J.E.F. Bucktails (Guest Review)
by John McKean

Before the big interstates were everywhere, I used to journey north from our Pittsburgh home with my family on two -lanes through sleepy little burgs in the Allegheny national forest. In those wide-eyed days of my youth, the trip was truly magical, driving through the gorgeous combination of woods, mountains, and the scenic, relatively unspoiled, upper Allegheny River. That area was well known for its fantastic smallmouth, walleye, and musky fishing, and deer hunting was the best in the nation. Appropriately, when I started fishing this sportsman's Heaven, the deer played a prominent role - every shop I visited featured one main lure - a bulky, heavy lead head bucktail known as a "Tionesta Jig" (after the small river community where they were produced). These jigs were very neat, simple, and tied quite full - wall filling displays and sales by the card load indicated they did their job quite well. And, though designed for bigger fish, it is reputed that these big bucks caught more smallies by accident than all other lures combined did on purpose!

Early one foggy fall morning I lucked into one out-of-the-way, musty, little tackle shop by the river. Turned out this little basement and cottage above was the HOME of Tionesta jigs! Excited, I inquired of the kindly older gent, who had introduced himself as Mr. Harold Avery, about special colors (most were plain white bucktail or yellow only) he may produce. He chuckled and said, "Follow me, son, I'll have you talk to the jig tyer!" Taking me upstairs to his residence I met Grace, his wife, and the most awesome site a dedicated jig fisherman could see - tied bucktails hanging from lines EVERYWHERE - living room, kitchen, dining room, etc.! Seems ol' Grace spent all her time tying jigs and watching soap operas on tv! But she really had a knack for constructing the bucktail; I've never seen one approach her simple elegance........until recently.

Again, it was by blind luck that I ran into a home based jig tyer's website (no longer online) - called J.E.F. Lures - and, once again, the master craft man was quick to inform me that she was actually a master craft WOMAN! Must be something about a woman's touch toward creating serious, functional, perfect bucktails, 'cause Katherine's are the absolute best I've ever seen (colors, action, and balance giving her the edge over my favorites from yesteryear).

J.E.F.'s bucktails are fashioned to give a wide, flaring, thick, bucktail skirt, and feature long colorful hackle feathers out the back. The hefty, perfectly proportioned tie yields a tasty looking, pulsating body during even a slow, steady retrieve, and constant kicking tail feathers that look so alive as to make plastic baits appear, well, artificial! Ever the perfectionist, Katherine won't allow any of her creations to leave her tying table until it meets her extremely critical expectations of exactly how a world class jig should look and function!

These days some smallie fishermen seem to shy away from full-bodied jigs. But, as famous fly fisherman Lefty Kreh often observes, "Big bass want grocereries when they feed, not a light snack!". And, just like Lefty's world renowned Deceiver fly (which the J.E.F. bucktail sorta resembles in a lead head mode), Katherine's finely tuned jig pushes a lot of water to alert big bass that a banquet is comin' his way!

J.E.F. bucktails come in any color combo you may desire . I personally prefer having the wing and belly of contrasting colors, such as chartreuse over white, with maybe dark green tail feathers, and thin strands of krystal flash. Sized at 1/8 oz up to over an ounce, I like the small hooked 1/8 and 1/4 ozer's for river smallies and the heavier models for stripers, pike, and saltwater. Oh, and the best part - Katherine only charges a buck each (yep, that's correct - $1!!!!) for these smaller numbers (slightly more for heavier models), with a mere three buck shipping charge! Contact her at J.E.F. Lures - 339 Chickadee Lane Lugoff, S.C. 29078.