Best Fluke Bait Ever

[bunker dunker]

bucktails and big gulps or I aint going!!!!

[Fisherman120]

Anybody who fishes with me knows how much I love Gulp. I have a huge container full of 5 inch mullets and 6 inch grubs/mullets and some unopened packages too lying in my room. I also though have fished Raritan Bay my entire life and can definitley say killies work great out here. I would still say Gulp outfishes killies most of the time, but the killies do work and they do have their days where they outperform Gulp, especially early in the season. In the ocean I have never seen bait do better then Gulp jigged properly. On a couple of slow trips I've seen bait produce the same, but never better. Killies are great for inside, but never out in the ocean in my experience.

[Billfish715]

I've used killies on crab drop lines by using a metal or wire hoop attached to the main line. I would thread the killies on the wire and attach a weight and have at it. Of course it meant having an ample supply of bait which we caught with a large seine at low tide. The upper Navesink above Red Bank was loaded with them. We've also taken killies with us when we head offshore. A handful of them tossed at a piece of dolphin-filled flotsom would turn those tasty mahi on like a light switch. A fast drift for fluke is not the best while using killies but often a strip of squid on the same hook when the drift is fast will get the attention of a willing fluke. If you fish on a party boat you probably wouldn't use killies since most boats don't supply them therefore you'd have to bring your own. Pete did have some great ones last year and when kept in a small cooler on some wet newspaper or seaweed over ice, they last an entire trip. A hi-lo rig with a killie on the bottom and a Gulp on top often produce double headers. Don't overlook their versatility.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Capt Sal

Bucktailing is not for everyone. My dad was one of the best fluke fisherman i ever saw and he would never bucktail. He said he came fishing to relax not work. Drifting and dreaming is relaxing.

Yep... On certain days when I'm just out there to relax, I like to drag bait too... Put your bait on, pole in the holder, find a comfy seat, crack an adult beverage and sit back and watch the pole tip. Repeat as necessary...

[CadiShackFishing]

Started to bucktail 4 years ago and never looked back. Sometimes the killies work other times a 6 inch mullet and a piece of squid out fish anything. To each their own.

[Joey Dah Fish]

I wasn't saying killies don't work or dragging bait doesn't work. What my point was is that buck tailing catches very well and I have yet to catch a fish that was gut hooked. So it reduces casualty rate and usually catches bigger fish. You all seem to believe concerned about maintain the stock and killing breeders so I thought I would throw that bit of info out there. I can't even begin to tell you how many fish get gut hooked while dragging bait. I'm not sure of the mortality rate but common sense dictates its significantly less when fish are mouth hooked. So there it is let the bashing begin

[Capt Sal]

Originally Posted by Joey Dah Fish

I wasn't saying killies don't work or dragging bait doesn't work. What my point was is that buck tailing catches very well and I have yet to catch a fish that was gut hooked. So it reduces casualty rate and usually catches bigger fish. You all seem to believe concerned about maintain the stock and killing breeders so I thought I would throw that bit of info out there. I can't even begin to tell you how many fish get gut hooked while dragging bait. I'm not sure of the mortality rate but common sense dictates its significantly less when fish are mouth hooked. So there it is let the bashing begin

No bashing here. Use a bigger hook when dragging bait. All fish swallow small hooks.Bucktailing is alot of fun but can wear you out.You have to be less sensitive lol

[bunker dunker]

mom!!!! joeys mixing paint again.agreed 110% on the gut hooked by bait dragging.never seen a 4 oz bucktail in a flukes stomach.to each there own but bucktails save lives.

[catsmeow]

Excellent point about gut hooks with bait. Use big hooks 5/0 vMc English style
Very few gut hooks and will cut off a hook no problem.

[Gerry Zagorski]

It's really amazing how big a hook even a small fluke will take. 8/0 no problems at all...