#bream flies

This morning I tied up a mess of tiny poppers for panfish in anticipation of warmer weather to come. These little poppers are perfect early season offerings when the fish start looking up. I create popper bodies out of a variety of materials, including foam, cork, balsa wood, and hard plastic. All of the materials mentioned are great options for making panfish bugs, but for the tiny poppers, I like hard-bodied foam.

I build these hard foam poppers using the Perfect Popper kits from Waspi. These kits are available in a variety of sizes from a tiny size 12 Bream Popper up to large saltwater sizes. For panfish, I like the two smallest sizes, the size 10 & 12 Bream Poppers. These small hard-bodied poppers are perfect for bluegills and other panfish. They are incredibly durable, something that is important when dealing with tiny poppers like this. Other materials like cork, foam, and wood can be on the delicate side when dealing with poppers this small. The hard foam bodies are nearly indestructible despite their minuscule size.

As I mentioned earlier, these poppers are available as a kit. The Bream Poppers are sold in a package with ten bodies and ten hooks. The white foam can be easily colored with permanent markers, paint, or airbrushes. Assembling the popper could not be any easier. Before UV resin came on the market, I would build these poppers by putting a single layer of fine thread on the hook shank, coat this wrapping with a layer of superglue and wedge the hook into the precut grove on the bottom of the popper. These days I omit the thread wraps and apply the glue right to the hook shank and insert it into the groove. I then fill that slot with UV resin and cure it. The result is the hook is permanently bonded to the hard foam body.

The next step is to add some color to the body. My preferred method, and by far the easiest, is to use permanent markers. Markers allow you to easily create solid colors or intricate patterns quickly and easily with no fuss or mess. To protect that new finish, I usually give the popper body a coat of Loon Soft Head. Loon Soft Head is unique in that it will not cause the ink from the permanent markers to run when I give them the final coat of UV resin to give that popper a bombproof, high gloss finish. If you are in a rush to hit the water, color the popper up with a marker and have at it. Under most conditions, the finish will hold up just fine.

The final step is to dress them up the way you like them. On these small sizes, I usually don't bother with adding rubber legs through the bodies. On larger poppers, I will often bore a hole through the hard body and add some rubber legs for a little added sex appeal, but it seems like overkill with these tiny bodies. In fact, it may adversely affect the popper's ability to float. There is not a lot of material in these small poppers, so I like to keep my hook dressings sparse to keep the fly floating high.

I probably catch more panfish on wet flies than all other types of fly patterns combined. Although not as fun to fish as a topwater bug or popper, they catch far more fish. Since fish do the majority of there feeding under the surface of the water, it stands to reason that flies fished below the surface will catch more than flies fished on it. Wet flies are my go-to pattern for early and late season fishing when the water gets chilly. In fact, the only time I don’t fish them is in the height of summer when weed growth on some waters make fishing subsurface flies difficult.

The Wet Fly Box

My warm water wet fly boxes contain a few different types of wet flies and soft hackles. I prefer a soft hackle style fly in warm water, but there are a few winged wets in there as well. Some of the more traditional soft hackles that I rely on can be found in my Soft Hackle Selection. These flies have bodies constructed of conventional materials like feathers, fur, and floss. While highly effective, they can be somewhat fragile. One of the great things about fly fishing for bluegills and other panfish is that you often have the opportunity to catch a lot of fish. Catching a dozen or more fish on a single flies has a tendency to wear them out pretty quick. It is an excellent problem to have if you are a fly tier because now you have a reason to tie more flies! That being said, I am always looking for a way to make flies more durable.

