It's Easy To Rebuild A Mangled Bucktail

At what point is a bucktail so beat up that it’s unfishable? Is it when the wire has been bent back and forth so many times it isn’t close to being straight?

- Ryan McMahon

Is it when the skirt is falling apart because a musky’s razor sharp teeth slashed the threads that hold the material in place? Or has your bucktail withstood the test of time and now the clevises are actually wearing through the blades? I’ve seen all of these, and they’re all good problems to have because it means you have a good bait that is catching fish.

A bucktail’s life doesn’t have to be only as long as the life of one component. With a wirecutter, a round-nose pliers and a split ring pliers, you can fix your bucktails and have them back up and running in no time.

Rebuilding bucktails will take a little bit of an upfront investment. If you want the front and back loops on the main wire of the bucktail to look nice and uniform you’ll want to grab a round-nose pliers to make a nice round bend. You can also use a regular pliers to do this but your finished product will usually have a lopsided loop with a sharper corner in it (some people actually like this because they think it will keel the bait and keep it from rolling).