# Bucktails In Ohio.....



## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

I know we have a lot of trollers and such. I know even when I am chunkin lures it is usually a crankbait or a bulldawg. However, I have spent a fair amount of time heavin some bucktails and all of it has not even produced a follow. I have a few smaller Mepps for spring time. I have a DC-8 in black/black. I have a couple big Mepps with gold blades. None of these have produced even a follow. For those of you that are throwing the big bucks, the double 10's and such what is working for you? Do you prefer a chrome blade, gold blade or a colored blade? Is there a body type that seems better to you than another ie; deer hair vs marabou vs flashabou? Just trying to get some ideas for upcoming investments. What bucktails produce for you in Ohio waters?


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## ShutUpNFish (Apr 17, 2007)

I like to use bucktail hair...it last longer and doesn't get all funky in the box. I also like the double bladed spinners. Perch pattern, plain yellow or plain black are the three colors I'll use most. Combined with gold or silver hammered or smooth blades. Colorado style. I generally use the gold in combination with black on overcast days and brighter colors/yellow on bright days...Works for me. I think bucktails are the fish catchingest MoFos around! Good Luck!


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## Muskie_Guy (Mar 14, 2007)

I'm with ya ... I throw bucks and never get follows ... mine come on crankbaits .... but maybe I'll try again this year


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## Stars-n-Stripers (Nov 15, 2007)

For what it's worth, I was bass fishing @ Clear Fork and met another guy working the shore, he said he was between the islands, looked down and saw a big musky eye-balling his trolling motor prop, and look at the size of those! I trolled several times there last year with no luck, lots of vegetation, going to try some large bucktails and such this year.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

I've had luck with Lindy Spot bucktails at Leesville. Orange Blade/Black tail


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## fishing_marshall (Jun 12, 2004)

I've had a lot of follows on bucktails. Caught a 43" on a small buchertail that was black/orange/yellow and my brother got a 34" on a a bucktail I made with a gold blade black/orange hair. I have thrown a DC10 a lot with no follows, but I still made some big double blade bucktails to try this year.


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## MuskieMan35 (Mar 5, 2008)

I caught my first lunge at Leesville on a small black & chrome buchertail bucktail during the figure 8.- little guy shot up out of the weeds like a rocket!!

Everyone in the "real" muskie states lives & dies with the DC-10's but I loose interest in them cause you have to work them so much slower then the regular bucktail single spinners..
Maybe my philosphy of covering a TON of water vs. quality of presentations/casts is wrong?
Last year I had one follow from a 40"plus fish on a silver monster shad.


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## esox62 (May 19, 2006)

colors mentioned are good ones-blk/org, blk-gold..ive caught fish on hair,marabou, and tinsel in ohio. i get more action on the flashabou as it reflects alot of light. the basic blk/sil buck should be in everyones box. my two biggest fish are on bucktails in ohio.blk/sil vibrax accounted for the 47". if you are goin to the show you should be able to get some vibrax in the bargain bins for 5-6$...


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## luredaddy (May 25, 2004)

In my humble opinion, if you are throwing bucktails on our pressured waters, throw SMALL bucktails. This is not Minnesota, our fish are really pressured. I have caught most of my Skis when casting, on Mepps #5 Spinners. Silver, gold, and black, work for me.
John


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## fishing_marshall (Jun 12, 2004)

A lot of guys in Wisconsin and Minnesota who fish the DC 10 burn them in at high speeds. Without a power handle that is a lot of work.


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## BITE-ME (Sep 5, 2005)

When the big blade craze started a few years ago I slowly jumped on board and got a couple Double Cowgirls & DC-10's to throw into my bucktail line up. My inital thoughts were that these magnum blades were more of a big fish bait and I would primarily use them on big water outside of Ohio. But my buddies and I started using them around home and it seemed like I was getting more action on the bigger blades than I did on the smaller ones. Caught some good fish and a lot of small (30") to your average size fish (38") on the big blades. Maybe I was just in the right place at the right time or maybe they worked better because our fish in Ohio are more pressured and are used to seeing your standard Buchertail 700 series size bucktails that most everyone is throwing in Ohio. My confidence in the big blades has really grown... this past season, the smaller bucktails pretty much sat in the box and got rusty hooks.


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## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

My results with bucktails in Ohio have been less than stellar overall, but I still try them from time to time. I have a dozen that I've made in the basement. I experimented with colors, blade size, hair length, volume, etc.

I do get much better results with bucktails on the local river and I also found that spoons work much better there than in the lakes and reservoirs. Just as Bite Me mentioned that the blade size seemed to make a difference, the spoon size was an important variable on the river. The fish wanted a specific size with a brass back. Silver back spoons never produced a single fish or follow for some reason.

Muskies can make you crazy.


