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Hi, Gandolf
I don't know if Steve ever shared with you the successes that I've had with the Stayner Ducktail or not, but I know he had become a fan of it as well (I'm sure he told you about HIS success with it!). Tied without weight, the chenille body makes it sink slightly under the surface. With a bead head and maybe some more weight wrapped around the shank, it sinks as deep as you want it to. It is a very versatile and highly effective fly and you can tie it as small or as large as you think the bream want it. And bass love it, too, if you don't mind catching a few of them while you're after bream!
Joe
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This time of year I switch back to all black leeches for bream, especially around the brush lines or tree tops. As the water gets cooler and the fish move a bit deeper, I switch over to Carter's Sculphin tied in basic black with grizzly collar. I fish this pattern all winter with good success on big bream, crappie and the occasional LM bass thrown in the mix.
Jim Smith
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stayner ducktail
I need to add this about the stayner ducktail it can be a killer on shellcrackers when fished
below a strike indicator--I caught several this past couple of weeks when fishing a reservoir in east Alabama.
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Hi Joe,
Thanks for the post. It made me think of Steve. I had thought of him just the other day when I went out after bluegill.
Steve did mention it a few times, that he had been using one some, that he liked the pattern, and that he had had some success with it.
I have missed Steve this summer. Because of my schedule in the past, I had not gotten to fish much, but this winter Steve and I had talked about fishing more together this summer, as I was going to have more time than in the past.
What sizes do you tie it in for the various species? Do you tie many weighted? I have a few, #10s and #12s, none of them weighted, but maybe I need to tie some weighted ones. Steve was one of the reasons I tied some. Do you tie it in the alternative colors that are mentioned in the warmwater feature on it in this web site. (I think it was called the Blond Stayner.)
How do you fish it?
Thanks and regards,
Gandolf
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Hi, Gandolf
The blond one with the yellow/olive variegated chenille is the most productive one I've used. You can use any color at all for the body - and it certainly doesn't have to be chenille. There is one variation called the "'Lectric Ducktail" (I saw it in "Southwest Fly Fishing", I think) that uses much brighter metallic chenilles in different colors. I've made some dubbing brushes in "bass" colors and some in "bream" colors that work great, too.
When I'm tying them now, I'll tie 2 weighted to 1 unweighted.
As far as size, #8's and #10's in a 2XL hook (I use Mustad #9271) are about as large as I go. They tend to helicopter on the cast and on the retrieve if they get any bigger than that (at least mine do).
I think the key is to use an erratic retrieve with short jerks and then a pause. Looking at them in the water, it is amazing how much that simple little fly looks like a swimming baitfish.
Joe
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update: Just went out to a local pond this morning before work. Fished a small popper with a soft hackle dropper. Caught most of the gills and the one bass of the morning on the popper. However, the two biggest gills (8 inches each) came on the soft hackle fished about 2 foot below the popper.
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Update: Yesterday evening I went to my favorite municipal lake to try for some bluegills or crappies. The myakka minnow ceased working but a yellow bead head boa yarn leech worked fine. Once I put it on my catch rate was probably as good as or maybe even a bit better than a spin fisherman using a bobber & worms.
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Had alot of luck this weekend with a simple unweighted yellow chenille wooly worm with a short red yarn tail..no hackle. Size 10-12.stripped steady at about 10-18" below the surface. I tried a couple of other patterns with no interest before that but when that hit the water they came alive...
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Did real well with a size 14 squirrel tail hot spot orange....14 small gill and 1 14" bass on a farm pond here in Alabama...Rob
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Here in TN, the panfish are starting to come out of thier summer doldrums. Morning and evening are the best times. Fish are 5-10' deep for the most part, in and around structure. I've been tearing them up with black, slow-sinking Pom-Pom spiders, size 10. They are hitting nympths aggressively as well, especially damelfly nympths. My best patttern for that is the Twisted Damsel, sz. 14.