Here is my 2 cents on Grand Slam Bucktails ...they are AWESOME on springs. I have nothing to do with the gsb company fyi
I have used them for the previous 6 years in Nootka sound and anywhere else we fish. Think of them as a hoochie made of synthetic hair / Mylar. This is not a Bucktail as the name suggests.
RIGGING: You rig them exactly as you would a hoochie. The hooks are not attached to the fly as a traditional bucktail is. You rig your own leader just like a hoochie. Tandem hooks with 50lb leader and 39" from from nose of gsb to back of flasher works great this time of year. If you want to get fancy fillet a anchovy and cut the fillet into 1 1/2"strips put on front hook under the body of the bucktail for scent.
(Avoid using scents on the gsb, it gums up the hair)
If I could only use 2 setups inside Nootka sound one would be an anchovie setup and the other would be a white needlefish grand slam bucktail with a piece on anchovie on the front hook 39" behind the flasher and a tiny red bead in front of the nose of the gsb.
I started out with green ones for the first couple of years and they were the best lure on the boat and we run 4 rods and change our gear up frequently if not catching. The green gsb out fished spoons anchovies and hoochies of the same color. Eventually I bought a white gsb (needlefish size) and rigged it up and dropped it the first day we started fishing inside Nootka sound - 3pm between tides on a hot day - 30 seconds later near the shore at San Carlos BANG fish on. 15 lb spring released beside boat with pliers and the fish wriggled and the pliers broke the line and the white gsb slipped off the leader and sunk slowly into the depths :-( I didn't have another! So used the older green and blue gsbs I had for the rest of that trip.
Next year I had found some more white ones and they outfished the green colour.
I have never used them on the surface in the wash for cohos. But cohos love them. Before the warm blob of water turned up offshore when cohos were plentiful I stopped using the bucktails out at bajo because we couldn't keep the cohos off them. You would drop the gear to 20' on the rigger and while attaching the top line to the rigger a coho would hit the bottom line and we couldn't get down to the springs. ( A problem we wished we had these last 3 years !) but I can't give gsbs all the credit for that as cohos would hit almost anything those years.
When the previous owner stopped making these a couple of years ago I got on the phone and bought up A few that were left from various shops in bc, so pleased to see you bought the business barkerfam!
They are well made and I would have caught 30 fish on one bucktail and it still looks new. My problem is I forget to wash my gear and after winter my hooks have rusted and stained the hair on the gsbs.
Barkerfam ( Howard?)
I have some feedback... I haven't bought any gsbs since you took over but if you could please make a line with more glow in them that would be great. The ones I have do have a few glow hairs in them in the belly but not many.
Great product.
Wondermur
