jim, nice looking stuff. I tie something similar, I use small zonked pine squirrel for a tail and also take a couple raps around the hook shank for a hackle on larger sizes and loop dub pine squirrel on the smaller sizes. on the smaller sizes I use a 60 degree jig style hook with a slotted tungsten bead. I do the same on the larger hook sizes but use a longer shanked jig hook that Umpqua makes. keep up the good work john s