Baby Bucktail

Several years ago, while sorting through some of my Dad's old lambskin fly wallets, I came across two tiny bucktails. Then I remembered Dad's story of how they got there.

Going back many years ago, just after the state bought out the old club with it's 10 miles of stream on the Big Flatbrook (Late 40's or early 50's), Dad was fishing one beautiful morning quite unsuccessfully for several hours and sat down for a break with coffee and a sandwich. As he relaxed, an angler came through the stretch, catching and releasing fish after fish. He stopped to chat and gave Dad some of his self tied unnamed flies -tiny bucktails on sized 12 and 14 hooks - sparse deer hair and a hint of herl. These were retrieved fast with little jerks. It became one of Dad s favorites when nothing seemed to be rising.

I cleaned these up a little, sharpened the hooks and tried them on some of the small streams over in North Central Penna. - Gray's Run and White Deer Creek. The Brookies and Rainbows would aggressively chase them down. No record sized trout but it was fun. They must represent some kind of fry and perhaps some of our chapter members can add to the story and even give them a name ????

With my improving vocabulary (courtesy of Walt's fly tying class ), here is the recipe.

Hook: Mustad 9671 12, 14
Thread: - Black 6/0
Tail: - Light Dun wing quill segment
Body: - Peacock Herl - sparse
Wing: - Natural bucktail with brown and white - sparse
Hackle: - sparse white at neck


Harvey Roberson