Catching Walleye: Key Upgrades for Your Tackle Box
VMC® Bucktail Jigs are available in two new color patterns and four new sizes. The new patterns are Purple Albino and Shad. The new sizes are 1/32nd, 1/16th, ½, ¾ and 1 oz.
Purple Albino – Purple and chartreuse skirt, purple, white and yellow head with a red collar.
Shad – White and gray skirt with a white head and red collar.
The Bucktail Jig's head design provides added control and balance for a variety of jigging techniques. Bucktail hair maintains its shape in water, presenting gamefish a larger target to attack. Tinsel fibers complement Bucktail Jigs' skirts to enhance visual appeal.
"In all kinds of conditions and on different kinds of waters, the reaction bite we get on this bait is amazing," said legendary angler Al Lindner, a Rapala Pro and co-founder of In-Fisherman and host of the influential Angling Edge and Fishing Edge TV shows. Linder collaborated with VMC, a Rapala Respected Brand, to design and engineer the new Bucktail Jig.
"The head on it is shaped like a pear, so it's heavily weight-forward," Lindner explained. "So when you jump it off the bottom and then slack-line it on the fall, it crashes straight down, really fast. It doesn't jump and glide forward, like you see with some other jigs. You snap it, you drop it and it crashes. And that's what's triggering the fish."
For aggressive bites, fish a VMC Bucktail Jig in six to 12 feet of water. Start by jigging it fast and unadorned. Slow down and dress the hook with live bait to entice finicky fish. Cooler water temps allow you to fish Bucktail Jigs faster, shallower and without a trailer bait on the hook. Warmer water temps often necessitate a slower, deeper presentation and a live-bait or soft-plastic trailer. In shallower water, Linder throws smaller Bucktail Jigs. In deeper water, he upsizes to larger models.
VMC Bucktail Jigs are armed with a premium high-carbon steel, chemically sharpened needle-point sharp VMC hook. In addition to the two new color patterns, VMC Bucktail Jigs are also available in Black, Chartreuse White, Fathead, Green Fire UV, Orange Fire UV, Firetiger, Pink Fire UV and White. "The color mix for walleyes is perfect," Lindner said.
VMC's new Quik-Strike trailer-hook rigs and Snelled Baitholder rig give anglers more options and increased efficiency, helping them bring more fish into their boats.
Three new trailer-hook rigs make use of VMC's new Crossover Cap technology to help anglers easily customize their offerings with a stinger hook – the Bladed Hybrid Quik Strike Trailer Hook, the Quik Strike Trailer Treble Hook and the Quik Strike Trailer Single Hook.
Uniquely designed to enable anglers to quickly customize bait presentations with multiple "tricks," VMC's Crossover Cap creates a perfectly matched, no-slip connection from a hook to a VMC Open-Eye Rolling Swivel or VMC Spring Keeper. From the connected swivel or spring keeper, you can securely attach trailers and stinger hooks of multiple types.
"There's a lot of jigs that you can't use a stinger hook on unless you use this new system," says Tony Roach, an in-demand Minnesota fishing guide. "And it so easy – you put the cap over the clip, thread your main hook right through it, and then voila! You can start using stinger hooks on any jig you have. Your stinger hook is attached inside the connector, but the cap's there, so it can't get free because there's that rubber material there."
Three new trailer-hook rigs make use of VMC's new Crossover Cap technology to help anglers easily customize their offerings with a stinger hook – the Bladed Hybrid Quik Strike Trailer Hook, the Quik Strike Trailer Treble Hook and the Quik Strike Trailer Single Hook.
The Bladed Hybrid Quik Strike Trailer Hook rig features a No. 10 short-shank, Hi-Carbon Steel, VMC Hybrid Treble Hook tricked out with a resin-sealed swivel and willow blade that generates maximum rotation and flash. It trails your main hook on a 12-pound-test Sufix Fluorocarbon Leader connected via a VMC Crossover Cap and Fast-Snap Connector. It's available, two per pack, in two sizes (2-inch and 3-inch) and two hook colors (black nickel and tin red).
The Quik Strike Trailer Treble Hook rig features a No. 10, Hi-Carbon Steel VMC Round-Bend Treble Hook. It trails your main hook on a 12-pound-test Sufix Fluorocarbon Leader connected via a VMC Crossover Cap and Fast-Snap Connector. It's available, three per pack, in two sizes (2-inch and 3-inch) and two hook colors (Black Nickel and Tin Red).
The Quik Strike Trailer Single Hook rig features a No. 4, Hi-Carbon Steel, VMC Techset Live-Bait Hook. It trails your main hook on a 12-pound-test Sufix Fluorocarbon Leader connected via a VMC Crossover Cap and Fast-Snap Connector. Its available, three per pack, in two sizes (2-inch and 3-inch) and two hook colors (Black Nickel and Tin Red).
Precision hand-tied performance and premium components make VMC's new Snelled Baitholder stand out from competitors. Features that provide the best action and help it last longer include a chemically-sharpened baitholder hook and premium, clear Sufix Monofilament.
VMC Snelled Baitholders measure 7 inches. They come 6 per pack in ten options: No. 12 hook, 10-pound-test; No. 10 hook, 10-pound-test; No. 8 hook, 10-pound-test; No. 6 hook, 25-pound-test; ; No. 4 hook, 25-pound-test; ; No. 2 hook, 25-pound-test; ; No. 1 hook, 25-pound-test; ; 1/0 hook, 40-pound-test; 2/0 hook, 40-pound-test; 3/0 hook, 40-pound-test.
See VMC® Bladed Hybrid Quik Strike Trailer Hook
See VMC® Quik Strike Trailer Treble Hook
See VMC® Quik Strike Trailer Single Hook
