One of the first flies I had success with was a bucktail called the Pass Lake. It was then and by all accounts, is still widely used and effective for Brook and Brown Trout in the western Lake Superior watershed. I think it was my Dad who introduced me to it. He wasn't much of a fly fisher, himself, but he encouraged my early interest and passed along what he knew. One of those things was that on the rivers and creeks we fished you couldn't go wrong with a Pass Lake. Since then many a Brookie and Brown, and even some Rainbows have fallen to this old and reliable pattern.
The origins of the pattern are a bit obscure. I understand it was first tied in central Wisconsin for fishing big Brookies in Ontario. Saying that, I wouldn't bank on that being gospel. Wherever it was tied, and who tied it first, isn't that important. What's important is the Pass Lake has been catching fish all around Lake Superior for a long time and still does.
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| Pass Lake Peacock |
There are variations on how the pattern is tied. It's tied as a bucktail, a downwing trude dry, a wulff, and even wih a split wing during the hexagenia hatch on the Brule River in Wisconsin. Most commonly, it has a brown hackle tail, a medium black chenile body, brown hackle collar and white calftail wing. The way I tie it is based on the Pass Lakes my dad used to buy from an old-time fly tier in Drummond, WI, named Earl Grummet. Earl used bucktail instead of calf and black yarn instead of chenille. I found Earl's Pass Lake to be more aethetically pleasing, no to mention more effective, so I learned to tie it that way and still do. Later I found a different dressing in Terry Hellekson's
Fish Flies: The Encyclopedia of the Fly Tier's Art. Terry's pattern called for a peacock herl body. I incorporated peacock bodies into my standard Pass Lake. and found it to would work when the standard wouldn't. Sometimes the fish just want to see something different. Then, some years later, when I was in a purple phase, I substituted the black yarn for purple. That's kind of unorthodox, but it sure does work.
Fish this as you would any streamer of bucktail. In moving water I like an upstrem cast with a dead drift to allow the fly to sink. I start a active retrieve just before the current starts to pull the fly. In still water, I let the fly sink and retrieve it with short strips.
For more info about the availability of Pass Lake Bucktails tied by myself:
Click Here
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| Pass Lake Purple |
Pass Lake (Clover)
- Hook: 3xl
- Tail: Brown hackle
- Body: Jaggerspun Zephyr yarn, in Ebony or Deep Purple, or peacock herl counter-wound with copper or gold wire
- Collar: Brown Hackle
- Wing: White bucktail
