Tail Gunner Makeover

I was wanting to do something a little different to tailgunners instead of just tying them in at the bend and came up with an idea using wacky head weed guards to get a little more extension in the tail. After pouring a few different style heads I thought it would be just as easy to tie the guards in and that's what I did with the 3/32 rubbertail flashers, guards were poured on the 1/16 chubs that were tied with mallard, floss and UV Minnow Belly. The eyes are Fl. Lime 4mm that glows a cool yellow under the black light. Once the heat get's out of here I want to try these out. The style gunner tied at the bend has been a good bait for me but a bunch of fish swallow them and I think these should have less hooks in the throat. I haven't seen something like this before, could be an original. I hope the blades spin well and they catch a few.View attachment 6View attachment 7View attachment 8View attachment 9

Love the idea! :icon14:
Find the longer silhouette much more convincing than the regular pattern, nice crafting!
Looks like I finally will have to deal with that wire-bending business, too.
BTW killer paintjob with the peper&salt powderpaint, goes very well with the duck and the fluorscent eyes & stuff, just what I need for the big browns in the canal. Thanks for sharing!

Careful there Jim you are starting to border on pure genius. Those look down right KILLER. The only concern I would have is the fish tasting the metal sooner and rejecting it. Seen so much of it on camera while ice fishing. Of course warmer weather fishing the fish tend to be more aggressive. So my concern might be baseless.

Actual field testing will let you know if you have to tweak a little on the length. Anyway excellent , excellent work.

Those look awesome!

Incredibly innovative!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the looks and I bet they will get bit by some big boys!!! Great work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very slick!! That is an awesome idea!!

Squeakyboatcaptain said:

Very slick!! That is an awesome idea!!

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You said it Padna! Great paint too!

Those do look excellent - really like the rubber shirt tail ones. Those eyes do make them POP with color.

The TG's are for sure keyed towards more aggressive fish. I've had a couple days out in the river where i switched AWAY from the gunner's because i watched smallmouth take big slashes at them, but they were tentative and did not want to commit. Other days, they just take them in deep and bend the pole instantly. They are good to throw first off and you get an idea fairly quick for what mood the fish are in that day. Great search patterns too. Pretty much every crappie i have caught on them has been hooked deep and usually don't get many hit/misses from them that i feel through the rod.

Very good idea Jim. Awesome tied jigs and look forward to hearing how they work for you.

Those will get the job done....

I still need to get the blades a little closer to the hook, might have to trim the guards up a bit before tying them in on a #2 like those in the pictures. Right now the wire guards I'm using would be perfect for a #1 hook and could be tied in further down the shank for a bigger hook. For the walleye guys who tie bucktails, etc., this set up would work if you use stinger hooks for short strikers. Other species as well. I'm going to try a few stingers myself.

I think a willow blade would turn with a hook attached to it . punch a hole in the pointy endattach an a small open eye treble to it .

I sure do like your color patterns. Extending the point of attachment for the swivel is great idea in my opinion. I've used a yoke tied with upholstery thread to attach my swivel and blade. I keep it close to the hook bend. Every once in a while, the blade gets wrapped ahead of the bend while fishing one of my tail spin ties. Your design puts an end to that I think.

Last Saturday, I learned of an alternate way to extend and attach swivels to hooks. Will post about it if I get a chance to tie later on this week.

I made a few jigs a couple of years ago that are real close to those. I made them for smallmouth and wintertime fish'n. I tied them with hair on a 1/8 head and I can tell you one thing. You better hang on to the rod when your fish see those, I only tied four for the first trip out and I made 6 cast with them. After those six cast I only had one left. I got broke off 3 times by the fish because of bad line. Those right there are going to get smoked with some serious attitude. I make a swim jig with a poison tail head and silicone skirt and I have a willow blade on the back of the hook with a swivel, the guys in Georgia have put a hurt'n on some Largemouth this year with a few 7-8 pounders. I'm tell'n ya those are going to be deadly...Hang On!!!

I have never messed with real small swivels and that small of a blade on that size hook. I use a 3/0 4/0 hook on my swim jigs and a #1 swivel and a #3-3.5 willow blade with a rubber skirt collar over the split ring then threaded on the hook. The rubber keeps the blade right where it needs to be until a fish is hooked then the assembly just slides down the hook. Not sure if a set up like that might work on that small of a hook but it might be something to look into. I have a section of rubber tubing that I have cut and slid over the hooks after the swivel ring was slid over.The tubing is just enough in diameter to slide on the hook and will never back out over the barb.. I made my first one just like yours but I cut a small arm off of a spinner bait and poured that in a aspirin head mold. I know it can be a pain trying to pour those arms in a head for you blade and swivel attachment

nicely done Jim!