Tying a Black Death Tarpon Saltwater Fly Pattern - Ep167 PF
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
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The Black Death tarpon fly is a true classic. It’s been around for many decades and has been a goto for anglers and guides targeting tarpon. The color combination is a great attractor for tarpon, particularly on dark days. This saltwater fly is tied in what is known as the Florida Keys styles tarpon fly. The tails of the flies are tied as far back on the hook as possible to prevent the tail materials fowling on the cast. Another distinct feature of the style is the bare shank just behind the eye on the flies. The reason for this was that the bite tippets used for the flies tended to give the flies a poor presentation and so angler began to snell the flies. The front ½” or so of the fly was left bare so that the line could be snelled. This persisted over the years and line technology progressed, the feature remained as an artifact in the fly patterns. Today, many of the shanks are covered with thread and coated with cement or resin.
For such a simple fly, there are an incredible number of variations out in the wild and no real standard. So much so that I feel the “Black Death” is more of a named color variation rather than a fly pattern much like the red and white Daredevil or the light blue and Black Blue Moon seen in steelhead patterns.
Black DeathFly Pattern Recipe
Hook: Gamakatsu CS15 #1/0-4/0
Thread: Black 210D FWN
Tail: Nyat hair black
Flash: Red mylar flash (Flashabou)
Collar: Red rabbit zonker
Head: Black thread to eye tapered into the collar
Eyes: Silver or white with a black pupil
Coating: Bone Dry UV coated on head x2
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#tarpon #bass #pike #flytying #flyfishing #piscatorFlies #threadheads #Tarponfly
I started tying this fly with darker grizzly and badger wings at the bend of the hook then tying dark squirrel tail at the same spot and winding the bare shank with the black thread all of the way to the eye. This fly was even more effective since it had a faster sink rate than my original “Cockroach”. Soon some of my friends started tying it with all black feathers and hair; they called it the “Black Claw or Black Death”.
Norman, thanks for the message and filling in some of the gaps. There sure are a large number of variations on the fly now. Do you have a standard dressing that you would consider the "Black Death"? On a personal note, I'd like to thank you for sharing the wisdom of the Duncan Loop with the FF community. It's been a really important knot both in sill and flowing waters. Cheers
Among those friends tying it were Chico Fernandez, Flip Pallot and Little John Emery
@@nedun1939 Hi Norman, I have a question on the design of the tarpon fly. First of al l II really like this type of streamer pattern. I am wondering why these type of tarpon flies are tied only just up to the hook point rather that all the way up to the eye of the hook. I can come up with two reasons. In random order: - design! and the having the tail materiaal no further than the hook point gives you only a minimum risk that tail material gets caught up by the hook point. And come to think of it it may also influence the way the streamer moves through the water. Could you help me explain the design of the streamer. I will try this on pike , zander , perch and seabass in the Netherlands. Tight lines. Frank
More salt water flys please.
Thanks for the feedback, I'll see what I can add to the lineup
Hey Thread heads, my apologies for the long absence. I've been busy tying up orders again, not complaining, but I miss making videos for you guys. I hope you enjoy this one, I just finished tying a few for a client. Cheers
Nice , very simple but deadly :-)
Thank you Mike Kuczynski, much appreciated, Cheers, see you in the next video.
Nice one Darren! ...and I thought you were too busy fishing to be making videos :-) Tarpon - yes - but these colors also scream walleye and bass!! Been using this simple/effective pattern for years - find it best to tie these flies to match the length of the local forage; I strongly favor having large bead-chain for eyes and often use "plastic worm" hooks for flies to ride hook-point up for on-the-bottom presentations. Like you say "an incredible number of variations out in the wild and no real standard". Recently, I have been tying some with an "intruder" style stinger hook as walleye (and panfish) will often short-strike the long tail when they are off their bite. I catch pike, bass and walleye on a white, silver flash with a red collar and a yellow (with a couple of black bars), gold flash with an orange collar works well also. All black and all white have their days and are definitely worth having in the box. Bucktail works well for the tail and a fox hair (dubbing-loop) makes a nice collar if you want to use longer fibers to give more taper to the body. A deer (stiff) body-hair collar helps to keep the hook clear of weeds (reduces fouling) and really pushes a lot of water. Plan on trying some new (for me) colors (purple, chartreuse, blue and hot pink) this year. It may be blasphemous but when it is windy and fish are holding too deep for conventional fly gear I will resort to "drop-shotting" these flies with a spinning rod - devastating approach. Thanks for the reminder to tie up some more of these before the season opens! Cheers! Hank
No worries Hank, I belong to that "church" too ;o) cheers!
@@joeduca8582 Hey Joe - good to hear from you! Hope all is well! Ice is just off the local lakes and am chomping at the bit to get out - looking forward to frying up some crappie fillets! Cheers!
