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Bucktail question

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Saltwaterhabits

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View PostAB,

 

I know exactly what you mean. Some things have to be picked by hand, and IMO bucktails and feathers are the materials I have to see before I buy. I think there are some on-line vendors who will look through their inventory while you are on the phone and put the items you specify into your order, but I have never tried this. I envy those who still have access to brick-and-mortar stores.

 

I have not been to a show in many years, but the next time I go, it will be straight to the purveyors of fine deer tail and feathers. I will avoid the siren call of yet more tinsel (I'm a sucker for any color of Krystal Flash/Flashabou/etc. that I don't already own) until I have everything I need of those materials. THEN if there is any money left I will look over the other stuff.

 

Maybe next year....

 

For what its worth, you didn't miss much in the Bucktail department. Not Friday at least. I ended up getting all my hackle and bucktail at Bear's Den, and even their selection was so so. Didn't get all that I wanted as the quality and length were just not there.

 

My first time there but oddly not that many booths with real tackle.

 

I got home, I had to go online to finish my Hooks list headscratch.gif

"My hair is a yellar and I'm always a combin" NC
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Good tail is hard to get. With all the processing plants selling the hides to the people overseas for not much and the tails are not worth much to them. The big purchasers are taking what they can get and we are left with what they get. I process over 500 tails a year vs the 50,000 some of the large Houses do, and it is hard to find good sources. Look for the small local processors. Everything said above is on the mark. The hard thing to do is get good consistent tails. I get a lot of tails that are not split correctly or have cuts that I still process because the hair is what I like and need. So in short when I look at a tail, I first look at the hair, then the color and then everything else because I can deal with everything else. I no longer look for that perfect teardrop shape. If you get good tail, don't waist it. Use the right tail and part of the tail for what you are trying to make.

Atlantic Saltwater Fly Rodders - Bayshore Saltwater Fly Rodders - South Jersey Coastal Fly Anglers
BuzFly - Got Gooey Body or Foil? Share what YOU HAVE DONE, not what you have been told.

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