Hiya,
The bodybuilder guy Nathan off the TV show Big Angry Fish popularised 'skutes' a few years ago. As with that one you were given, he tied them using a variety of materials (synthetic and natural) tied on to softbait jigheads (using fresh or salt water tying vice and equipment).
Others came forward saying it was nothing new, they'd been doing it for years etc. In North America and Europe, 'feather jigs' and 'bucktail jigs' have been in use for ages.
Hunting & Fishing brought out a commercial; range designed by Nathan, and there's a guy on Facebook out of Coromandel I think, who sells them. H&F pretty quickly dropped them as a stock item, I believe, as the TV show went off air and people forgot about the fad.
They definitely work, though - I've had success on several that I tied myself using salt water fly tying materials and dyed rabbit strips. That one looks similar to a bucktail. Could get taken for a shrimp etc on the bottom.
The main thing to bear in mind is that they sink a lot faster than with a traditional softbait on the jighead - particularly a Bait Junkie or Z Man - which are buoyant. For that reason, Nathan started to incorporate a bit of hard cell foam in the underbody of his.
It's fun to catch fish on something you made yourself, but economy wise, a pack of Z Mans is probably more value for money - unless you get your materials from a $2 shop or similar. And they are more fragile to a snapper's sharp teeth than stretchy rubber, I can vouch for that!
It is a bit demoralising to spend quite a bit of time creating a masterpiece, only for it to be destroyed pretty quickly.
This Northland fish fell to one of my 'skutes' designed to look like a squid.
Forum Topics
New Posts
Search
FAQ
Register
Login
Topic Options
Post Options
Likes(0)
