Techniques: Bucktail

[Monty]

I am a terrible Bucktail Fisherman and not much better at fishing Rubber Shad types of artificials.
Any thoughts at when you would use one of these over the other? Advantages at times of one over the other?
Times they are interchangeable?
I have more confidence fishing the rubber shad types of artificials. Have a better feel of them. And have caught more fish on them than bucktails.
The big drawback for me is BLUES and rubber. The rubber shads get taken off first sign of the yellow eyed demons.

[basshunter]

For a shad I just bring it in as slow as possible. No movement from me because the tail has all the action. When they are there they will whump it!With a bucktail I keep the retrieve steady and try not to get hung up on the bottom. They are fun too because bluefish seem to love them. weakfish too.

[nitestrikes]

Basshunter gave good advice. What I would say differently is that when I fish montauk there are boulder fields everywhere.The goal is too keep the bucktail on the bottom but also at the same time keep it moving. Hope that makes sense to you. If you snag something, immediately let some slack in the line. See if the wave action will get you out. If not try to twang it and maybe you will be lucky. The best luck is that you make yourself, keep it moving so it never gets stuck. After a while you will get a feel for it.

[CharlieTuna]

. The best luck is that you make yourself, keep it moving so it never gets stuck. After a while you will get a feel for it.

I agree, and sometimes change it up by adding a little twitch. When the water is dirty or stained my retrieve is slower. Remember the fish have to find what you are throwing. Another little trick if fish are not feeding well is to substitute a gulp swimming mullet for the pork rind. Works well in rivers, breechways, or deep rips.

[robmedina]

While I feel in no way qualified to answer your question as I am just getting started coming from many years of freshwater bass fishing. I just read John Skinners book Fishing the bucktail as well as Doc Mullers book fishing with bucktails. Both authors say that the number one mistake most anglers make is going too heavy with the bucktails. Many applications only require 3/4oz or 1oz and that the 3/4 oz-1 1/4oz being the most common size they use. For color White mostly. Chartreuse for stained water and black or red for night time. Both recommend Uncle Josh pork for trailers (especially around blues) 240s for the 3/4 to 1oz and I believe a #70 for bigger. They recommend the red and white striped pork trailers. John Skinner recommends getting the feel for the bucktail in the surf. It is just a sandy bottom and way more forgiving than bays, inlets, jetties etc. I hope this helps.

[J Barbosa]

I love rubber shads but once the bluefish show up I take them out of the bag to resist the temptation of throwing them.

[jigfreak]

Any thoughts at when you would use one of these over the other? Advantages at times of one over the other?
Times they are interchangeable?
I have more confidence fishing the rubber shad types of artificials. Have a better feel of them. And have caught more fish on them than bucktails.
The big drawback for me is BLUES and rubber.

As JBarbosa said, its a waste of time to fish rubber when bluefish are around unless you buy cheap in the winter flea markets or have another cheap source. Shads are not cheap so I'm the same way I will not use them much when blues are around. The exceptions are near bridges in the summer. There will be times when the blues are closer to the inlets and not all the way in the back. Those times you will have mostly bass and weakfish so it's a good gamble to throw.

I like smaller rubber like the fin-s or bass assassins because without the paddle tails sometimes you can survive the bluefish bites. When there are a lot of bluefish around thats really the time I like to switch over to bucktail and pork. Or bucktail and white or chartreuse grub when the water is a little dirty. The advantages to the bucktail is you can bounce it closer to the bottom. Also rough surf I feel its a better thing to throw than the shads because it creates more disturbance and gives a fish a better chance of finding it. The shads for me are a great thing to fish to find fish when they are all over the water column.

When they are strictly on the bottom a lot of times they are either dormant or eating crabs. For that reason the bucktail is more versatile and is one of the first things out of my bag. Hope that helps, good luck dude.

[storminsteve]

The advantages to the bucktail is you can bounce it closer to the bottom. Also rough surf I feel its a better thing to throw than the shads because it creates more disturbance and gives a fish a better chance of finding it. For that reason the bucktail is more versatile. Hope that helps, good luck dude.

I agree jigfreak. I have seen some guys fishing the bucktail and just reeling it in. I suppose that works good for them. it is a good technique to use when fluking as well. I think there is a chapter in Skinner's or Doc Mueller's book that talks about fishing that way. For me, I would rather bounce it. It's more exciting that way. You toss out, bounce bounce, and then all of a sudden BAM!!!!!!! You never know when you will get hit, Alot of the pros say it's on the drop. When that hit does come, its like the fish hooks itself they hit so hard sometimes. It can be pretty addictive.

[J Barbosa]

Shads are my goto if I want to know if the fish are there...especially bluefish.