A More Durable Wet Fly

Several years ago, I started experimenting with 5-minute epoxy to protect the bodies of my wet flies and make them more durable. An epoxy bodied fly is nearly indestructible and is perfect for flies fished beneath the surface as it helps them sink a little better. Working with epoxy had its downsides, though. Flies had to be tied in stages and treated with the epoxy all at the same time. Those same flies had to be put on drying wheels to ensure the epoxy would not sag. The 5-minute expo was also a little thick for this use and tended to create too much bulk, so it had to be applied very sparingly. Although the end result was a beautiful, durable fly, it was a lot of work for a panfish fly! The second problem I had with most epoxies is they tended to yellow with age. After a couple of seasons, the bodies on my epoxy wet flies would begin to cloud up or turn yellow. Since the flies were so durable, they tended to stick around, so this was a real problem for me.

A Solution To The Epoxy Problem

The use of UV Resins in fly tying has been widespread for a few years now. The use of UV resins was a game-changer for the fly tier. UV resins cured/hardened like epoxy in seconds when exposed to the proper light source. This was far superior to having to wait for the epoxy to dry, making it far more versatile than epoxy. New UV products showed a lot of promise, but they all shared a few common problems. The biggest challenge was the tacky surface left behind once the resin had cured. A few new UV Resins claim to have solved this problem. One brand, Solarez, has created a line of UV resins that are indeed tack-free. Disclosure: I am a Pro Team member for Solarez, so I use their products exclusively, but other brands claim they are tack-free as well. Feel free to do your own research.

The Solarez line of resins has virtually replaced epoxy in my fly tying. From coating, a soft, flexible body on a foam popper to finishing the thread wraps on the head of a salmon fly, they have a UV resin for every fly tying needs. Solarez and other companies are now offering colored UV resins as well, which will really expand their use in fly tying. This is starting to sound like a sponsored advertisement for Solarez, which it is not, so let us move on to the fly!

The Epoxy/Resin Bodied Wet Fly

As I mentioned earlier, I have replaced epoxy with UV resin in most of my fly tying so this pattern seemed a natural for a resin-coated body. Epoxy was used initially to create a durable body that would hold up to dozens of fish. It was also used to create a fly that was denser and would easily break the surface tension of the water and begin to sink without have to add beads or lead wraps under the thread body. The use of UV resins allows me to create the same effects without all the downsides of epoxy. I prefer to use a thin resin to cover the thread bodies of these flies. In this case, I am using Solarez Bone Dry. You brush on a thin layer and hit it with the light for a few seconds, and you are done. The end result is a clear, glossy, durable epoxy-like body with a smooth tack-free finish.

Thread Bodies - Simple and Versatile

Creating a fly could not be easier. The body of the fly is thread and UV resin, nothing else. For my panfish sized flies, which are tied on hooks that range from size 8 down to 18, I vary the size of the thread I use based on the fly. I use as heavy a thread as possible (based on the size of the hook), so I can quickly build a smooth body with a minimal number of thread wraps. I prefer a flat thread like Danville or UTC, which I can untwist and lay down smoothly. I coat the body with UV resin and cure it before tying in any hackle, so I eliminate the risk of getting UV resin on the hackle fibers. Threads are available in a wide range of colors, so you create flies in every color of the rainbow from subtle natural hues to bright, gaudy attractors.

Although thread makes an excellent body material you have other options as well. I often create a body with stranded flash products like Crystal Flash. This produces a very interesting effect, which can be quite effective at times. When the mood strikes me I also dress these flies up a bit by adding a thorax of a contrasting color of dubbing or chenille.

Large bluegills are not the pushovers their younger siblings are. While it is true that larger fish may be easy to catch while on their spawning beds, once the spawn is over truly, large panfish can be some of the most elusive freshwater fish to catch. In this article, I will discuss some of the things I have learned over the years to catch larger bluegills and other panfish consistently.

” Your Going To Need A Bigger Boat”

Well maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but that classic line from the Jaws movie made a valid point. To catch a larger fish, you need to go large or go home. When targeting bigger panfish, I will often fish a fly size six or larger. Even though bluegills have small mouths, they are capable of getting some reasonably large items to fit in them. I routinely have large bluegills completely inhale flies tied on size six, even size four hooks. How many times have you been bass fishing and had you lure or fly intended for a bluegill predator eaten by an actual bluegill? Take that behavior as a clue that larger flies can be and are eaten by big panfish.

