Pete's Bucket

I’m delighted to have been asked to give a descriptionand history of a successful fly pattern that I have developed.

The Rust Bucket was originally created out of frustration. Ifelt I was spending more time straightening the flies I was usinginstead of fishing. Using bucktail in the same manner as in aDeceiver, to encase the tail to restrict the hackles ability towrap. I found that the shorter the length of bucktail the morerigid the fibres, giving the material more holding potential.Encasing a standard bucktail wing with a wrap of short bucktailfibres not only gave me a low maintenance fly but the ability tocolour blend.

The first fly I tied using this method was meant to resemble ajuvenile Mangrove Jack. The object was to trigger an aggressiveresponse from the senior members of that clan. The colourcombination was bright red chenille to disguise the hook, orangebucktail topped with brown then black.

I like to tank test my flies and with the mouth of theMaroochy River five minutes down the road a testing session wasin order. I caught Flathead, Trevally, Pike and Bream. The flywas a delight to use.

I tied them in different colour combinations, White/Sand orWhite/Chartruese. I continued to catch Flathead and Trevally ingood numbers. Even being a small fly quality fish still took thefly. Everything seemed to eat them, Tailor, Queenfish, MosesPerch, Cod, Whiting even a Stargazer. That’s not to mentionthe lesser species like Pony Fish, Black Spinefoot, Garfish,Herrings etc.

Further refinement and tuning of the pattern occurred whilstfishing with local angler Andrew Vockler. Andrew introduced me tothe finer arts of Bream fishing in the upper reaches of theMaroochy River. Using MOE (mother of epoxy) flies cast into thedeepest, darkest recesses of bank side cover, Andrew continuallyoutscored me. Not being able to match his casting prowess, I wasdetermined to have the best possible fly. Through cause andeffect, studying the response of Bream to numerous slightvariations to the original pattern (you learn more fromrejection), I had the answer. Rust coloured flies tied on #4hooks weighted so they just balance with enough buoyant tailmaterial to attain an optimum sink rate.

Add a collar of rabbit fur to further disguise the hook andadd a little supple movement. The next few Bream sessions saw thetables turn. Even with my errant casting, I was pulling fish offthe ends of snags. Not just Bream but Flathead, Trevally, Tailoreven Mullet. Andrew requested that I hand over one those"Rust Bucket" things and thus the fly had a name.

I traveled to Mackay with Anthony Gomes and tied the fly inBlack for outstanding results on Sooty Grunter in the upperPioneer system. Tarpon at times will take anything, but Rust orBlack Buckets brought them unstuck when they were in "shutmouth" mode. I finally managed to land a small Mangrove Jackafter numerous bust-offs.

Back at home the catch rates remained high, particularly withBream. The Bucket seemed to work very well when nothing elsecould raise a strike. I became very confident in the fly I wasusing in whatever waterway I fished.

I targeted Giant Herring for the first time with Nat Bromhead.He was surprised to see me land a Giant on a Bucket fished veryslow when all the books suggested fast stripping or poppers.Within days I was in Mackay again to escape the winter cold, thistime with Nat. We caught countless Tarpon on either poppers orBuckets. A quick trip to Airlie Beach for another big session onQueenfish topped off with a nice Javelin Fish. On the way home westopped at a lagoon we had fished earlier. Tannin coloured water,20 odd Tarpon and a lovely winter Barramundi on a Rust Bucket.Nat got his Barra on a Dahlberg Diver. We left the fish biting,satisfied with the short trip.

The following weekend I was fishing for Trout in the NewEngland highlands. Bruce Nitchke had arranged a trip for a groupof us saltwater fly fishos to sample a bit of sweetwater Troutfishing. Black nymphs accounted for most of the fish in theshallow streams. On the last morning before the long drive home,all eight of us fished a large deep pool. Bruce had found aschool of small rainbows, caught few then left the rest of usthrashing the water. I thought "what-the-heck" and tiedon an Orange/Pink Bucket. I cast the fly and let it sink deep.One strip and BANG, scratch one Bucket. Three more fliesdisappeared in similar fashion before landing a couple of niceRainbows on my last Bucket.

Within a week I had caught my first Giant Herring, Barramundi,Javelin Fish and Trout on fly. I even lost a Giant Herring in theevening on the same Bucket I’d caught a Trout on in themorning.

Black Buckets in fresh water equals Bass, lots of Bass andSaratoga and Yellowbelly and recently for myself Silver Perch.I’ve had great success at Cania Dam and I’ve heard theyare deadly at Cressbrook. I’ve caught hundreds of Bass onthese flies in both streams and impoundments, especially afterdark.

I’ve recently just returned from an extended stay on PalmIsland with Anthony Gomes.

What a fascinating fishery he has on his doorstep.Unfortunately the wet season set in for most of my stay. I didget to experience some fantastic flats fishing. The Bucket wasvery effective whilst fishing water less than 1 meter deep. Veryenjoyable it is indeed to catch fish in water barely coveringyour ankles. Trevally swimming on their side would come from 20meters away, pushing pressure waves before them. Just twitch theBucket and they would have it and be off into the backing. Kilosized Fingermark were also common in 3 inches of water. Anothersuccessful option for using Buckets was around the shallow coralreefs. I didn’t land any large fish, they just went backhome fly and all. What I did catch was a myriad of reef species,Coral Trout, Emperors, Wrasses, Parrot Fish, Stripies and Codsetc. etc.

The key to the success of the Bucket is not that it is auniquely different type of fly. I believe it has more to do withthe balance and attention to detail in the tying style. It worksbecause it works and I totally refuse to change anything forcommercial gain. I have agreed to give a description of how I tiethis pattern but be warned this can be a difficult andfrustrating for fly tiers of any level.

1. For the hook I use a #4 Mustad 34044NPSS. Tiemco 800S orMustad 7766 will do.

2. Tie in chenille at bend and wind thread forward. Tie onNickel plated hourglass eyes (I never use lead eyes). Windchenille forward and tie off under the eyes.

3. Turn hook over in the vise. Take a substantial hank ofBucktail and hand stack the fibres so they form a spearhead shapetwice the length of the hook. Tie this in directly in front ofthe eyes.(Make sure there is no twisting and an even taper isachieved when viewed from above).

4. Tie 4 strands of crystal flash on either side. Preferablyseparated and no longer than the bend of the hook.

5. Take another hank of Bucktail. This time stack the tips sothat the longest fibres only reach the bend of the hook. Flattenthis stack between your fingers then wrap evenly through 180degrees over the tail. Carefully trim all excess.

Note. There is no stepping of materials every layer is tieddirectly above the last.

6. Take a 2 cm length of Rabbit strip (Zonker) and do another180 degree wrap slightly shorter than the previous layer. Verycarefully trim and finish.