Caught my first 2014 bass on a 4" rubber shad rigged on one of my ball jigs.

[J Barbosa]

Let's hear it guys and gals...spill all your secrets.

[buckethead]

the search feature is your friend JB
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?9063-Techniques-Bucktail-or-Rubber-Shad

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...al-Only-thread

[J Barbosa]

I searched and went through those threads, there is very little information in there on bucktails.

I thought they are worthy of their own thread

Ill add to this thread as we go...

[DarkSkies]

Sorry John, buckethead pointed out just a few of the good threads here on bucktails.....
there are several more if you do a search using that term.....

As I mentioned in the fishing reports thread, my goal is to make things easy to find here.....and more organized than a site where you have 25 threads on one subject, and not much being said....so I'm gonna merge this with Monty's thread.......

I'm also gonna post some of my own bucktail advice here....
I try not to do that too much lately as I feel maybe folks are tired of my one page posts.....


There is some stuff in here, that might be helpful.....If you go into the surf forum and search "bucktails" in quotes you will find the rest of the threads....
Anyone has anything to add......this is the thread to do it in.......hope you all understand the reasons behind my actions and there are no hard feelings......and thanks for reading....

[DarkSkies]

(previously posted....)


There is nothing more satisfying to me, than the take of a fish on a plug....I can play those tapes over and over in my head all winter when the noreasters are blowing outside...

But a bucktail can produce fish more consistently than other artificials......at both ends of the season as well, when the fish are very sluggish and most people think they only will take bait.....

...a lot of Jersey guys do not fish bucktails...some do, and those who fish bucktails the right way, and when conditions call for it, are the guys who consistently catch bass.

I think I mentioned I have gotten legal bass every month this year (2012), so far....

but the thing that saved me in the hot summer months., were the smallest plugs, and the bucktail, to mimic the smaller forage that the bass were feeding on during this time.
Rubber also fills in, as mentioned in other threads it's the perfect choice when forage is small.

During July and August, for me, there really were very few bass in the NJ surf, and I covered a lot of ground trying to find them.

My last keeper in August, barely 28", I got from pitching a bucktail and grub, for over 2 hours, no signs of fish or any life anywhere.

[nitestrikes]

I am a terrible Bucktail Fisherman and not much better at fishing Rubber Shad types of artificials.
Any thoughts at when you would use one of these over the other? Advantages at times of one over the other?
Times they are interchangeable?
I have more confidence fishing the rubber shad types of artificials. Have a better feel of them. And have caught more fish on them than bucktails.
The big drawback for me is BLUES and rubber. The rubber shads get taken off first sign of the yellow eyed demons.

I probably use bucktails three times more frequently than rubber. Like to throw rubber early spring when the fish are sluggish. Also late fall when the blues have thinned out. IWO - the bucktail and pork is one of the things out there that takes the least amount of $$ out of your pocket and will catch fish in the most diverse conditions. Many folks don't want to take the time to learn the techniques that will be successful.
Have you read John Skinner's book on bucktails? He does a great job of explaining different weights and techniques. Here is part of it.

[surfstix1963]

That was the best book I've read on bucktailing good read.I picked up a lot of info.

[Monty]

Any preferences for choosing sizes of the pork? Guidelines? Size 50 or 70?

[buckethead]

I like the size 50 for the surf, the 70 and bigger when fishing the inlets and rivers. Just my preference, others may feel different.

[J Barbosa]

Andrus Jetty Caster: Andrus Lure Company Millville, NJ

When Rich Andrus started fishing Montauk at the tip of Long Island, most of the local surfcasters were market fishermen, selling their catches to supplement their income. None of the other fishermen wanted anything to do with me, Andrus said, until they saw me catching fish on the Jetty Caster. Then I had a lot of friends.

The Jetty Caster is a style of bucktail made by Rich for his company, Andrus Lures. Based in Millville, New Jersey, Rich has travelled throughout the Northeast sampling the fishing and looking for inspiration for new lures. It might surprise some surfcasters to learn that this favorite bucktail style for the surf originated as a lure for trolling on wire line.

The inspiration for the Jetty Caster came before a trip with Frank Sabatowski, captain of the charter boat, Junebug. Those well-versed in striper fishing lore will recognize this as the very same vessel aboard which Charlie Cinto landed a 73-pound state-record striped bass on Sow and Pigs Reef off Cuttyhunk Island in Massachusetts.

I was fishing out of Sakonnet Point with a captain, and we weren't catching anything, but I could see the boat Junebug catching fish after fish.

