Shucker - Smallmouth/panfish

[remi74]

I received a version of this fly in a swap about 5 or 6 years ago. I had a lot more rubber on the tail and on a smaller hook. I upgraded to a size 2 and put a rabbit strip as the tail for more movement - the original tyer had rubber legs and marabou but it was a bit of a mess and the legs prohibited movement. I've been tearing up the smallmouth and panfish on the Illinois River system here in AR. I tie these in olive, black and chartreuse. Right now, I'm only putting hackle on the black one. The original pattern I received had no hackle. The smallmouth photo shows a black Shucker - aptly named due to using long shuck estaz. Email me with any questions. And yes, those are bait hooks . . .

[DaddyO]

I like that. I'm gonna tie a few up. I've never fished the AR section of the Illinois River. Is it cleaner water than the OK section? Is there a map of the AR section with access points?

[Gavin]

Nice tie! I'm sure it works...have you ever tried Angel Hair in a dubbing loop instead of Estaz? It cuts your material cost, and you can blend your own colors.

[remi74]

DaddyO - there is one public access in AR on the Illinois River - on HWY 412 there is an AGFC area east of Siloam. Another access on old 68 which used to be a public rest stop. Other than that, it's touchy. Gavin - i've done it once before at a tying class. I'm gonna get a dubbing tool for making Crazydads. Then I'm gonna learn about maybe blending/shading up from a red tip to maybe a chartreuse body . . .

[DaddyO]

Nice tie! I'm sure it works...have you ever tried Angel Hair in a dubbing loop instead of Estaz? It cuts your material cost, and you can blend your own colors.

Gavin - That's a great idea! I see Angel Hair at J. Stockards. It says that it comes in shanks. Do you cut it up into 1 or 2 inch pieces?

[DaddyO]

DaddyO - there is one public access in AR on the Illinois River - on HWY 412 there is an AGFC area east of Siloam. Another access on old 68 which used to be a public rest stop. Other than that, it's touchy. Gavin - i've done it once before at a tying class. I'm gonna get a dubbing tool for making Crazydads. Then I'm gonna learn about maybe blending/shading up from a red tip to maybe a chartreuse body . . .

I have family in the Siloam Springs area. I'll have to make some time to fish that section. Thanks for the feedback.

[remi74]

Daddy-O, there's been trouble with folks being disrespectful to landowners, etc. Just be careful - AGFC has been out there a bunch, Some folks tried duck hunting on private property and now my access is shut down by "farmer brown". The land south or across is Ozark National Forest though. Tough fishing there but I've caught some decent spotted bass and a bunch of small smallmouth with some decent smallies thrown in here and there. Be careful when wading down stream - it gets pretty swift about 1/4 of a mile down and pretty deep and gnarly. The stream can get pretty dirty at times but there are all sort of species including crappie. One year, five of us had access about 1 mile downstream and caught about 30 bass and crappie in 2 days. Chartreuse flies and yellow Rooster Tails worked best along with chartreuse Storm Minnows.