Saturday, May 8, 2021

Hairwing Streamers aka Bucktails

The bucktail, man what a perfect fly tying material. If you follow this blog you well know i love streamer flies. Many of the feather wing Rangeley style flies are represented here. These flies are gorgeous and truly works of art. But they are fishing flies and will get it done when called upon.

But this is about the meat and potato flies called bucktails. These flies have a basic simple body, some color in the form of hackle fibers and hair form a whitetail deer. The buck tail comes in natural and many dyed colors. Your imagination can run wild when creating these flies. Although I used the whole tail in selecting the hair I especially like the back of the tail for my bucktail streamers. The natural is just super and the colored ones although primarily brown have a tint of the dye of the color. This is subtle but when wet makes a big difference.
 

 

Here are a few hairwing streamer flies. In here are bucktails and some squirrel tailed streamers.
 

As you can see I tie them both on the sparse side and some a little more fuller.
 

This simple bucktail was tied using the backside of the tail. You can see the nice taper along with the lighter front and a darker tail.
 

In this one, a squirrel tail is tied a little fuller. Squirrel tail will fill out near the head as it moves through the water, a beautiful impression.
 

This male brook trout took the bucktail as it moved swiftly through the stream.
 

This brook trout took the squirrel tail very aggressively  as it was stripped quickly.

I will post just how to tie these in a future post.
 

 

16 comments:

  1. Hi when i tie the smaller size bucktails I use Kip tails instead I feel it gives the fly more action in the water

    Jack

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    Replies
    1. Jack
      Thanks
      Jack calftail is a good substitute. The only issue with calftail is has a tendency to make the streamer float. It does not sink in the water column like bucktail. I will say that if you can access a high quality calftail, one that has straight hair and not kinky that will work.

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  2. The spots are amazing on that second fish!

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    Replies
    1. Shawn
      Thanks
      Shawn he is a handsome fellow. He came in fast and furious at that streamer.

      Delete
  3. Very nice ties Alan. I'm a sucker for squirrel tails and small salmon up eye hooks.

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    1. billp
      Thanks
      Bill I to like to tie and fish these types of flies. It's surprising just how little a fish will explode on these types of flies.

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  4. This is how you say Alan, I am in love with the bucktail streamers .... whenever I tied them I did more than necessary ... these are seen to be very effective ...very nice brookies...

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    Replies
    1. Armando Milosevic
      Thanks
      Armando they are effective. they are simple and not requiring a lot of expensive materials. They get the job done when fished.

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  5. Bucktail has been in my arsenal right from the beginning. The bucktail streamer was one of the first patterns my grandfather ever taught me to tie. I probably tie more with squirrel these days, though.

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    Replies
    1. mike
      Thanks
      Mike I read somewhere that bucktail is the "classic" material for streamer flies in New England. Squirrel is nice but oh so slippery when tying it in.

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  6. Of course Alan, I have to throw out my favorite and it is a Rangeley fly and mighty patriotic. The Montreal Bucktail Whore. Fly of the month in December 2013. You can see it by Googling Montreal Whore. Surprisingly the Brookies that were in Caples Lake before they drained it and moved them to Red Lake, liked that color combination. Unfortunately one can't fish Red Lake now because of green algae contamination.

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    Replies
    1. Mark Kautz
      Thanks
      Mark, check this out https://smallstreamreflections.blogspot.com/2014/09/going-fishing-with-few-whores.html it has been a staple in my fly box for years.
      Buddy it seems you can't catch a break...

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  7. Alan, the streamers are gorgeous! In the 2nd photo with the split fly box, in the center at the bottom there's a blue / green streamer. May I ask what the pattern is please? Thanks

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    1. John V.
      Thanks
      John that is a generic smelt pattern. It's in a group of flies known as "blue smelt" they are common in deep cold water lakes and are a forage for trout and landlock salmon. I'll do a post on these slim streamers.

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  8. Alan
    Have you fished any of these streamers in slow water? I would assume they would attract a hit. Healthy looking brook trout---thanks for sharing

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    Replies
    1. Bill Trussell
      Thanks
      Bill I do fish them in slow waters, even in lakes and they get it done there.

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