what differences or scenario's would you use a rubber skirt and silicon skirt on spinnerbait or buzzbait?

Silicone looks better because they come in more colors and have glitter impregnated. They also hold up better in the Texas summers. Rubber skirts have better action as long as they are the finer cut rubber. They also hold scent, but they needed to be coated w/ talcum powder when you are storing them to prevent them from melting and sticking to each other.

Action and Scent are the two most important attributes that I am wanting in my Living Rubber Skirts. I want a spinner bait and jig to have all the things that a big Bass will want. My thinking is, if the lure is as real as possible then your chances of hooking up with that big Bass is much greater. I put all my spinner bait skirts through a Minnow Extract bath and all Jig Skirts into the Crayfish bath. These oils help to preserve the skirts for years, along with hand tying each skirt. The rubber rings have different chemicals in them that over time causes a reaction to any other chemicals around it and will deteriorate.

All the test that my Biotech has done on my scents tells me that bass can smell at great distances and will use that predatory instinct to track down it's pray. I want my baits leaving that scent trail in the water to add that extra factor which they are looking for for feeding purposes. This can be accomplished with silicone by spraying the bait more often on fast moving spinner baits. Living rubber on jigs holds the scent much better and slow moving, therefore will not have to be dosed as often to leave that trail through the water.

Taking care of all skirts are important. Make sure they are dry with Baby Powder sprinkled lightly on baits, even silicone will keep for many years to come. The deterioration of the rubber ring on silicone is common and the powder will definitely extend the life. I keep all my living rubber baits in zip page binders so they are compressed and as air tight as possible. Remove all trailers which is a big factor in making your skirts gummy.

I have relied on these two factors to sew up the deal on big fish and it has worked. You will find that the pretty skirts are not necessary. With all the living rubber stripe materials I can make some of the best looking skirts out there.

I would like to add a couple of other things that living rubber does or can accomplish.
- Individual strands that are free on the upside of a jig continue to float and move around when the jig is dead still on the bottom. This is a big plus as those strands move and float around. Bass love that slight movement after the fact.
- You can control the fall with the density or fullness of the skirt on your size selections. This is what the medium and regular sizes of rubber are best used for. They work very well to bulk up a heavy jig with less strands of rubber. I loved the old thick flat strands on a jig which is not available any longer. The skirt would only have about 10 strands but that was more than enough and man, they would catch big bass.

I personally can't see skirt actin making much of a difference on a moving bait like a buzzbait. The bubble trail alone is gonna blur most of it out. Its not like a buzzbait is a stop and pause bait.


Jigs yes it makes a difference. Moving baits besides frogs not so much.

It's the difference between a minnow drug through the water and one swimming through the water.

I still will respectfully disasgree. If a fish can see the skirt action that closely on a buzzbait then i say they can see the blade and hook as well. Thats just my take. Results and opinions may vary.

One of the buzzbaits that I have is called a Do-Drop-In, Made by Billy Phillips back in the late 70's and designed to fish beside the Duck Weed that grows in abundance along the banks of the Tenn. River. It has double thin line blades one behind the other on a hinged upper arm. It comes to the surface really quick; but when I put the heavy rubber skirt on it, you can pull it ultra slow and let it fall in, helicoptering down in the holes of the vegetation in the good looking spots. Back in that day this one thing made the difference in catching big sacks.

There are a great number of baits that it really doesn't matter which skirt you use. One is as good as the other. For me it comes down to building a select few that living rubber makes them 100% better in conjunction with your presentation. The bait must provide the Bass with all the senses; a bait that is as real as possible, as it looks real, smells real, taste real, moves real and sounds real. Put it all on every bait you throw and feel the difference when you set the hook.

One thing I've notice, & IJMO, no matter the material. On a spinnerbait, the shirt can have too many strands. Not letting the skirt move during the retrieve.

I would think that rubber stranded jigs would have more"intrinsic action" i.e. action that is present when the lure is just sitting or shaken in place. So I tied up a few to experiment with. This might take awhile though since I don't fish a lure in place that much...

There are some Silicone patterns that I really like on my swim jigs; but it has to be the Holographic combinations. The jig on the LEFT is in Living Rubber to compliment the Hologram Silicone skirt on the RIGHT. Just not as pretty. It still all comes down to holding scent and living rubber is the best at that.