Oh, just twist up your own.....

[zach]

Twisting up your own bucktails for this summer that is. Bucktails are imo the easiest types of lures to make yourself. I have wanted to show this process since talking to Blueye last year and discussing it with him. Chad said it was a decent idea so here it is. I started tying them up at around age 13 or 14 and do a few every year even though I don't use them as much as I should. I haven't bought any new bucktails since, honestly. I have tried to take pics of the process so everyone here can at least make a bait to use.

Start with some components like spinner blades, some beads, clevises, wire (.051 or .062), some hackles, marabou, flashabou and tying thread.

I usually start by looking at the blades I want to use and then build the bait around that.

Here are some supplies I get from lurepartsonline where I get my crankbait materials from.

They sell pre-looped wire ends but I ran out so I made a loop in .051 wire for the line tie. I recommend using at least .051 wire for this project.

I then stack some blades and clevises on the wire shaft since this will be a double bladed smaller bait for pike and early season muskies.

Now we need to do some tying. I tie on the spring coils they sell and I like them best out of everything I have tried. You do need to find some way to hold the coil while you tie though. I make some small bends in a scrap piece of wire to keep the coil from slipping and spinning as you tie it. I put the end of the wire into a fly tying vise I have. You can use anything you can find, some people use bench vises but this is what I already had.

Put in vise or anything else that will hold the wire.

Wrap from the back forward giving you a good working area but don't wrap all the way to the front of the coil, you may not need the whole coil.

I use some flashabou on the back of the tails but feel free to use anything you want. I mix the different colors together before I tie them on. For this one I am using black and perch color flashabou.

Tie it in and glue over your wraps.

Next I do some hackles to add movement to the bait after the glue dries. I strip off the fuzzy bottom of the hackle before tying in (old fly tying trick)

Glue them in and next its time for some marabou.

Same trick, strip the ends, this time wet them to keep them somewhat controlled and tie in.

Do final wraps, add some whip finishes, slide a plastic bag over the tied coil to keep everything contained and glue to finish it off. I can't take credit for that trick but man oh man does it help! Cut off the part of the coil you don't need, close to the final wraps you just did.

Now its time to put it all together after your glue dries.

Starting from the blades, I work backwards towards the back of the bait. On this bait I am using 2 blades and it really helps the blades spinning to gently flatten the clevises so they are flat to each other.

This helps out big time and gets those blades spinning faster and helps keep you from having to kick start the blades when reeling it in.

Add beads, body and then put tied up coil on.

After getting the coil on, its back to using the bag trick but this time from the bottom, put the wire through the bag and this will hold the tied coil back so its not in your way anymore.

Next we will need some weight to help it cast better and to run faster while not blowing out. Add some lead, how much depends on the size of the bait and how you want it to perform. One good thing about tying on coils is if you want to change anything after giving it a test swim, just cut the wire shaft, make your change and re-wire. After adding weight, make a bend in the bottom giving you about 1/2" to 3/4" of room to finish the bend. Bending from the bottom lets you see how much space you need so the clevises have room in the front. I personally add shrink tubing to the hook and think its helps out. Cut a piece of shrink tube so it fits on the shank of your hook, any bigger and you can't get the wire through the hook eye. Add the hook and heat shrink the tubing. This is where it is nice to have that bag over the hair so it doesn't get in the way and you burn all your hair. Heat your tubing so the hook is always in the correct hooking position.

This is how it should look when done shrinking.

Take the bag off and tada- you have a homemade bucktail as good as any you can buy!

Soon you'll be making your own baits and getting the satisfaction of getting fish on a bait you made yourself for a 1/4 of the price you can buy one for! Who knows where this may lead you. For me, I then starting making a few rough jerkbaits and then it was on to my biggest challenge yet- crankbaits. Crankbaits are tough, time consuming and if you mess up anything, even a little bit, the bait will show you something is wrong first time you use it. Best luck and go make your own lures if you don't already. It took me 15 minutes to do this one and that was taking pics the whole time. Best luck guys, any questions please ask. Once again, this is how I do it. There are a million ways to do it but this works for me after trying just about everyway possible. If anyone makes one for themselves please share!

This is a new bait I am messing with. 10" body and 5oz deep diver with a 1/4" lexan lip, 2 line ties and 6 clear coats. I had it out and it swims great all the way up to fast speeds! This is my next project as I am happy with how it performed and the action is different depending on which line tie you use. A fast tighter wiggle to a wider slower wobble! Thanks for your time and I hope at least one person tries this out for themselves!

If people like these step by step things, I will do more in the future. Good fishing and even better times out fishing - Zach Baker

[zach]

If I didn't explain something good enough, just ask and I will try to clarify. If you read through what I wrote you may find a trick or two that will help you out along the way. Feel free to add any tricks you have also as I may try it out next time. Thanks for your time once again!

[Ronix 51]

zach, very cool of you to post. ive always thought about trying to make my own bucktails and after seeing this I think im going to get some supplies and give it a try! very cool man, btw i need a baker bait or 3...

[mostlymuskies]

Zach, Call me I need to give you a phone number for a new musky tackle store in Michigan near Lake St.Clair that wants to buy baits from you for his store,cash up front. My wife delteated my cell phone list by mistake,I no longer have your phone number.

Capt. Larry

[BlueEye]

Awesome post Zach! Very informative - thanks for sharing

[zach]

Thanks guys, I hope someone else makes one and shares it with us. Cpt Larry- thanks very much for hooking me up with Jason Cheney. He is going to order between 50-60 to start with. It helps out big time so big thanks once again! I am really excited to get a bunch of guys using them on Lake St Clair. Ronix- I have some extra perch, walleye and $9 bass if you like those colors? P/m me your address and I will send a few out for you. Once again- big thanks to Cpt Larry for hooking me up with the only musky shop on LSC! If there is anyone else that may want to try a plug- just p/m me as I would love to make one for you. Lots of people to thank so far!

Here is a Wiley Fatbody that I have run for the last 5 years that was good to me. I stripped it down, took it all the way to the wood, pulled the old lip out and re-did everything from there. New lip, resealed, new hardware, filled in holes and new paint job. This plug had 1/4" deep holes in it from teeth and hook rash before I cleaned it up. Thanks for letting me share some of these baits with you guys! Zach Baker

[Ronix 51]

zach I PMed you back, shoot me a text so i have ur number again too I found out my phone may be waterproof but it is not laundry proof

[zach]

One last bait I re-did for myself and I'll quit. It's a Loch Ness that was beat up. Another perch color .

[NitroMusky]

dayum zach, do you even fish anymore? tell you what...you just keep spending your time making all these awesome baits and I will offer to personally go test them all out for ya and make sure they catch fish

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