Tying Bucktails

[steelhead]

Which? Plug making or fly tying? They're equal parts bad... I do both and they both can get you in trouble with your better half...

Tying bucktails... From my fly tying, I generally will hold the bunch of hair that I've cut by the tips of the hair in one hand and pull the short stuff out by the butt of the hair with my other hand. That way, I get a nice consistent length.

Sometimes, the problem is tying too much bucktail on the hook, so it looks bulky and out of proportion. Take the the long hair that you just separated and use only half of it. You can hold it so that it surrounds the shank of the hook such that when you wrap the tying thread around the hook shank, the bucktail will surround the entire hook evenly.

The hair at the end of ther tail is very fine and not hollow. This hair will give you a long thin tail. If you're looking for a broad flaired tail, use the hair from the butt end of the tail. This hair is hollow and will flair out away from the hook when you wrap your tying thread around it.

What I've found is that less is more. You get a much nicer swimming motion with less bucktail. The water gets inside the tail and opens it up so that it moves better with the current or whatever action you're imparting to the plug.

I live in Salem, so If you want to get together sometime, I can give you a quick demo. Next thing you know, you'll be tying your own teaser flies as well!!!!