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## ShutUpNFish (Apr 17, 2007)

BITE-ME said:


> When the big blade craze started a few years ago I slowly jumped on board and got a couple Double Cowgirls & DC-10's to throw into my bucktail line up. My inital thoughts were that these magnum blades were more of a big fish bait and I would primarily use them on big water outside of Ohio. But my buddies and I started using them around home and it seemed like I was getting more action on the bigger blades than I did on the smaller ones. Caught some good fish and a lot of small (30") to your average size fish (38") on the big blades. Maybe I was just in the right place at the right time or maybe they worked better because our fish in Ohio are more pressured and are used to seeing your standard Buchertail 700 series size bucktails that most everyone is throwing in Ohio. My confidence in the big blades has really grown... this past season, the smaller bucktails pretty much sat in the box and got rusty hooks.


Don't be fooled into the whole common misconception that bigger baits catch bigger fish. Trust me, I have caught my share and seen many a big fish caught on lures as small as Babley DB-08 which were primarily made for bass. We used to hammer muskies on those things, too bad they are no longer in production....There are, however, certain times of the season that larger baits may outproduce, but through my experiences, I have found that baits in the 5 1/2 to 6" range truely outproduce in numbers and in size of fish. If those lures, IMHO, will catch more numbers, the odds of them catching bigger fish are greater as well. The ONLY advantage that I see in a larger bladed bucktail is the fact that it creates more fish attracting vibration/flash and may attract fish from longer distances. That more intense flash and vibration, sometimes also spooks those fish away when they are looking for something more subtle, slow moving and , yes, smaller. Believe me, I have been through this "bigger is better" theory over and over with many seasoned muskie anglers. And we always come back to the conclusion that your average sized muskie baits will out produce in numbers and size over the long haul...I'm not trying to discourage the use of large baits in any way because they WILL and DO catch fish, but they will not necessarily catch bigger fish. There are times when the big boys will touch nothing but something small and vise versa, therefore its always good to be prepared with both. Tight Lines.


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## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

> There are, however, certain times of the season that larger baits may outproduce, but through my experiences, I have found that baits in the 5 1/2 to 6" range truely outproduce in numbers and in size of fish. If those lures, IMHO, will catch more numbers, the odds of them catching bigger fish are greater as well.
> 
> Believe me, I have been through this "bigger is better" theory over and over with many seasoned muskie anglers. And we always come back to the conclusion that your average sized muskie baits will out produce in numbers and size over the long haul...I'm not trying to discourage the use of large baits in any way because the WILL catch fish, but they will not necessarily catch bigger fish. There are times when the big boys will touch nothing but something small and vise versa, therefore its always good to be prepared with both.


The above mirrors my experiences to a T.


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## 1roofmusky (May 20, 2008)

I hate to say this publicly, but I can't resist! I have caught a lot of muskies in Ohio casting Bluefox Musky Bucks. If you reel them as fast as you can, you WILL catch fish. I've never caught fish over 40" though on this bait. For numbers of small fish, it can't be beat! 

-Now I sound like an In-Fisherman add!


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## BITE-ME (Sep 5, 2005)

I gotta defend the big bait, big fish theory....

Here is a 50" caught on a 48oz Bulldawg









Here is a 48" caught while casting a 24" sledge


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## 1roofmusky (May 20, 2008)

Bite-Me,
You must have a net I could park a hum-v in!


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## BITE-ME (Sep 5, 2005)

1Roof - Handling the big net has been a real problem, but you always have to be prepared. You should see my net man, he has pipes like Hulk Hogan.

In all seriousness, I have to agree with ShutUp on being prepared with a variety of sizes when it comes to baits - the fish will tell you what they want (eventually). Most of the time I pretty much throw your average size musky baits. The only magnum size baits I use with any frequency are the DC-10's & Double Cowgirls. I'm not trying to make an argument for the "Big Bait - Big Fish" theory, as I said before most of the skis I caught on mag bucktails were small to avg size fish. Rather, I'd say I caught more numbers on mag bucktails on my specific home lake due to the fact that our water is heavily pressured and standard size bucktails are overpresented on this specific body of water. Or maybe the difference in success has to do more with timing or the fact that I used the mag bucktails more than the standard size?


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## ShutUpNFish (Apr 17, 2007)

BITE-ME said:


> I gotta defend the big bait, big fish theory....
> 
> Here is a 50" caught on a 48oz Bulldawg
> 
> ...


Bite-me...thats CLASSIC right there! I love it!

The first lures I used catch muskies on are, and tell me if you have heard of these or not:
Palomines
Vamps
Super Spooks
Paul Bunyans
Bucktails were exclusively Mepps.
Suick
Muskie Special

All smaller baits except for the suicks!

My favorite were the super spook....heres a photo of one below...I used to custom paint my own.


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## BITE-ME (Sep 5, 2005)

The Mepp's Tandem Muskie Killer was the first muskie lure I bought and the first lure I ever caught a ski on. I've got a few Suicks, but can't say I have had any experience with the rest. 

Here are a couple of smaller lures I use quite a bit when casting laydowns, standing timber and other thick hard cover. You can walk them right through some really heavy stuff. They can be quite the producers at times.

Magnum Hellbender (3-1/2" body)









Small Party Crasher (4-1/2" body)









Norman DR3 (5-1/4" body)


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