Flies Bucktail
Flies Bucktail
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 ProFish Fishing Fishskin Bucktail Teasers Fly 5 0 Qty 2 $4.99 Time Remaining: 29d 15h 36m Buy It Now for only: $4.99 |
 3 ESTAZ BUCKTAIL TEASER FLY 6 0 SALTWATER FISH LURE HOOK COD FLUKE BASS JIG RIG $9.98 Time Remaining: 21h 38m Buy It Now for only: $10.99 |
 STRIPER STRIPED BASS SALTWATER TEASERS 4 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 23h |
 STRIPED BASS STRIPER SALTWATER TEASERS 6 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 Time Remaining: 23h Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
 STRIPED BASS STRIPER SALTWATER TEASERS 4 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 Time Remaining: 1d 22h 42m Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
 STRIPER STRIPED BASS SALTWATER TEASERS 2 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 Time Remaining: 1d 22h 43m Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
 STRIPED BASS STRIPER SALTWATER TEASERS 4 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 2d 22h 49m |
 STRIPER STRIPED BASS SALTWATER TEASERS 6 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 Time Remaining: 3d 22h 44m Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
 STRIPER STRIPED BASS SALTWATER TEASERS 5 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 Time Remaining: 3d 22h 44m Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
 6 ESTAZ BIG EYE BUCKTAIL TEASER FLY 6 0 SALTWATER LURE COD FLUKE STRIPER JIG RIG $17.99 Time Remaining: 4d 10h 45m Buy It Now for only: $20.99 |
 STRIPED BASS STRIPER SALTWATER TEASERS 4 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 Time Remaining: 4d 22h 46m Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
 STRIPER STRIPED BASS SALTWATER TEASERS 6 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 Time Remaining: 4d 22h 46m Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
 STRIPER STRIPED BASS SALTWATER TEASERS 6 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 Time Remaining: 5d 22h 42m Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
 STRIPER STRIPED BASS SALTWATER TEASERS 5 0 BUCKTAIL DEER TAIL HAIR FLIES JIGS $3.99 Time Remaining: 5d 22h 42m Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
Top Producing Flies - Bonefish, Tarpon, and Permit
When I travel to flyfish around the world, I always bring way too many flies. My reasons for this are logical. I usually have anywhere from three to nine people with me who do not have the same level of experience with the specific location or species, so I bring plenty to share. But more importantly, when I go fishing, the worst possible scenario is to not have the right fly...and maybe even worse, to have only ONE of the right flies. "Yeah, I did well today - caught ten, how about you?...oh really, I wish I could give you the fly that worked, but it is stuck in the mouth of a barracuda!"
So I forego my own admonition to pack light, at least when it comes to flies. I bring at least a dozen of every fly I think will work, and often two or three dozen of the flies I know will work. And this brings me to the point of the story - you really only need a few patterns in varying sizes and colors to have every fly you need. Here are the enticements that I bring in vast quantities on saltwater fishing adventures for bonefish, tarpon, and permit.
BONEFISH FLIES (FLY)
Gotcha! That is not a very small sentence telling someone they have been had...it's the name of the best bonefish fly ever designed. Mr. McVay - I thank you from the bottom of my flybox! The Gotcha is an imitation of a shrimp about an inch to an inch and a half long tied on a #6, #8, or #10 hook. It is similar to the legendary Crazy Charlie, but has a ruffed out krystal flash tail. The best color, by far, is shrimp pink or pearl krystal flash for the body, and a light tan or light tan calftail wing, and a shrimp pink thread wrapped head. Some have eyes made out of bead-chain, some with lead, some with plastic or burnt monofilament eyes, (the differences in eye material is due to the varying fishing situations where depth and water flora dictate how far and fast you want your fly to sink) but all are productive - and I mean REALLY productive. If I could fish only one fly for bonefish, this is it. And I have spent full weeks in the Yucatan and the Bahamas wondering why I brought any others.
TARPON FLIES
Tarpon are a bit more selective at times, but if I could only choose a couple of patterns they would be the red and white Sea-Ducer, and the chartreuse and white Clouser Minnow.
The Sea-Ducer was made popular by Chico Fernandez, but it actually a virtual replica of the much older Homer Rhodes Jr. Tarpon Fly. Dan Blanton added bead-chain to the fly and dubbed it the Whistler due to the sound it made while flying by your head on every false cast. This fly has proven to be very effective for small and large tarpon in Florida, Belize, Campeche, and Xcalak, Mexico.
Maybe the best saltwater fly ever designed is Bob Clouser's Clouser Minnow. And for some reason, the chartreuse and white version outfishes every other fly I've ever used in the briny sea. Snook love them, bonefish love them, and tarpon eat them like candy! It is a simple baitfish pattern with only one fault - fish beat them to a bloody pulp quickly. They are made of bucktail, thread, and lead, and bucktail is a fragile material. I guess that is a small price to pay for constant and consistent rod bending action! Since this pattern is highly effective on a number of different species, they will come tied in many sizes and varying strengths of hook. For tarpon, you want a very strong hook. So, when ordering, confirm hook style and strength before you purchase. I recommend 1/0, or 2/0 and the total fly length needs to be around three inches in length.
PERMIT FLY
Permit eat crabs. Although there are the rare instances where a permit have been caught on clousers, charlies, even Gotchas, the number one food source for permit is the crab. And the number one fly is the simple Yarn Crab. There are a number of different colors, but the one that has worked the best for me and almost every client is the Del Brown Merkin. It's tan and brown with white legs with red tips and a chartreuse or green thread wrapped head around lead eyes. The best size will vary depending on the depth of water in which the permit are feeding, and the size of the local crabs in the buffet, but a good all around option is the #6 (about an inch and a half in total length).
I used to work for a fly tackle company that mass produced flies offshore and sold them to fly shops around the country. We had over a thousand patterns that we distributed around the country. If you have flyfished for more than fifteen years, and you buy saltwater flies from your local shop, it is likely you purchased some of our flies. In good conscience I told shop owners they needed to have a wide selection of flies to cover all the bases....should I feel guilty now? 
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Contact Dale - rodandreeladventures@gmail.com
About the Author
Dale Williams has traveled and fished the world since 1985. His business, Rod and Reel Adventures is a worldwide fishing travel agency. They offer objective information that helps travelers make well informed decisions. Follow him on Twitter @traveltofish. Read his blogs at travelandfishtheworld.blogspot.com, or check out the Rod and Reel website at www.rodreeladventures.com.