One downside to fishing larger flies is that you are likely to catch less fish. Smaller panfish may ignore or nip at these larger offerings as they are unable to eat theses bigger flies effectively. On the plus side, you may draw the attention of larger predators like bass and pickerel. Skip Morris calls flies of this size Bass-Bluegill Lap Flies. He identifies these flies as patterns that mimic the size of the creatures sought by both bass and bluegill. By imitating a food source that both species eat you can double your chances of catching these fish by targeting both. To learn more about Skip’s thoughts on this concept, you can read his articles found in the links below.

The Bass Bluegill Lap:

Bass Bluegill Lap Flies:

I use large, primarily subsurface patterns when going after big fish. Large nymphs, wet flies, sinking bugs, and small streamers are all excellent choices when pursuing large panfish. I like a size six hook occasionally going as large as a size four on some patterns. Many anglers may feel these hook sizes are too large for panfish, but a fish over ten inches will have little difficulty taking one of these flies, and that is what we are after…large panfish.

Some Of My Personal Fly Choices

The Creature: This pattern consistently catches more large panfish than any other subsurface pattern I fish. Tied on a size 8 Mustad 3366 hook, it will catch panfish of all sizes. Increase the size of the fly to a size six or four, and it only attracts the attention of the largest specimens as well as the attention of larger predators like bass.

The Bream Killer: My version of the Ligon Bream Killer is tied slightly different from the original. The placement of the wing adds a different profile to the pattern and effects how the fly sinks. The Bream Killer is a sinking bug that I use when fish are holding tight to cover. The fly sinks perfectly horizontally, and the legs stretched out to the side are irresistible to large bluegill. Strike detection can be a little tricky at first, but I will cover that later in the article.

Large Nymphs and Wet Flies: My list of patterns that fit into this category is too large to list here but Ward Bean’s Cockaroo and the Pepperoni Yuk Bug deserve an honorable mention

Small Streamers: I add small streamers to my arsenal later in the season when the young of the year are available to larger panfish as a food source. I fish a variety of smaller streamers, again usually a size six to avoid the smaller fish, including the infamous woolly bugger as well as a variety of buck-tails. One favorite of mine is a big Hornberg Special, especially a dark version that I tie that is deadly on larger panfish. Another favorite is the Stayner Ducktail a fly initially designed to imitate perch fry. Perch are prevalent in many of the waters I fish, making this pattern a logical choice.

You Have To Find Them Before You Can Catch Them

Panfish tend to associate with each other by year class. The largest panfish spend most of their time in different water types than there smaller brothers and sisters. Once the spawn is over look for these fish in deeper water often adjacent to cover. If you are consistently catching smaller fish (or catching nothing at all) seek out different water. For example, I often find larger fish below smaller fish when fishing a fallen tree along a shoreline. You need to get your fly down to these fish, so fly selection becomes critical. A large Bream Killer or Bully Spider is perfect for this type of vertical presentation. I will also focus on weed line edges close to deeper water. Again I concentrate on getting flies down as deep as possible to where these larger fish reside. Large nymphs and small streamers are ideal for these situations. A popper rigged with a dropper long enough to reach these larger fish is also a great option.

Time Of Day Is Important

While it is possible to catch large panfish during the middle of the day, I find they feed better during periods of low light. I concentrate my efforts around sunrise and sunset for the best results. While I know that subsurface patterns will catch more fish, who doesn’t love the crashing take of a big bluegill on a topwater bug. During these low light periods, it is possible to take some large fish on the surface. Once again, I keep my flies on the larger size to discourage hits from smaller fish. Fishing the areas where larger fish congregate you can often coax them to the surface early or late in the day.

Pro Moves

To consistently catch larger panfish, you need to up your game a bit. The following tips will help you do just that.

1. Leader design: Most of the time, I don’t pay much attention to my leader when fishing for panfish. The exception is when I am targeting larger fish. I tend to use long leaders (12’ or longer) to avoid spooking fish. Big panfish got to that size by doing something different from the rank and file. They behave differently and spook easier.

