Deer Hair Challenge. Black tips v non-black tips

I think some of y'all are taking this waaaay too seriously. Hard to catch trout when you are being treated for ulcers. *S*

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Originally Posted by NJTroutbum

I've got one patch here that is labeled Coastal whitetail. But 2 others that are coastal blacktail. I find it more often in the blacktail patches.

However.....when tying the vast mojority of my comparadun/haystack/sparkle dun patterns....I agree with the even color and little-to-no black tips. But it was fun discussing coastal hair with you all. It's one of my favorite materials. :D

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Only coastal deer I know labeled as such is the coastal, or Columbian, black tail. It's a western subspecies of the mule deer. Usually dresses out at less than 150 lbs. there are whitetails that live on the east coast, but never heard of them called by the "coastal" designation. New one on me!

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Originally Posted by Byron haugh

Silver,
I thought CDC floats because it has the natural preen gland fluid on it from the duck????

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This is a whole other debate. Once I bought some CdC that turned out to be old and dry, it sank. However, this may because of the age of the feathers as well as the lack of oil. A smear with CdC oil improved them a little but not to the extent that good CdC floats. It is a lot to do with the structure of the feather as well as the oil. It traps tiny bubbles of air giving the fly buoyancy. Most of my CdC flies are tied to sit down in the surface (emergers), so I am using buoyancy in the true scientific definition.

Cheers,
A.

maodiver....you are correct Blacktail are the general use for the term. I am asssuming that someone had whitetail hides available that fit the bill for comparadun hair and labeled them as such. Possibly a farm raised critter? Or...it was a Cascade whitetail? A few areas where I've hunted you see all 3. :)

AllanB...I believe the dying process removes much if not all of the preening oil in many cases as well?

That would depend on the method of dying. Some do others claim not to. Mostly I use natural colours, though I have a selection of the Marc Petitjean dyed CdC as well. He claims that his process doesn't remove the oil.
Cheers,
C.

Hi,
I received this reply from an email I sent to Craig Mathews at Blue Ribbon Flies:

"I prefer whitetail deer from northern Idaho and Montana taken in October. The hair will then be short, about 1" long, with very short black tips and coarse up close to the very ends of the tips. Coastal deer from warm climates has fine hair and is seldom hollow enough to flair the right about and compress with tying thread to defeat bulk when tying small sparkle and compara duns."

Doesn't anyone use a phone anymore? Personal conversation is much more friendly, allows you to get much more information and explanations about the topic, as well as some other fine pointers, when you converse with the person you want to speak with. You really should try that as a follow-up. Personally, I enjoyed my conversation with Craig Mathews yesterday. Quite informative.

Allan

Allan,
It is sometimes difficult for me due to the time difference between Kauai and Montana. In addition, their shop has different hours during the winter time when they are in there tying flies, ordering, etc., etc.
Additionally, Craig is often not there or available for a phone call, whereas an email left for him will be answered by him.
In addition, I have told what Craig has told me in the past. Always good for folks to see his response in his own words.........

I guess I got lucky yesterday. I called on a lark and I guess was very lucky that he answered. As I wrote above, very interesting conversation about which I'll say just one combined comment about the 'compara' type hair he seeks out: early bow season, pre-winter deer with hair that has a minimum amount of black tips.

Allan

I believe that is exactly what I have been saying. Shortest black tips possible..............