alongside the same structure, but stacked along the warmer, muddy bottom. In these conditions, I'll hop my bucktail along the bottom, in front of and directly below the shadow line on the surface above.

The style of your retrieve gives you, the angler, the greatest opportunity for using your creative skills to entice your target fish into striking. The retrieve style of your bucktail should always reflect the swimming behavior of your target fishes' prey. When I fish for pompano off Jupiter Island, I'll employ a small orange-colored bucktail jig, because this is the first step in matching pompano’ favorite forage which is earthy colored crabs. The fun continues as I get my bucktail to become even more crabby by retrieving it in short hops, which kicks up little puffs of sand. Retrieve style for bucktails brings the worlds of lure and fly fishing quite close: remember, a number of fly patterns are basically unweighted bucktails!

The following tips should also increase your bucktail fishing results.

1. Always check the hook after landing a fish or snagging bottom to see if it needs re-sharpening: this will be necessary if the hook point does not catch when lightly dragged across your thumbnail.
2. Keep your bucktail free of any grass.
3. Before casting, pull your bucktail through the water to familiarize yourself with how the lure "tracks."
4. Your bucktail will perform best when tied to your line or leader with a loop knot. Either a Uni- loop knot or a Duncan loop knot is perfectly adequate.
5. Graphite rods will transmit strikes with more sensitivity as you fish your bucktail.
6. For much the same reasons, try to employ a braided line when you bucktail fish. Due to braids low stretch, it transmits strikes more effectively and has a better hookup ratio than more elastic monofilament.

Evidence is persuasive that Early Man first made primitive hooks of bone, and it’s very likely his first lure was a bucktail jig tied with feathers around a hook. We can't be sure, but we'd probably be right if we assumed he felt the same rush of pleasure and excitement on hookup that we do!

Jan Maizler

Jan Maizler has been a south Florida resident and angler his entire life. He is a past IGFA world record holder for bonefish on two lb. line and permit on four lb. line. He has caught and released over two thousand bonefish in his angling career. He has published over eighty articles and is the author of Dynamic Angling, Flats Fishing, Grief Work Transformation, The Transformation Handbook, Flats Fishing II, Fishing Florida’s Coast and The Relationship Handbook (available at Amazon or Bn.com). He can be reached by visiting www.flatsfishingonline.com, or by calling (305) 940-1564.