2. Fluorocarbon v Monofilament: I usually stick with plain old mono for most of my warm water fishing to keep costs down. The exception is when I am fishing for larger panfish. Fluorocarbon sinks better allow flies to get down to the fish and it is nearly invisible in the water, which aids in duping big panfish.

3. Strike Detection: When fishing vertical sinking flies like Bream Killers and Bully Spiders strike detection is critical. Detecting a take on a sinking fly can be challenging at times, but there are a few things you can do to increase your odds of discovering the take. First off fully stretch out your leader on your cast. A stretched out leader will give you a tight connection to your fly, allowing you to see and react to a hit. If you leader piles loosely on the surface after the cast, you will miss the subtle takes as the fly is depending. Second, keep your rod tip low and take in all slack.out of your fly line as the fly descends This will help you to react to a take quickly and help you hook the fish before they spit the fly. If you still have problems you can try fishing a sinking fly under an indicator. The challenge is presenting the fly/indicator rig, so it remains close enough to the structure your fishing. What typically happens is that the fly lands close to cover and the indicator lands some distance away. As the fly descends in travels in an arch AWAY from the cover and eventually settles under the indicator. These rigs work best when you can fish parallel to the structure allowing both the indicator and the fly to land close to the structure your fishing

4. Presentation: Proper presentation is vital when fishing for larger fish. Casts need to be accurate, and you need to be able to control and manipulate the flies you are fishing, so they appear natural to the fish. While smaller specimens are usually very forgiving of poor or sloppy presentations. This is not the case with larger fish. Bring your A-Game!

Putting It All Together

- Use larger flies

- Concentrate your efforts where you are likely to find larger fish. Think about structure and depth.

- Fish at the right time of day for the methods you are using

- Pay attention to the details like leader design and proper presentation

- Work on perfecting your ability to detect subtle takes on sinking flies

I have been a long time reader of Ward Bean’s website, Warmwater Fly Tyer . I have tied and fished many of the patterns found on the pages of his site. For the warm water fly fisher/tier this is an incredible resource. I highly recommend a visit.

Sometimes something is sitting right on front of your face, and you fail to notice it. That is the case with the Cockaroo. I have looked at the wet fly section of Ward’s site countless times. I fish wet flies more than any other subsurface patterns, and I am always on the lookout for new designs to try. I have tied many of the flies listed on his page, but for some reason, I have seemed to have skipped over the Cockaroo. During a recent exchange with a gentleman by the name of David Hutton on Facebook I was reacquainted with this particular fly. David, a blogger himself, publishes a blog called Palmetto Fly ’n Fish, he also manages a Facebook group by the same name. Both sites highlight some of the excellent fishing available in the great state of South Carolina. While not entirely devoted to fly fishing, both blog and group mostly contain fly fishing related content so I’ll cut him a little slack!

David had posted a picture of a Cockaroo that he had tied and recently fished. There was immediately something familiar about the pattern, but I could not put my finger on it, but I knew I liked it. David quickly pointed me to his source for the fly pattern, and all the pieces fell into place. The next time I sat in front of the vise, I tied up a few Cockaroos and slipped them into my wet fly box. It is still early season here in the northeast so it would not be long before the Cockaroo found itself tied to the end of my leader.

My first version of this pattern was not exactly true to the original. I tied up a variation of the fly using materials I had laying around on the desktop from the previous night's tying session. There was no peacock in sight, and I was too lazy to open a drawer and dig it out. What I did have on hand was a wire core dubbing brush in a dark brown color. Again not the exact ingredient called for, but it would be far more durable than the peacock herl, so I went with it. The other substitution was the soft hackle collar. The original pattern called for brown hen hackle, but I had a gorgeous olive Whiting Brahma Hen Cape on the desk, so I went with that. So, in the end, the fly had the same basic color scheme, but it was just a little mixed up — a brown body instead of green and a green collar instead of brown. In Ward’s own words he gave me permission to take some liberties with his pattern. In his tying notes he states, “Of all the body parts, the tail and the wing are constants. Choosing other materials for the remaining parts; the underbody, body, and collar are up to you” . I know Ward is good with my changes, hopefully, the fish would not mind the slight to the original pattern!

