MATERIALS USED
Hook size: # 1, 2 or 4 saltwater hook
Tail: Bucktail in White, Brown or Olive
Couple strands of Krystal flash in Mother of pearl or Hot dyed pink
Thread: Danville 140 Denier,colour to match Bucktail
Head: UV resin, Head cement or 5min Clear rapid epoxy.
Eyes: 4-6mm Flat stick on eyes
Extras: Sparkle/Mylar braid in Pearl Colour (optional)
Weight: Lead wire can be wrapped onto the hook before the tying off the bucktail tuft’s start (optional)
STEP BY STEP
Step 1
Start thread 4-5mm from hook eye. Where the thread start acts as a marker to know where the last tie in point of the bucktail must end.
Step 2
Tie in Bucktail 1.5 to 2 times the length of the hook shank, using the pinch wrap method.
Cut redundant bucktail off at an angle.
Tie natural colour bucktail on the top half of the fly and white bucktail on the bottom.
Try to tie the natural colour on the top half of the hook shank,
with the white bucktail covering the bottom half of the hook shank.
Secure first tuft of tied in bucktail with half hitch.
Use saliva to shape the bucktail fibre’s.
Step3
Repeat step 2 by tying the next tuft of bucktail in front of the first tuft.
A bigger tuft of bucktail can be tied in covering the thread that was used to tie in the first tuft of bucktail.
Step4
Optional – Tie in 4-6 strands of Crystal flash in mother of pearl or any other preferred colour.
Next tuft of bucktail covers the crystal flash , but still allows for the occasional flash as the fly is retrieved.
Step5
Repeat step3
Step6
Optional – Tie in Crystal flash or Mylar braid/Sparkle braid up to the hook eye and tie off.
Step7
Attach 4-5mm flat stick on eyes, preferably 2/3 up from the centre of the hook shank.
If head cement of resin is used to build the head, use super glue to secure the eyes.
Step8
UV Resin, place some resin on top of the hook shank between the two eyes and then curing it with the UV torch. Follow this up by placing resin at the bottom of the hook shank between the eyes.
After eyes are secured, the rest of the head can be built up using the UV Resin.
Side notes:
I cannot recall where I saw this pattern, but I have been tying this pattern for the last two years and have adapted the way I tie it, to create a sleeker look with a taper towards the tail.
This is more a tying style than a specific pattern for me, different materials and colours can be used to replace the bucktail.
When using smaller (size 2) hooks to tie the fly, only 4 tuft’s (2 top and 2 bottom) of bucktail can be tied in to create a smaller profile baitfish.
I use a saliva to shape the bucktail after tying in each tuft.
Fishing the fly:
I prefer to fish this pattern on an intermediate line, retrieving it with long slow strips.
I normally switch over to this pattern after getting a couple of chases from garrick on surface patterns but not getting the hook up.
The pattern is also effective in areas where small baitfish are forced off a flat or shallow channel into a deeper channel of the estuary as the tide drops.
Tight Lines
Devan Lagendyk (Port Elizabeth Fly Tying Guild)
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