# How to Tie Bucktail Jigs (with lots of pictures)



## SmoothLures

Ever wanted to tie your own bucktails? Well here you go. I decided to put this together for the folks here, if you see this posted somewhere else without my permission please let me know.

With that out of the way, here's what you'll need:











1 yellow chartreuse bucktail (any color)
head cement (applicator optional)
1 bobbin with heavy thread, red (color optional, but use as heavy thread as you can find, mines 3 stranded nylon)
scissors, regular tying scissors or heavy duty
whip finisher, large size if tying over 5/8th oz. jigs (optional if you can use your hands, I don't reccomend using half hitches to finish)
straight razor blade (not shown, optional but makes a pretty finished product)
X jigheads, collared (not barbed) (painted any color, 3/8th oz. white with red eyes and mouth (standard) is shown)
tying vise, capable of handling 2/0-5/0 saltwater hooks (larger or smaller if for other uses) 

Step one:
Start your thread at the collar, stopping a few turns before the head.










Step two:
Pinch a portion of the bucktail, for best results use the top 2/3 of the bucktail. If it flares when tied down go up the tail a little. This is a good amount for a 3/8th oz jig, you should use more as you tie larger heads. 










Step three:
Cut off when you have the amount needed, practice will show you how much to use. Sparse jigs have more action, but try for 1 solid layer of hair. 










Step four:
Get a good grip on the bundle of hair, then trim off the ends evenly. It doesn't have to be perfect.










Step five:
Hold the hair in place over the hook as shown, with the hook between the two fingers.










Step six:
Make 3 loose wraps around the hair but with enough tension to hold them in still, you can let go now.










Step seven:
Push the hair all around the hook, going in one direction, usually away from you. If your vise rotates, feel free to spin it around to make sure you get it even. 










Step eight:
Back off one wrap, then pull as tight as you can without breaking your thread, wrap it back now as tightly as possible. *Not wrapping very tight from now until the jig is finished will let the hair fall out, and the inital wraps over the hair are the ones that count!* I usually hold the jig in the vise near the collar and wrap to prevent the hook from moving up and down (not slipping, just the hook giving). If your hook slips, tighten it down or you may need a new vise...










Step nine:
Now make one wrap right over the top of the last one, keeping the thread tight, then wrap forward until you just touch the head with the thread. Unwrap once, then take your straight razor blade and trim the hair straight against the head. Notice how neat the wraps are, this makes a much better looking and more durable jig.










Step ten:
Wrap forward to cover the hair, then back until 3 wraps will have you at the end of the jig again. Whip finish here pulling down tight, apply head cement and allow to dry for a second (blowing on it helps dry, if it turns white looking you used too much). 










Step eleven:
Wrap forward to the head, stopping 3 wraps short again. Whip finish, pull tight, apply head cement. 










Step twelve:
Cut the thread close to the wraps, you can use the razor blade to get it very close if you wish, just be careful not to cut any other threads. Scissors work fine. Your bucktail will probably look something like this with the hair on one side.










Step thirteen:
Lift up on the hair and let drop evenly over the hook. Your finished jig should look something like this.











Notes and tips:
Make sure to keep your thread as tight as possible after you do the loose wraps (and tighten them down, too), if you don't the hair will fall out after a few fish, or even if you pull on it. 

Avoid unnessicary wrapping. I used to do this, to "make it look good" but tie very tight and keep it neat and you will have a good looking jig that won't fall apart. Those first wraps are the ones that hold it, extra wraps on top don't hold it down, I promise, I know from experience. 

So you're worried about bluefish biting through the thread? Well, that's why I did the two whip finishes. If one fails, the other should hold it. If you still have problems, a little 5 minute epoxy may solve them. Personally I haven't needed it.

To test if your jig will hold up, hook the hook around a stationary object/pole/whatever and pull on the hair hard. Your fingers should slip off without any hair coming out. If a few come out that were tied down (some may have been short and didn't get tied down) it will start a domino effect, giving them more and more space to let the others come out. 

If you mess up, no worries, just take the razor blade to the thread (be careful please). Jigheads are worth a lot more to me than a little hair and thread. 

Your head cement is only there to hold the threads in place so they don't unwrap, not to hold the hair. The tight wraps do that. 

How do you paint the heads? Well the best thing to use is powder paint and then bake them so the paint won't chip off. For a quick fix, tape the hooks with masking tape and hit them with a coat or two of spray paint. To paint the eyes and mouth just dab it on. It doesn't have to be perfect. 

What other colors can you do? Well I do a lot of white with colored feathers in them, but these are simple and effective. You can do any colorw you want. Here's a few I have in my box.











I hope this helped some, if you need any help or have any comments please feel to post. If there's any interest I may show how to do feathers and multicolored jigs.


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## AtlantaKing

Very nice. You don't use any superglue or epoxy? I've gotten to putting Flex-Coat Lite on the thread wraps, making sure to let it soak all the way in.


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## SmoothLures

Thanks. I don't like super glue, if you touch it with anything while it dries it gets an ugly white color, plus all the glue is there to do is hold the threads down, the head cement works fine for me. Epoxy takes too long to mix and dry, and I'm impatient.  If I find I have a problem with them getting torn up I may start epoxying them in batches, but they don't take but a minute or two to tie anyway so if I get the jighead back, no big loss for me.


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## Too Busy

Nice posting
I like to do some 2 tone bucktails. My favorites are chart/white and black/tan
I've put colored bars on the chart/ white using a sharpie marker.


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## ilovetherock

This is a good one for the bible, been wanting to know this for some time.