My very first cast with the pattern yielded positive results. As fish are still a little sluggish in the still cold water here in the northeast, I retrieved the fly with a painfully slow hand twist retrieve after the fly had settled near the bottom adjacent to a submerged tree in about 5 or 6 feet of water. As soon as the fly passed the branches of the sunken tree, there was a slight heaviness on the line. I was sure I was about to be hung up on a tree limb, but I set the hook anyway. A heavy throbbing on the end of my line greeted my hook set. After applying as much pressure as my three weight could bring to bear, the fish was coaxed out of the labyrinth of branches and after a spirited fight in open water a chunky, good sized bluegill was brought to hand.

In a few days of testing the pattern has coaxed a mixed bag of panfish from the water. After losing all of my original test patterns to tree limbs and the occasional foul mannered pickerel, I returned to the vice and tied up some more. This time I stayed true to the original pattern using peacock herl and brown hackle. The results were the same! The fish took the pattern without hesitation when presented correctly. Tied on a long nymph hook, this fly bridges the gap between wet fly and streamer. I feel it would serve well imitating both aquatic insects and small baitfish.

To address those that say that panfish will take any fly, I did a side by side test with my usual early season wet flies. Both versions of the Cockaroo took far more fish than the other wet flies when fished together on a tandem rig. A scientific study? No, but enough for me to add this pattern to my early season arsenal as well as my regular wet fly box!

Pattern Recipes

Ward Bean’s Cockaroo:

Hook: Mustad 3906B Size 8, 10, 12

Thread: Uni-Thread - 6/0Dark Brown

Tail: Ringneck Pheasant Rump Feather Fibers

Underbody: Uni-YarnDark Brown

Body: Peacock Herl2 Herl's

Wing: Ringneck Pheasant Select Rump Feather

Collar: Hen Neck Feather Furnace

Panfish On The Fly’s Cockaroo:

Hook: Saber #7231 size 8

Thread: 70 denier UTC brown

Tail: Ringneck Pheasant Rump Feather Fibers

Body: Brown wire core dubbing brush

Wing: Ringneck Pheasant Select Rump Feather

A Year Round Favorite

As I have mentioned many times in the past, I am a wet fly fanatic when it comes to panfish. In late winter/early spring I seldom fish anything else. An old favorite of mine is the Pennell Wet Fly. If you are a long time reader of this blog, the name may sound familiar. I have mentioned this pattern in the past. If you are interested in trying it for yourself, the pattern recipe can be found in the wet fly section of the Pattern Page.

This season like many in the past it is the fly I am apt to select a Pennell Wet Fly from my box more than any other wet fly or soft hackle. Granted I have a lot of confidence in the pattern because I have been fishing it so long, but it is mostly because it catches fish.

One Fly, Two Versions

I tie two basic versions of this fly: a traditional Pennell Wet Fly and a one feather version. The conventional version is more or less a standard Black Pennell Wet Fly. It is a tried and true favorite, and I tie it as I was shown many years ago.

The second version, the Single Feather Pennell Wet Fly, is the one I take a few liberties with. I vary the colors of the body and the hackle on this fly and tie it in a range of colors. The Single Feather Pennell Wet Fly is created by using one feather for the tail and the hackle. The tip of the feather is tied down as the tail; then the feather is lashed to the shank of the hook and covered with a thin layer of dubbing. At the eye of the hook, the remaining feather is wrapped several times around the hook to make a hackle collar. Tie the feather off, cut it loose, form a small head of thread and your done. I use many different hackles for this fly, but my favorite is grizzly both natural and dyed.

