The Shad Buster is a fly pattern that I had seen in pictures and learned to tie, but I never really figured out what it was called until I stumbled across an old article that Steve Gardner wrote. Steve is a long time fly fisherman, ex-professional fly tier, and he frequents the St. Johns River in pursuit of shad where he uses this fly. The Shad Buster is a hackle fly, but unlike other hackled shad flies like the Shad Intruder and the Shad Comet, it uses a stiffer “spade” feather for the palmered collar. These types of feathers are typically used for tails on dry flies, and although the barbs have a webby base, the barb itself is stiff. While true spade feathers come from the shoulders and wings of the rooster, you can usually find suitable feathers at the outside of the top of a dry fly neck. Another difference between the Shad Buster and other types of hackled shad flies is the fact that the hackle is wrapped in FRONT of the eyes which causes the barbs to align in the gap between the two eyes themselves. This gives the fly a more triangular or arrow shaped profile rather than the rounded three dimensional umbrella shape of a soft hackle.
Shad Buster:
Hook: Size 6
Thread: Pink 6/0 Uni-Thread
Tail: White Marabou
Body: Pink Sparkle Chenille or Pink Body Braid
Eyes: Silver Bead Chain
Hackle: 3 turns of white spade feather