How do you slice and dice a hares mask?

I've just taken up fly tying and I'm trying to find information on how to harvest a hares mask. What parts should be chopped up for dubbing in a coffee grinder, and which parts should be saved for fly tails, legs, and other body parts? Are some parts unusable? Are there any web sites that deal with the anatomy of a hares mask? Thanx.

Hey shad!

I love using hare's mask. Best nymph fur by far, IMHO. I blend some fur from the lower face area with fur from the ears. I really like the fur from between the eyes mixed with ear fur...nice and spiky!

The fur from the cheeks is longer and softer. It can also be mixed with ear fur. The result is less spiky.

If you remove the guard hairs from the fur from the lower parts of the mask you have fur more suited to dry flies. I don't use hare's mask for dries but there is no reason why it couldn't be used.

Just remember...more fur from the ears makes a spikier blend. Blend a little bit of this and a little bit of that, see what you get. You will soon get an idea of what to blend to get the result you want.

Fish On!,
Charlie

Here is a little history for you. 98 Percent of the Hairs Ear Nymph's tied today are wrong as to the original pattern. They use the wrong hair and are way to light in color. The "Hairs Ear" Nymph is tied from the "Center pole of a Hairs Ear". In other words the salt and pepper area on the outer edge of the Rabbits ear. If you look at a mask it will be the hair on the outside of the ear and this area is to the middle of the mask as you look at it. You scrape it off with the edge of a tea spoon. These nymphs were tied to copy the Beatis nymph and do a great job of it if the right hair is used.
Today most people just cut off all the hair from the mask and the body hair and mix it. Or buy it premixed and it is all wrong, but it is right because that is what people think it should be LOL.
In truth you do not get much of the proper dubbing from a mask. That is why they started using the "Whole Thing" ;) You use the cheek hair for the tail of this nymph. Ron