A Versatile Pattern

One of the things I love about this pattern is its versatility. Later in the year when the fish are looking up for their next meal, I often fish this pattern as a dry. A few quick false casts will dry the fly off, and it will float like a traditional dry fly. If nothing grabs it off the surface, a little tug will submerge it, and I then retrieve it back like a wet fly. I love a fly that pulls double duty!

Top Choice For Winter Fishing

The past week I managed to get out on the water a few times during some mild weather. On the first day, there was a bit of wind, and the fish were found in deeper water just within reach of a long cast. Using an intermediate line, wet flies, brought in with a slow, hand twist retrieve, took a fish every few casts. Hits were tough to detect at times, but the action was pretty steady. The Black Pennell was the clear winner that day.

The next day the conditions had changed a bit. The daytime high was a few degrees warmer, and there was no wind. As I approached the pond, I spooked fish that were lying in just inches of water soaking up all that warmth the sun was giving them. On this day the fish were much more active. I noticed a relatively large light colored chironomid (midge) on the surface of the water. A quick look around revealed a few more out and about. While I never saw a fish rise, I decided to try a light colored Single Feather Pennell Wet Fly. While nothing rose to take the fly off the surface, I received some violent, slashing hits just as the fly was pulled under the surface. Unlike the day before when the fly had to be dragged through the depths to catch a fish, these fish were up near the surface. It was not precisely dry fly fishing, but it was close enough. You were able to see the takes as the fish rolled on the fly just under the surface. There was no mistaking the grab!

I was working a heavily wooded shoreline of a local pond late one afternoon when I observed a little commotion on the water.  A bright green object around two inches long was fluttering about on the surface.  I instantly recognized it as a large katydid that is relatively common in these parts in late summer.  I only had a few seconds to ponder how it ended up in the water before it disappeared in a sizable swirl.  I suspect it met its demise in the mouth of a bass as it vanished in a pretty significant disturbance on the surface of the water.  The incident got me thinking how often they end up in the water and whether or not it was worthwhile duplicating them at the vise.  As is often the case I thought why not!

The next time I sat down at the vise I decided to turn out a few impressionistic katydid imitations to try out on my next trip to the water.  I have been tying a lot of foam flies lately and remembered seeing some insect green foam sheets in my assortment of foam.  So I rummaged through my supplies and found some appropriately colored 2mm foam sheets along with matching round rubber legs and a mix of caddis green and chartreuse ice dub.  With the help of a  foam cutter, it was easy to create the appropriate profile for the fly, though the finished product was slightly smaller than the real insect making them the perfect size for big bluegill.  To form the body I used a foam cutter from River Road Creations.  Unfortunately, this cutter set was not labeled, but I believe it is the hopper wing cutter that I used to create the bodies.  The largest size creates a fly with an extended body that can be tied on a 3x long size 8 or 10 hooks.

I tied a few basic versions of the pattern.  I tried another version in which I glued two sheets together before cutting to double the thickness of the body.  This version more accurately depicts the shape of a katydid.  The third version also had two layers of foam, but each layer was tied on independently creating a distinct top and bottom to the fly.  This is my favorite version of the fly but also the most time consuming to produce.  With the first two versions, I tied some with a dubbed body and some without.  All of the versions I tied had the same configuration of knotted rubber legs.  To ensure the fly did not come undone or rotate around the hook shank after hooking and releasing a few fish super glue and UV resin were used to secure materials to the hook shank and protect thread wraps.  Most importantly put a drop of superglue on the knot portion of the rubber legs to keep them from coming undone.

The final product was a floating bug that matched the color and general profile of the insect. Could I have created something that looked a little more realistic? Sure, but there really is no need when targeting panfish and other warm water species.  While trout can drive a fly fisher to frustrations, warm water fish are seldom that selective.