After that Rich began to charter the Junebug. One year, Frank asked me to bring some bucktail jigs because he ran out. So I made them, trying to make them close to the ones he'd been using on his boat. Those were the first of the Jetty Casters. Tipped with green pork rind and trolled on wire line, that style of jig that was how Frank caught a lot of his big fish. But he was secretive about it. When he pulled the lure over the side, he cupped it in his hand so the other boats wouldn?t be able to see what he was using.

The lure did eventually migrate to the surf. It took a while to catch on, Rich said. Surf guys would constantly hang it in the boulders under the light at Montauk. But then, we started fishing it the same way we fished them on wire line, keeping them moving. You had to start retrieving them as soon as they hit the water.

The extra hair tied into the Jetty Caster helped keep the lure over the rocks and off the bottom on retrieves slow enough to entice stripers. The hair also gave the lure more action as it pulsed through the water during the retrieve. In addition to the extra hair, the Jetty Caster has a rounded head and a strong Mustad hook.

The Jetty Caster has become the best seller in the Andrus line, displacing bluefish-specific lures like the Ponytail that previously held the top spot. The Ponytail is a very productive bluefish trolling lure, and thanks to the chain used to attach the hook, is resistant to the blues sharp teeth. Rich also makes other styles of bucktails, including another productive surfcasting style, the Rip Splitter. The Andrus Fluke Dart, an oversized shad dart with a bucktail skirt, is downright deadly on shallow-water flatfish when tipped with a strip of bait or scented artificial. Andrus also offers trolling lures like the Parachute Jig and Jigit Eel.

Rich went full time into selling lures on April 15, 1974. The first shop to carry Andrus Lures was Johnny's Tackle Shop on Main Street in Montauk. Johnny Kronuch, whose son now runs the shop, gave Rich some helpful, albeit gruff, advice. I went in there and handed Johnny one of my jigs, and he grabbed the hook, twisted it in his fingers and said, Need bigger hooks. This won't work here.

The hooks available on the Jetty Caster now are about as tough as they come. One of the most popular sizes, the 1-1/2 ounce model, has an 8/0 Mustad.

For colors, the Jetty Caster comes in white, black, yellow, chartreuse, and now, due to increasing demand, a maroon red. A lot of guys seem to want red jigs these days, Rich explained. Rich also offers the lures in two-color combos like orange/black and black/purple.

Though Montauk Point was the proving ground for the Jetty Caster, it works anywhere stripers swim. Jetty Casters are available in 1/2, 3/4, 1 1/4, 1/2, 2, 2 1/2 and 3-ounce sizes. The 1/2-ounce size is popular in backwater areas, while the other end of the spectrum, the 3-ounce is used in deeper water, heavy surf, or high winds. For an all around size, 1 1/2 ounces seems to be the sweet spot. For a relatively small lure, compared to some of the giant plugs and out-sized soft-plastic baits on the market, the Jetty Caster has accounted for an unbelievable number of large striped bass.

While trolling the Jetty Caster on wire line may have faded from the repertoire of most striper anglers, the jig's extra hair and action underwater has made it popular for three-way-rigging and fishing the deep, strong currents of eastern Long Island Sound.

In the surf, Rich has found the most success by keeping the jigs moving. One of the most popular and effective techniques for fishing the Jetty Caster is to swim the jig, retrieving the jig at a steady pace, breaking it up with the occasional twitch of the rod tip. With the extra hair slowing the rate of descent of the jig, anglers can fish them anywhere from just under the surface to just above the bottom just by varying how long they allow the jig to sink.

Where ever you fish them, tip the jigs with some manner of trailer. A Jetty Caster paired with a strip of Uncle Josh number 70 pork rind is tough to beat, but curly-tail grubs will work as well.

Andrus, now 72, surfcasts on Block Island for a week each fall, but does most of his fishing closer to his Millville, New Jersey home, including the Cape May Point jetties, where the smaller-size Jetty Casters are deadly on the local stripers.

Today, under the Montauk Light, you're likely to find a lot of friends tossing an Andrus Jetty Caster bucktail, because this simple, yet superb lure was, is and will continue to be one of the best striped bass catchers ever made.

Article Published in: On The Water, May 29 2012.

[J Barbosa]

Any preferences for choosing sizes of the pork? Guidelines? Size 50 or 70?

The 50 is much thinner than the 70.

Very basic look at it:

the 50 gives you a smaller profile and faster sink rate.
the 70 gives you a slightly larger profile and slower sink rate

You can play around with different weight bucktails and pork.

Montauk regulars prefer bucktails with extra hair for buoyancy and the #70 rind.

If I have time tonight I will take a picture of both sizes side by side.

FYI - the containers will leak if you don't keep them upright and the pork will dry out if you don't keep it in the liquid.