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Posts: 22
Location: Lou's Bay on the 'goon | This kind of goes hand in hand with my earlier post- for a spring bucktail in zero visability water, why not a Marabou tail rather than buck-tail. Marabous appear more fragile but have a more fluid action? Im looking for a "bulger" that I can fling off the dock. Mepps? Any suggestions as to weight? I guessing smaller for spring- large blade for lift? Mepps? Any suggestions always appreciated. What about changing the trailer for a single hook, less weight?
Next time your in Lou's bay, drop in the a beverage and a story. |
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Posts: 1237
Location: South Portsmouth, KY | Hey. This season was my first experience with marabou. All i can say is i wish i had tried it sooner. I havent had much luck with just the regular bucktail hair so i decided to switch. I caught 4 fish this seaon with marabou and seen a couple of others. marabou pulsates in the water better than hair does. Mepps musky marabous are my favorite and i have heard that ghost tails are also good. If you wanted a smaller marabou for use in the spring, mepps has got a smaller verson of the musky marabou out. Hope this helps!!
Edited by muskie_man 1/30/2006 5:47 PM
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Posts: 56
| I could very well be completely and totally wrong on this, but maybe someone who knows will join in...
From what I understand, the colder the water the less effective hair is. It has something to do with the greater density of the water causing less action from hair. That's why some guys use rubber spinnerbaits instead of hair early on, then switch to hair as the water warms up. I'm guessing that marabou is even more effected by cold water.
Anyway, that's not going to stop me from trying more marabou, especially the small Mepps, this spring. Like I said, maybe someone who knows about this will have an idea here. |
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Posts: 663
| Seabass, that's an interesting theory but I kind of doubt it. I believe most guys who throw bucktails tend to move them fast. Bucktails can be an effective bait right until ice up but you need to slow them down just like other baits. Last year right at the end of the season a buddy of mine and I moved several very nice fish by throwing big willowleaf bucktails and moving them very deep and slow. Spinnerbaits on a slow roll will do the job too. Like many other people I never thought of bucktails as being a coldwater bait but I just had to force myself to S L O W D O W N.
Regarding marabou, it's a great material. I've found that the Mepps Musky Marabou has worked best for me. The large blade gives it plenty of lift to come over weed tops with no problem. I've also noticed that because the Mepps has a split ring set-up instead of tied on a coil etc. you can get even more action by varying the speed of your retrieve. Give the bait a few medium cranks then speed up for a crank or two. I think the weight of the blade churning combined with the jointed tail section makes the tail "kick out" a bit. If you try this in clear water you can very definitley get the bait to "shimmy" on the retrieve. The other nice thing is that if you buy three different colored Mepps you have a potential for 9 different color combinations! |
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| I use Marabou as an active fish bucktail or after dark for more of a large profile effect. When the fishing is tough, a smaller profile hair bucktail seems to work for me. J
Just my take,
Ty |
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Posts: 91
| One thing you could try is to get a couple of the regular Mepps Musky Mara's and a couple of the smaller #5 Mara's and create a hybrid using the split ring. The "Musky" is a 1 1/4oz tandem, while the #5 is a 1/2oz single hook. By combinig them you get both the lighter AND smaller things you are looking for. Take the blade/body off of the "Musky" and attach it to the #5 hair and have at it. In my experience the #5 is a little small to toss very far on musky gear, but when you put the Musky blade in front of the #5 hair it's a great single hook bulging rig. Mepps marabou is is not fragile! I have several that have seen a ton of use and have most of the marabou intact. One word of caution is to not "slam" the blade on the water to remove weeds. I have one on the wall above my desk that has a perfect impression of the brass weight on the shaft. (The victim of my anger on a missed figure 8 fish). Once the blade is out of whack it's pretty much shot, but play nice and they will spin true for a long time. Take Pete's advice from above, by getting a few of each in different colors you multiply the color/size possibilties
Edited by jacorn 1/31/2006 12:37 AM
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Posts: 389
Location: Presque Isle Wisconsin | I love marabou and generally use the double bladed versions that Dave Dorazio makes beause I love the double thump,lift,and marabou action the bait pruduces;however I have to go along with Sennet.There is a time and place for both hair and marabou.Muskies ,can ,for a variety of reasons show a marked preference for either.With hair bucktails I like them to be flared nicely like the Voodoo tails.Perhaps even more important than the body dressing is the blade type which is often much more crucial and probably the first thing a novice muskie fisherman should understand.Check out Buchers book-Buck tail Fshing for Muskies as an outstanding primer on the subject.Correctly using this type of bait is much more complicated then one might think.Some good advice was given in the above answers regarding how effective they can be in colder water situations.Last season my clients and I did well slow rolling the 5oz. Pearson grinder down deep on clearer water.A technique I hadnt tried before,but after watching a client catch two nice fish on it in 49 degree water it made me a believer.You learn something new every day in this sport. |
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| I don't think the "action" of the hair makes much of a difference. Maribou is nice because is holds water and therefore casts farther without actually weighing more. Great for lighter bucktail designs that don't cast well with deer hair, like bulgers. |
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| watch ebay for mzogmusky to be selling some of his regular and baby sized bucks
best maribou tails i have ever seen....heavy construction, yet bulge well, and they don't fall apart.
my first muskie came off the blue and white regular sized one.
Edited by The Yeti 2/1/2006 12:20 AM
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