Moose Mane

[darrell]

Tried some tying with moose mane last nite and diddled up a couple mosquito's .... problem I'm finding is that workable moose mane is not long enough to tie a standard #16 dry. I get about what I have shown here - after that, the mane gets into it's brittle / soft sections and .... not even light wraps worked ........... yup - even looked for longer hair. Tying in a 2nd pair of hair strands ..... was ugly.

Here's the #16
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sra ... d5cd9a.jpg

But standard #18 dry hook did work better. My patience and eyesight was nearing their end for the night (kids were still up too) - had to bring out the magnifying glass.

Anyhow, here's the #18
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sra ... d5cd94.jpg
(pardon the messy heads)

Does anyone have any tips / notions for tying with moose mane - or is this just the nature of the swamp donkey's hair ??? This is the 1st time for me tying with moose - seems a waste that 1/2 the length of hair is too soft/brittle to use.

... or ..... maybe it just wasn't a day for me to be tying ........ although I really really wanted to ...........


darrell,

[Betty Hiner]

Swamp donkey, ech? Never heard 'em called that before!!

I've never had problems with moose hair like that, but other fibres that are brittle, I've tamed with a few drops of hair conditioner in a "bit" of water.

Most of my mosquitos are tied with horse hair/mane. They're long and flexable, and tie up a kewl looking mosquito! Usually tie 20-26, but may run up a few in the 02-01 size for the Michigan fish-in!!

darrell,

Could be you just got a bad piece.
Suggestion: Mix some hair conditioner in water and soak the hair for a few minutes. Rinse thoroughly and blot dry. The hair should be somewhat softer. Cut off a little of the tip and tie the hair in at that end.

Allan

[RonMT]

I have never used hair conditioner before not a bad idea. I have used just hot water and soaked it in the hot water for a bit and that seems to work.
I stopped using moose for quill style body's many years ago. I use thread instead. Faster, easier and look's the same. Just coat the hook with black thread and over wrap it with a heavier white thread then a coat of head cement and you will have a great body that will last a lot longer.

I do use moose body hair for tails on some of my dry flies. Works great. Ron

Ron,

Tied that way do you get a fly that floats? Seems it would be okay for wets, but dries? My posts have been misrepresented or misunderstood recently so I'm just asking.

Allan

[darrell]

I got a large chunk of moose hide last year wet from the taxidermist - about 3x3ft. Gave some away, but still have a chunk to play with. I dried it, and stored in zip-locs. Brittle might be a bad choice of word - maybe - breaks-easier-than other hair (no-way close to breaking as easy as that of caribou).

Anyhow - I have a load of moose to use, just wondering - is all. If it stays like it is - I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it.

I'll give the conditioner a try - see if it changes anything. Thanks.

Betty - yeah, swamp donkey - big ears, dumbfounded looks most times, and give you that d'huh look when talked to ....... mmmms, sort of like some managers I know
(don't really know when / where the term came from)

darrell,

[RonMT]

Allen if you look at what you are doing with the moose there is no floatation to it after you have wrapped it on the hook. You will normally cursh the air out of the hair when you wrap it on the hook. The hackle and the tail will float the fly as does the wing and tail of a Com-Para Dun

The thread works just fine if you try it out. At least it does for me.

darrell- Again the hardest thing in fly tying is knowing how the materail will react with the thread and hook while you are tying it on the hook. You just have to learn the ammount of pressure you can place on a given materail before you put to much on it. Ron

[darrell]

Ron - yeah, I do have that 'tighter is better' problem - I even had a couple occasions to bust 3/0 Kevlar while tying ....

well, back to tying - see what tonite brings ........