Hank, I've been champing at the bit to get out, just waiting for the spring opener next weekend and then I have a pile of flies to start testing out. Have you ever tied a guide tube onto a rabbit strip for an articulated streamer? I might have to do a video on that as I think it would be good for a pattern like this with a hook positioned farther back. Sounds like you have a good assortment ready to go for the bass season. Best of luck at the vise and on the water. Cheers
@@hankvana2149 yum! Bullhead too :o>',',
@@PiscatorFlies Hi Darren, Not familiar with a "guide tube" maybe you can post a link. For my articulated streamers (hook at the front) I make a wire form (a piece of brass or stainless steel wire twisted with a drill to make an eye and shank) for the articulation for the streamer and tie my "tail" on that. As you know, I prefer to use a dubbing loop instead of a rabbit strip so I have more control over the taper and bulk on the fly. For articulated nymphs and smaller flies I have been using the core from (used) guitar strings to make my forms. For a "hook at the back" design I bend up two wires and lash/glue them together to make a solid base with a loop at each end. In my tests, a properly made close fitting and clean joint with two 19 ga stainless steel wires overlapped one inch and wetted with CA has a breaking strength of over 40 pounds. This is the stuff I use: www.homehardware.ca/en/30-19ga-stainless-steel-wire/p/5463722 Let me know if my description is not clear and I will send you a couple of pictures. Yup, pretty well setup for bass - need to tie up some more boobie-style flies and maybe a couple more Gurglers. Hope you have a great opening day! Hank
Very nice fly and nice change up with something completely different. I like the fact that this fly can be adapted to use for pike and bass. Cheers.
Steve, thank you. I actually tie quite a few saltwater flies for clients, but they tend not to do well here on youtube. ;( Cheers
Great video Darren.
Tim, thanks! Cheers
Hey Darren,nice ty ,good to see you again, tightlines.
Mike, thanks, I've got lots lined up, just need the time. :) Cheers
SALT!!! Love the salt!
Hyun, thanks! I might do a live stream with a few salty patterns sometime. Cheers
Cool fly Darren , customer is gonna like that one!
Ernie
Ernie, I hope so. It's a beefy hook, I hope it stands up to those big tarpons. Cheers
Love the fly. Gonna tie some up and put them in my box
Keith Gillogly, thank you! Good luck at the vise.
Love the vid! Glad to see you back.
Liam, thanks man! It's been much too long. Cheers
Thank you for sharing this fly. I suspect this might be a good fly for Kahawai in New Zealand ( Aussies called this fish and Australian salmon ,but what do thy know) on those dismal grey days at the beach to which I am moving to soon. Im not much of a fly tying guy nor fly fisherman but when I get home I plan on doing it more. . Love your video's pal.
Chimo, (nice to say that again :o) Beautifully tied! I wanted to save it to my playlist but for some reason it's not working }:~[
I liked a pattern tied with furnace hackle that I thought was the Cockroach, but that uses grizzly hackle and a bucktail collar (which I also like). Could the furnace one be a variation? Yes that keys style makes good pike flies, I'll have to try this one when I get to tying some pike flies. There's a couple of patterns that Barry O. Clarke tied in Fly Tyer too that are pretty cool. Glad to see you had some time, hope you enjoyed a happy Easter, cheers!
Chimo, glad to hear from you (and all the regulars), it's been killing me not being able to get any videos uploaded. Bummer that your playlist isn't playing nice. I hope that gremlin works itself out. Stu Apte had a pattern tied with furnace and a collar of grey squirrel. Same Keys style fly. Before I even knew what a tarpon was, I was using this style for pike flies. (One of the earliest I tied I called a Tarpike). They did pretty well with the snot rockets. Happy Easter, Cheers
@@PiscatorFlies I rebooted the gremlin out, Black Death now residing in Lures and in Perch patterns - a catch all for streamers. My Orvis pattern book has a couple pages of tarpon flies, all of the above are in it.
Heh heh, Tarpike for snot rockets, cool.
Cool fly!
Name: Albin
Petroskoi, many thanks! Cheers
Hi there, I really like this type of streamer pattern. I am wondering why these type of tarpon flies are tied only just up to the hook point rather that all the way up to the eye of the hook. I can come up with two reasons. In random order: - design! and the having the tail materiaal no further than the hook point gives you only a minimum risk that tail material gets caught up by the hook point. And come to think of it it may also influence the way the streamer moves through the water. Could you help me explain the design of the streamer. I will try this on pike , zander , perch and seabass in the Netherlands. Tight lines.
Thank you Frank Dreef. Thanks for the great question. I would direct you to comment by Norman Duncan pinned at the top as he is one of the pioneers of this style of saltwater. That being said, I think that you hit the major reason being that it prevents a fouled tail.
Here is what I also added to the notes "Another distinct feature of the style is the bare shank just behind the eye on the flies. The reason for this was that the bite tippets used for the flies tended to give the flies a poor presentation and so angler began to snell the flies. The front ½” or so of the fly was left bare so that the line could be snelled. This persisted over the years and line technology progressed, the feature remained as an artifact in the fly patterns. Today, many of the shanks are covered with thread and coated with cement or resin. "
I really appreciate you stopping by the channel. Cheers
The reason the tail and hackle are tied at the rear of the shank is to minimize the tail from wrapping on the bend and to maximize the sink rate. These flies are used mainly on the ocean side edges and pointe of the flats where the tarpon are moving along the Keys. Typically you are staked out in 5 to 10 feet of water, the tarpon schools come along in 10 to 15 feet of water usually about 5 feet deep. Visibility is always an issue, you have a very small window of opportunity so it is most important that the fly have the fastest sink rate possible and the proper action. I have always been opposed to using weighted flies since that road for some unscrupulous people has lead to using lead jigs.
norman duncan , thx for your reply and your explanation. Didn’t realize the aspect of fast sinking. That would help in my fishing spots in the Netherlands fishing for sea bass in deeper water. I will definitely give it a serious try. Thx again