Deer hair - Tail

All about flies Fly Tying
1

I have just been given a deer tail for tying and am looking for ideas. I fish mostly small streams in SW Pa and wanted to try some dries too.

Soliciting ideas.

Thanks,
paff

2

pa,

Tails and wings on dry flies, wings on streamers.

Allan

3

Allan - Thanks.

4

paff:

Deer tail or buck tail is a solid hair that is usually used in wet fly patterns where you want the fly to sink. Their main use is in streamer patterns (Micky Finn, etc) but they can be used for tails on nymph patterns.

Dr Bob

5

Deer tail also works well in tying the Thunder Creek series of minnow imitations.

Jim Smith

6

paff,

Bucktail, which is what I think you have there, is great for Clouser Minnows, too. On small streams, you could little ones with small lead eyes, or bead chain. For dries, I know some of the Wulffs can be tied with bucktail wings - I like calf tail better, since most of the ones I tie are #12-18.

Regards,
ScottP

7

Bucktail is what I have. I am looking for a beginner or easier clouser or minnow pattern to use these.

thanks folks!

paff

8

this is off the subject but I probably live in a fairly close proximaty, western md. Do you fish the yough at all?

9

Do a search for “black nose dace”. It is an excellent bucktail pattern and not too hard to tie. “Thunder creek” is another one but a little more difficult to master.

Ron M

10

Clousers are pretty easy to tie. Instructions and video can be found at:

[url=http://shop.flyfishing.about.com/fly_archive/details/1215.htm:f4187]http://shop.flyfishing.about.com/fly_archive/details/1215.htm[/url:f4187]

[url=http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/TyingClouserMinnow1.wmv:f4187]http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/TyingClouserMinnow1.wmv[/url:f4187]

[url=http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/TyingClouserMinnow2address.wmv:f4187]http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/TyingClouserMinnow2address.wmv[/url:f4187]

Bob Clouser’s book on the subject can be seen at:

[url=http://flyfisherman.com/northeast/bobclouserqa/:f4187]http://flyfisherman.com/northeast/bobclouserqa/[/url:f4187]

or his own site:

[url=http://www.clouserflyfishing.com/clousersflies.html:f4187]http://www.clouserflyfishing.com/clousersflies.html[/url:f4187]

While the original Clouser Minnow is tied in a fairly large sized, I’ve had good luck using them on clear trout streams (where I’ve been able to see the trout take the fly multiple times).

I tied mine much smaller using an old size 9 (yes, nine…says so on the package) hook. His book I believe suggests tying these small as well as the original size but I read that long after I first downsized some on my own.

11

This week’s Fly Of The Week uses a good amount of bucktail. Also try decievers.

12

Thwack,
Do the 9’s have a limerick bend?
…lee s.

13

rookie - Sorry don’t get out to the yough to fish.

Thwack - thanks a ton for the links!
Ron Mason - thanks - I will try the dace.

14

Lee S - I’ll have to check next time I’m at my tying desk. I have a pack of them right on top waiting for me to tie some little marabou streamers for a trip this summer.

I bought a few packs of these at a fishing show a couple years ago because they’re barbless and look about like a streamer hook (longer than normal shank, I thought, but lighter wire than I’d normally want in a streamer…it’s OK in size 9 especially for unweighted streamers since I’ll be fishing these on a sinking line downstream).

I tried digging up some hook charts online just now to see if I could spot it. The closest TMC barbless I could find is the 900BL. It is 1XF, but appears to be standard length so I’m not sure if it’s the same. I’ll have to check the packaging.

[This message has been edited by Thwack (edited 10 March 2006).]

15

I can’t find my pack of size 9’s but I did find a pack of size 19’s (yes, nineteen) and they list the lengths for all the different sizes of this style hook. In a size 9, the hooks are 3X long (which is why I nabbed them for streamers).

They’re a TMC 109BL’s. Down eye, 1X Fine, wide gape. Sizes 7-9 are 3X Long. Sizes 11-19 are 1X Long.

These are forged, black hooks. They’re marked as being for dry flies, but the longer versions can still be used for a streamer though at 1X Fine, it’ll be a pretty light streamer.