Old school rubber skirts

[rowyourboat]

Do any of you guys still use the old school style rubber skirts?

on spinnerbaits or jigs?

top 2 finishers in the classic used them.  I have several old ones.  But never throw them.  

Whats your experience? 

[Backwoods bassin]

Well generally the older style skirts are a bit wider and produce more flow as the are swam or worked. This is something I've heard a lot about in the past couple weeks.  Some argue old school skirts are better and with the extra flow they produce I don't doubt it. 

[Bassfishing375]

I have quite a few rubber jigs. I have always found that I catch bigger fish on the rubber skirts. You definitely should try one.

[Dyerbassman]

I like the rubber skirts.  Buckeye Lures mop jigs have some beefy rubber skirts that I've caught some hefty bass on.  I also have a few jigs with a rubber/silicone mix.

I have yet to use a spinnerbait regularly with a rubber skirt though.  Maybe I should be....?

[Catt]

I use them on both spinnerbaits & jigs mostly for a different profile.

I do not find one out produces the other.

I also use round cut skirt material 

[Jeff H]

I still have some flat strand bulk from years ago I need to use up.  I've got some really nice heads from Siebert that would be deserving of this material.  Will have to get on it soon.  I like it better but you gotta make sure you get it dried out good before throwing it back in your box.

[J._Bricker]

I still have a few latex rubber skirts similar to what came on the Hank Parker "The Classic" spinnerbait.  The skirt had great action in the water, but heat and lack of moisture caused them to "gum up" and have to be replaced after a few days use.  Current rubber skirts solved the problem, but IMO doesn't impart the same action as that flat strand latex....

[WRB]

Rubber skirts come in a few types; wide cut flat rubber like mentioned for Hula Poppers, living rubber that comes in round strands, square strands and frog hair or fine cut strands and vinyl flat wide cut strands. 

I am not aware of anyone today making vinyl or wide flat cut rubber skirts.

What you more than likely are referring to is living rubber skirts hand tied, available from site sponsor Siebert and other jig makers offering finesse jigs to mop jigs.

Tom

[Jrob78]

1 hour ago, MountainMan83 said:

Is this similar to the skirt material on a hula popper?

Yes, very similar.  

I grew up fishing H&H spinnerbaits with rubber skirts.  Haven't fished a sb with a rubber skirt since then.

[Catt]

Fishing Skirts 100% gum rubber

H & H Lure Co

 

[Jaderose]

Yep....the H&H have those gnarly old rubber skirts.  They catch lots of fish.

[tander]

I still throw spinnerbaits with the rubber skirts. The spinnerbait that I use still comes with the rubber skirts and old twist tie. I think it gives a different look. It still catches fish.

[scaleface]

I still have some old ones .The chartreuse blue was always a real good fish catcher .

[Turtle135]

All the jig skirts I tie have some rubber in them (some have all rubber). My best producing jig is half a tab of black round rubber & half a tab of brown rubber (I can wire tie one up in about 30 seconds).

If you want the flat square rubber skirt making material " fishingskirts . com " still carries that. I am going to pick some up and give it a try.

[smalljaw67]

There are a few types of rubber you can get and there is one company that still makes a vinyl skirt. What you read was Edwin Evers and another angler used jigs tied with flat line rubber, it is the old square rubber but now they make it in tabs like silicone. The jig Evers used had both flat line rubber and silicone and I can tell you what the difference is between silicone, round rubber and flat rubber. Silicone actually has a more fluid movement than rubber in the water but it moves slower, the round rubber separates quicker than silicone because it is more buoyant so when a jig tied with round rubber hits the bottom the skirt opens up quickly and the strands begin to move right away. The flat line rubber does one thing well, and that is it displaces more water and that is why guys like it, especially on a small jig that is being used in dirty or off colored water, the fact that it is wide make it heavier than the round rubber so it doesn't have the same buoyancy and instead when you move the jig the skirt displaces water but it isn't a good jig for lightly stained water in that way, it works better on jigs that move a lot like when flipping. Finesse jigs that you drag and stop tend to work better with different material but if you have off color water and you hop it, then the flat rubber will displace more water and the fish can feel it a lot easier than other types of material.

[rowyourboat]

23 minutes ago, smalljaw67 said:

There are a few types of rubber you can get and there is one company that still makes a vinyl skirt. What you read was Edwin Evers and another angler used jigs tied with flat line rubber, it is the old square rubber but now they make it in tabs like silicone. The jig Evers used had both flat line rubber and silicone and I can tell you what the difference is between silicone, round rubber and flat rubber. Silicone actually has a more fluid movement than rubber in the water but it moves slower, the round rubber separates quicker than silicone because it is more buoyant so when a jig tied with round rubber hits the bottom the skirt opens up quickly and the strands begin to move right away. The flat line rubber does one thing well, and that is it displaces more water and that is why guys like it, especially on a small jig that is being used in dirty or off colored water, the fact that it is wide make it heavier than the round rubber so it doesn't have the same buoyancy and instead when you move the jig the skirt displaces water but it isn't a good jig for lightly stained water in that way, it works better on jigs that move a lot like when flipping. Finesse jigs that you drag and stop tend to work better with different material but if you have off color water and you hop it, then the flat rubber will displace more water and the fish can feel it a lot easier than other types of material.

Also, Christie was using them on his spinnerbaits I believe. check out Yum's facebook page. they posted a pic a few days ago

[J._Bricker]

 Catt, thanks for posting a picture of the skirt I attempted to describe.  And I appreciate knowing I can still get them, as I had pretty much given up the search.  The photo shows two different styles I used to get from a tackle shops' bulk bins a long time ago.  Good fishing all, JB

[WRB]

1 hour ago, J._Bricker said:

 Catt, thanks for posting a picture of the skirt I attempted to describe.  And I appreciate knowing I can still get them, as I had pretty much given up the search.  The photo shows two different styles I used to get from a tackle shops' bulk bins a long time ago.  Good fishing all, JB

+1

[Catt]

1 hour ago, J._Bricker said:

 Catt, thanks for posting a picture of the skirt I attempted to describe.  And I appreciate knowing I can still get them, as I had pretty much given up the search.  The photo shows two different styles I used to get from a tackle shops' bulk bins a long time ago.  Good fishing all, JB

 Fishing Skirts web site is the ones you might want to look at.

They offer the world's largest selection of skirt material & jig heads designed by Gary Klein & Cliff Pace.

[SwampLife]

Im throwing rubber 98% of the time.. For some reason that's what works best for me where I live...when talking about spinnerbaits If it's not a Humdinger or Rumba Doll I'm probably not throwing it 

[Raul]

I used to fish with living rubber skirts many many years ago until the day I got bored of them drying out, becoming brittle and breaking to pieces, thanks to the All Mighty for silicone ! 

I have not found so far any difference in the catch ratio of silicone vs living rubber.

[SwampLife]

1 hour ago, Raul said:

I used to fish with living rubber skirts many many years ago until the day I got bored of them drying out, becoming brittle and breaking to pieces, thanks to the All Mighty for silicone ! 

I have not found so far any difference in the catch ratio of silicone vs living rubber.

KVD line & Lure does wonders against the skirt sticking.. Only problem I have is the solid white will turn a slightly off white.. But still catches fish.. 

 

 

[JT Bagwell]

I wondered if that Bassmaster Live coverage from the classic would generate some talk about this subject.

Interesting to see how dialed in those guys were on subtle things like the skirt material.