Grand Slam BucktailsOther Rigging Techniques
Rig our SUPER-REALISTIC Bucktails for Spin- Bait Casting, Fly Casting, or Big Game Fishing (Directions Below) 1)Spinning or Bait Casting: Fish them just like a lead head jig. Using this DEADLY rigging technique you can catch: Bass, Walleye, Pike, Salmon, Bluefish, Cod, Stripers, Sea Bass, Lingcod, Redfish, Big Trout, Dorado, Tuna and Many Others!!
(Above) Our 4" Herring Grand Slam (green) rigged for Spin-Baitcasting. (Below) Shows all the components.
Rigging: Use 2-3 ft of 10 to 20 lb. mono for leader. Tie end of leader to a worm hook (Eagle Claw L95JB, size 3/0 to 5/0 or similar hook). Thread fly onto leader and slide down over hook. Thread a 3/16" bead, and egg or bullet sinker (1/4 to 2 oz.) onto leader, and slide down to fly. Push a wood toothpick into hole at end of sinker, and bend to side to break excess off. Tie end of leader to swivel and mainline. Fish just like you would a lead head jig. Or you can rig all the components directly onto your mainline instead of a leader! Option: add a swimming tail to fly- use 3-6" curlytail plastic worm.
2)Fly fishing: This is our standard setup for fish up to about 30 lbs in size. If you're after really BIG GAME FISH you'll have to up-size your leader, hooks, and fly rod accordingly!! Use a 9 to 12 weight fly rod and line, 24" of stiff 10 to 20 lb.mono for tippet. Tie hook to one end (we recommend Mustad 3407 size 3/0 to 5/0 or Mustad 92608 size 1 to 1/0). Thread fly onto tippet and slide down to hook. Push a wood toothpick into hole at the nose of fly and bend to side to break excess off. Tie other end of tippet to your tapered leader on your fly rod (use a barrel knot here). 3) BIG GAME FISH: Marlin or Tuna and Dorado use our 6" MAGNUM Grand Slam Bucktail, or our 4" models if they're feeding on smaller baitfish.
Rigging: Use 6 ft of 40 to 130 lb mono for leader. Tie 6/0 to 10/0 tuna hook to one end. Thread fly, 2 plastic beads and 2 to 4 oz. egg sinker onto leader (or omit egg sinker if you like). Tie end of leader to swivel and mainline. Troll rig at 4 to 8 knots, 40 to 80 ft. behind boat. Another option is to use a 1" dia. and 1" long piece of closed cell foam with the fly . Poke a hole through foam w/a needle. Thread this onto your leader in front of your fly (available @ your local hardware store). When fast trolled behind a boat, this set-up creates a ton of commotion (splashing, bubbles, and a wake). This is just what these top water ambushers love and can be DEADLY at times. One customer surface trolled our 6" Magnum off the back of their sailboat @ 8 knots (between Hawaii & CA) "We caught countless Tuna & Dorado day after day until something big broke my 130 lb line and I lost my lure". This fish could have been a Marlin? Rigging For Halibut and Rockfish Use our SUPER-REALISTIC Lures and the following rigging and fishing techniques to catch: Pacific Halibut (Northern and Southern), Lingcod , other Cod , Grouper , and Other Reef Fish. We've been Limiting out our 3-man boat on Halibut ( Swift Sure Bank, Wa) every trip out for the last 3 years. Usually within 1 hour, using our 6" Magnum Grand Slam Bucktail, off a spreader bar, ( See picture) . The fish usually run 20-50 lbs. Some people are skeptical when we tell them we are using Bucktails to catch Halibut and we would be too, if we hadn't seen it work so many times. The reason it's so effective is this: Here in the Puget Sound/Coastal area we are plagued by a small shark called Dogfish. When you fish a herring bait on bottom for Halibut it's usually grabbed by a Dogfish 29 out of 30 times. So you end up hassling with Dogfish most of the day, and occasionally get a Halibut. When we use our bucktail, we usually don't fish it with any bait. Dogfish, like most other sharks, feed by scent. They simply aren't interested in a lure that doesn't smell like herring. Halibut, on the other hand are aggressive sight feeders. They see our Bucktail dancing and darting up and down in their face, and just inhale it!! So we don't spend any time feeding/battling Dogfish. WE CATCH HALIBUT!! Note: If the Dogfish are not in the area you're fishing on a particular day you can catch even more Halibut by adding a strip of Octopus or Squid to your hook. Strips of Salmon or Cod belly are also good. Pictures of Grand Slam caught Halibut . (taken in the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and at Swift Sure Bank, Wa.) 30, 55, and 70 lbs. Click on them to enlarge.
Rigging and fishing: 1) Drift Fishing for Halibut: Use 20" of 60 to 100 lb mono for leader. Tie hook (Mustad 3407; size 9/0 to 11/0) to one end. Thread 6" Magnum Grand Slam Bucktail on leader and slide down over hook. Hook a 6" glow curly tail plastic worm on hook. Tie end of leader to long arm of spreader bar. Add weight to other end of spreader bar and "jig" entire setup on the bottom. 2) Drift Fishing for: Halibut, Grouper, Lingcod, Cod, and other Reef Fish: Rig and fish just like #1 but instead of using spreader bar, tie a swivel to end of mainline. Tie fly/leader to other end. Tie sinker to same opening on swivel as fly/leader with a 12" length of mono for a dropper. 3) Trolling for Halibut and Lingcod: Rig 6" Magnum GSB with 11" plastic flasher like you would for adult kings (see salmon trolling page). Set downriggers within 5 ft. of bottom and troll slow (1.5 mph) with current. This works great on big flat areas where halibut and lings are spread out. For lings don't use a flasher, just run our bucktail with a curly tail plastic worm on the hook 15 ft behind your downrigger ball. Note: For halibut and lings, we recommend using larger hooks than for salmon (two 7/0 92553's). Also use a 6" curly tail plastic worm on trailing hook. Testimonials: "We caught 27 halibut using your 6" Magnum GSB and a spreader bar in 3 days fishing the Canadian side of Swift Sure Bank (summer '99). An awesome lure for halibut!" "It had been a very slow day halibut fishing (Canadian side, Swift Sure Bank), Three of us had tried everything with no luck. Then I remembered that I had one of your 6" Magnum GSBs rigged for halibut and decided to try it. Within 2 hours we put 3 halibut in our fishbox (30 to 52 lbs.). A great lure. I'll be ordering more next spring!" "I've put over 50 halibut on my boat this summer (1999) using your 6" Magnum GSBs. A very effective lure."
Lunker Hunter Pro Staff Member Stan Kulak wrote up a Grand Slam Bucktail product review, which can be found here. |
