Buckeye Lures J-Will Swimbait head

Fishing tackle ebbs and flows like the tides on famous fisheries like the Potomac River or the California Delta. Things are hot for a while then flame out. Then new strategies and techniques come along and make old products like new again. Obviously the Alabama Rig has been discussed, debated, lamented and praised. But one thing it has done without question is sell a lot more jigheads and swimbaits.

We’re not going to debate the merits of the Alabama rig but rather take a look at one small component to it that has really been good for us. Buckeye Lures came out with the J-Will swimbait head a couple years ago in response to the boom of paddle tail, hollow bodied swimbaits that were all the rage just a few years ago. The head has a lot of interesting features that make it unique from just a standard jighead and we’ve been testing them for quite some time.

The heads range in weight from 1/8 up to 3/4 ounce. The feature a Mustad Ultra Point Heavy Gauge Flipping Hook for amazing strength and confidence for the angler. It’s very common to catch larger than average bass on swimbaits, whether you’re fishing one or five and with this extra strong hook, you don’t have to worry about a big bass or striper bending your hook and getting loose.

j-will-zoom-swim-fluke.jpg

The hook is a straight-eye that is angled slightly upward. That hook angle allows the jighead and swimbait to come over cover a lot easier without rolling over on its side and snagging the hook on the cover. It also gives you a good angle on the hookset.

The rolled conical head shaped allows for a swimbait to snug up inside the head and makes it perfect for super gluing your swimbaits in place for all-day, worry-free fishing. Each head is custom painted, although they have started producing unpainted heads in response to requests for lighter unpainted heads for umbrella rig fishing.

The final aspect of the jighead we like is the conical cupped keeper. It doesn’t look like much and is really simple to get the bait to slide on straight. But if you slide a solid head up onto the keeper slowly and then pinch it and pull it back just slightly, it will really lock the bait in place.

The baits come three to a pack for around $5.29. They are more expensive than a lot of other heads, but with heavy duty hooks, custom painting and more great features, you’re going to want to pay a little more. To see more about these or pick up a few packs to try, visit Tacklewarehouse.com or buckeyelures.com.

Buckeye-j-will-berkley-spli.jpg

As an Amazon Associate, we may earn income when you click on an Amazon link. We also earn affiliate commissions off of other partner links. For a list of our affiliate partners, visit our retail partners page. Your link clicks help us fund the work we do for the fishing community.