The verdict?  As I expected, the panfish were not picky, the simple, single layer foam body with a thread underbody performed about as well as any other version.  The fly built with the single layer foam body is very easy to cast even on a two or three weight rod.  Because of the single layer of foam in floats low in the water and was little more difficult to see then the thicker two layer flies.  The addition of an Antron wing improved its visibility, but the bright green color is pretty easy to spot on the water in all but the harshest glare conditions.  I thought that the two-layer versions would better imitate this big insect, but the fish did not share this view.  I'll probably continue to tie a two layer version for my fishing just know that it is probably not neccesary.

Pattern Recipe:

The Stayner Ducktail is a streamer pattern that has been knocking around in my fly boxes for a long time.  It has caught more than its share of trout and landlocked salmon for me over the years and like all successful flies it eventually migrated into my warm water boxes.  However, this one did not find its way there by accident.  Over the years I kept hearing about this particular fly’s effectiveness when fished in warm water for big bluegills.  Once I gave it a try I was as hooked as the bluegills it caught.

The pattern originates from Idaho, and that is likely where I first encountered it.  The fly was invented in the 1960’s by Ruel Stayner, a sporting goods store owner from Twin Falls Idaho.  His fly was a staple in fly boxes everywhere at one time but seems to have fallen off of most folk's radar these days.  It’s time to change that.  While I believe the fly was designed for trout in still waters, I probably caught more trout using the pattern in the moving water of streams and rivers.  Where I discovered the fly shines is in warm water lakes and ponds.  

The Stayner Ducktail has a solid reputation as a smallmouth bass pattern.  I believe the fly was designed to imitate perch fry, so that makes sense.  On a recent trip to Maine, I enjoyed a lot of success catching smallmouth bass on a large, size six Stayner Ducktail in a lake where the yellow perch is one of the predominant prey species.  But we are not here to talk about smallmouth bass, are we?  Big bluegills are what gets the juices flowing around here, and this fly has long been a go-to pattern for large bluegill and other panfish.  Large bluegill include small fish in their diet so it makes sense that this streamer pattern would work.  Yellow perch recently mysteriously appeared in one of my local lakes.  I have been fishing this particular watershed for over 15 years and have never caught one until recently.  The fish are now reproducing as I see young of the year fry present in the shallows.  Since the introduction of perch to this lake, the Stayner Ducktail has been a very effective pattern.  I have a number of streamer patterns that I use for bluegills, and this one ranks near the top of that list.  I tend to fish it rather quickly with erratic strips and pauses.  During the dog days of summer when larger bluegills retreat to the depths, I like to fish this and other streamer patterns on a clear intermediate line.  I want to target the deep water side of weed lines, fallen trees, and drop-offs along the shoreline.  Big, chunky bluegills will inhale this fly along with the occasional largemouth bass, pickerel, and catfish.  I have also enjoyed a good deal of success using this fly when targeting crappie.

The Stayner Ducktail bears a resemblance to another pattern that has taken some sizable panfish over the years a fly called the Sheep Creek Special.  The Sheep Creek Special also originates from the northwest.  I believe that the Sheep Creek Special was designed to imitate still water insects opposed to baitfish.  The Sheep Creek Special is also a great fly, and I’ll give it some love in a future blog post.

The Stayner Ducktail is one of those fly patterns that tend to lend itself to a lot of experimentation in regards to color.  Over the years I have played around with this pattern in all of the colors of the rainbow, but I have settled on two.  A dark version and a light version.  I was turned on to the light version in an article written by Marv Taylor many years ago.  I believe he called for substituting the mallard wing for one of wood duck flank to better match the overall color of the fly.  I often tie them that way but I am just as likely to stick with mallard flank for the wing.

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: 3 or 4x long streamer hook (pictured is an Allen S420BL in size 10) in size 6-14 Thread:  Black 6/0 Tail:  Orange hackle fibers (1/2 shank length) Body:  Fine or medium (matched to the size of the hook used) olive chenille (variegated yellow and olive for a light version) Ribbing:  Small gold mylar Wing:  Natural mallard flank feather tied flat extending to end of the tail (optional - substitute a wood duck flank feather wing for light version) Beard:  Orange hackle Head:  Black thread