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## SmoothLures

Thanks for the comments. 
Too Busy, I know a guy that will cut down into the bucktail a little more and get some of the darker brown hair with the regular colored hair to give it some natural looks instead of just one color.


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## Fishman

Good reading. Looks like church material let read it in the bible. 

Are you using a fly tying vice to hold your jig?


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## SmoothLures

Yep I tie small (1/80th - 1/8th oz) panfish jigs too, on #8 and up aberdeen sickle hooks, so I needed the smaller vise. If I was buying one just for saltwater stuff, I'd get a saltwater vise that is made for large saltwater flies, and would do just fine for large jigheads.


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## HellRhaY

another vote for the bible


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## Brooksobx

First Class tutorial. Looks great. What would you do differently for doing a 5/0 - 7/0 straight shank single hook for Hopkins replacements? Half the time my mess slides down the shank after a few casts, probably not a tight enough wrap.


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## SmoothLures

That would probably be the reason, I'm thinking about doing a tutorial on how to dress treble hooks and single hooks for plugs. 
Quick version on how I tie single hooks:
1. Make a bump with your thread down the hook shank some(not very far, like every other dressed hook you've seen), this will help spread out the hair and will give you a reference point on how far to tie down and will also help hold the hair up. 

2. Wrap up towards the hook eye, stopping a wrap or two short. Cut off some bucktail, tie it down loose, spin it around the hook like above, tie down with TIGHT close wraps until just above the bump, whip finish, cement, wrap back forward, whip finish, cement, and you're done. Instead of doing the first whip finish you can wrap back, wrap forward, then wrap back again and whip finish at the bottom, then go back to the top and whip finish if you have a big hook that needs a little more thread to look good.


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## HellRhaY

smoothlures, continue the tutorial....start with pouring the lead.
i have 2,000 pounds of lead and would start making my own jigs and sinkers.


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## SmoothLures

Lol.  
It's pretty simple. Have good ventilation and a good pouring pot, I don't like the open ones with ladles unless you're doing large jigs/sinkers/metal lures. Heat your mold up on the stove top while your lead melts, then go at it. Search online and you'll find lots of info on DIY tackle making websites. 
BTW, what has to happen for this to go in the bible?


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## RuddeDogg

Looks great. Nice job.


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## Fishbreath

Nice job on the post, made it look real easy!


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## SmoothLures

Thanks guys. I hope this helped some people.


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## gundalba

Great info and nice illustrations! Thanks!

Didn't know the hair was added bit by bit...
Guss it is same for adding hairs directly on the needle (without thicker lead neck portion)?

Cheers,


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## bluefish1928

one way to get cheap hair is to buy those fake barbie doll wigs(i prefer yellow) for a dollar at dollar stores and walmart. these are pretty durable agianst bluefish, but dont look pretty compared to those by smoothlures. SPRO bucktail jigs have the flaw of the hair easily falling. i tie my own hair onto it with superglue. but it is horrible once you get that sticky substance on your fingers. you need a knife to scrape it off ayour skin!


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## SmoothLures

You can get fake hair made for tying that makes a very nice bucktail indeed. Very cheap and holds up good. I'll post pics when I get back home towards the end of the week.


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## Jackgill

*Just Starting*

Smoothlures,
I am just starting, what vise would you recommend? I plan on tying bucktails up to a 4oz Jighead. Great job with your post on tying! Thanks in advance!


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## crazyjohnsmojos

*tying party*

sounds like its time for a tying party.


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## SmoothLures

Jackgill said:


> Smoothlures,
> I am just starting, what vise would you recommend? I plan on tying bucktails up to a 4oz Jighead. Great job with your post on tying! Thanks in advance!


Sorry I missed this.

Well I have the $75 one from Bass Pro. The main thing is to look at the size of the hook you'll be tying (and 4oz jigs have big hooks) and make sure the vise will fit it. You'll probably need to be looking at saltwater vises. Another thing that will help a lot is to get a rotary vise. It lets you turn it and look at the jig/fly without taking it out of the vise and a lot of materials are put on easier due to it rotating. 

I just tied a bunch here the other day, I'll try to get some pics of them up. 1/4 oz for trout and flounder.


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## ccc6588

Make sure you use the Rapala knot when tying your Bucktail to a fishing line. The Rapala know give more natural action.


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## paulb

Looks like the pic files are missing or not displaying. Can this or these be fixed?


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## wdbrand

I'm getting free hosting cloud but no pics.


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## dudeondacouch

If the OP still has the pics he can rehost them. Otherwise, they're gone.


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## fishin757

same here


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## SmoothLures

I'll have to retake them if they're not on my old camera. I'll try to get em back up soon.


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## FISHHUNTER

YEAH ! What happened to the pics. ?


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## SmoothLures

FISHHUNTER said:


> YEAH ! What happened to the pics. ?


See above. The website they were hosted on went down.


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## SEABEAR

clear coat fingernail works well for me


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## wdbrand

Yep, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails works fer me.


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## Rockfish1

Brooksobx said:


> First Class tutorial. Looks great. What would you do differently for doing a 5/0 - 7/0 straight shank single hook for Hopkins replacements? Half the time my mess slides down the shank after a few casts, probably not a tight enough wrap.


tighten your wraps... if that doesn't work, a layer of glue on the base wrap before you add the first layer of hair should tighten it up enough to keep it from sliding...


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## wdbrand

I've found if you wrap a layer of thread on with some space between wraps, then coat with nail polish and let dry before wrapping on more thread[no hair yet] and coat that layer of thread, you eliminate the slippage. Then a good heavy top coat. Not a problem with jig headed hooks, but a straight shank requires more attention.


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