critique of picket pin

[swampsinger 0]

I tied this on a 1x short #6 hook. I had trouble with the squirrel, wing and tail. I think they flare too much, and I'm not sure how to fix this.

 

 

 

thx chris

[mikechell 0]

I don't tie these, but comparing to the pictures online, it looks like you're using a little too much fur. Using less will reduce the flaring.

 

That said ... I like the way yours looks. It might not be destined for the fly tying museum, but I'll bet it won't sit in the water long without being molested by a big fish.

[flytire 0]

too much tail and wing

 

squirrel tail is a solid hair and shouldnt flair like other hairs that are chambered

 

your flair on the wing is the result of wrapping the thread close to the body material which is acting as a dam and pushing the hair upward

 

 

sorry for the illustration. first time playing with microsoft paint. (i had more sophisticated software to use when i was working)

 

step by step

 

http://www.maineflyfish.com/forums/index.php?/topic/19879-picket-pin/

 

alternate and a whole lot easier

 

https://donbastianwetflies.com/tag/picket-pin/

 

step by step

 

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/forum/threads/bastians-red-squirrel-silver-picket-pin-sbs.103948/

[Dave G. 0]

We used to use Picket Pins around here quite a bit but I sort of gravitated to other patterns over the years, and I think most everyone else did as well ( no particular reason except others came along). We never tied them in size 6, which means exactly that, "we" never tied them in size 6, doesn't mean they can't be . Seems to me we typically tied them between size 10 and 12. Your proportions are off a bit and as others said, just a bit too much hair. If others have not mentioned it, don't forget to pull out the short hairs, they tend to bulk it up at the tie in point. And again , already mentioned, bet it catches fish ! Those are great flies anyway you tie them, they're fish getters for sure...

[flytire 0]

 

[Mike West 0]

Back in my young teens I fished and tied a Picket Pin a lot. Looked like the picture posted

[swampsinger 0]

Thanks for the tips and information. I always enjoy the history and stories behind this kind of thing. I've suddenly got a hankerin to get back to the vise.

[Dave G. 0]

 

Hmmm, Since this is the original tie apparently, then our eastern flies must have been variants.

[flytire 0]

i never perceived the "picket pin" as an "eastern" pattern

 

more picket pin flies from jack boehme

 

http://www.spencerewert.com/WesternTroutFlies/JackBoehme.html

[johnnyquahog 0]

The picket pin in the 1979 Universal Fly Tying Guide by Dick Stewart has the version similar to the op's in #1. There must be a zillion copies of that soft cover in print. The major difference is the tail of brown hackle fibers and the body of peacock herl. I'm thinking the more common size was #8 - #12. This is the first time I've seen the Grant pattern above. Maybe male and female?

[Dave G. 0]

i never perceived the "picket pin" as an "eastern" pattern

 

more picket pin flies from jack boehme

 

http://www.spencerewert.com/WesternTroutFlies/JackBoehme.html

SE, Ma. is in the eastern US and we used a fly here called the Picket Pin and it did not have an all tinsel body. (Although, there is a Quantum theory now that this plane doesn't actually exist in reality or is at best shift-able, so who knows if we really did that for sure, or where, or rather even if this whole existence is just an allusion... Quantum Physics is some weird stuff ( hey it's some Quantum Scientists story not mine), proving even weirder stuff).

 

Yes, I am caffeinated !

[phg 0]

Don'ch hate it when two different flies share the same name? The only thing I see that those two have in common is the squirrel-tail wing, and that's not even an original feature. (OK, I looked back and they also have a palmered hackle.)

[flytire 0]

from the internet

 

The Picket Pin was developed by Missoula, Montana-based fly tier (and saloon owner) Jack Boehme, whose career spanned the 1910s to the ’40s. He was pals and partners with Norman Means, who created the Bunyan Bug, of A River Runs Through It fame. The original Picket Pin featured a wing of gopher tail, but Boehme eventually changed to squirrel.

 

 

We have to go way back to the year 1915 to dig up the history of the Picket Pin pattern and the tier, Jack Boehme. Jack has been referred to as the founding father of Montana trout fishing with a fly. He also was a character of sorts and the owner a tavern in Missoula called "The Turf Bar & Grill". In a cramped corner he ran a tackle and fly business where he developed other famous creations such as "Boehme's Fancy" for the Madison River and the "Cutthroat" and the "Big Trout" for the Rogue and Klamath Rivers. He tied commercially, on a home-made vise made from old gun parts, for the early Bob Wards Tackle Shop. Jack had a national reputation as a tournament fly caster.

Interestingly enough the fly pattern got its name from the material originally used for the wing. The cowboys of the area had nicknamed the gophers Picket Pin because when sitting upright on the prairie they looked like the pin used to picket out their horses. Since Jack used these gopher tails for his hair wing, the name was derived. Now, 96 years later the pattern is still famous and just as effective as ever. It can tied in wet, dry, and streamer variation by changing hook size and material selection. Lead wire or bead heads could be used for a faster and deeper sink. The Picket Pin is deadly throughout the seasons for trout and steelhead.

[phg 0]

...and here's Orvis' take on the Pickett Pin: http://howtoflyfish.orvis.com/fly-tying-videos/salt-bass-streamer-flies/641-picket-pin

 

Two different flies with the same name. This is not a unique situation. I had the same experience last year with a "gunslinger."

[Dave G. 0]

Cool info, flytire.

 

Well, the ones we fished out this way did not have a tinsel body. The local stores of the time ( around the early 90's) sold them as Picket Pins, I don't recall them being called a variant but they obviously were. I remember tying some but I did not use them nearly as much as my stepson did. We never had gopher hair around the house here and as I recall we used gray squirrel tail for the wing and peacock herl head, palmered brown or ginger hackle but I don't recall the rest of the details..

 

They caught fish !

 

Edit: phg your message posted as I posted this one more or less.