Zoo Cougar Question

[Joe Valencic]

When tying Zoo Cougars, is there any advantage in using two mallard flank feathers instead of one feather? The feather appears to give an articulated motion to the fly by its cupped design, and I would think two feathers would increase the action of the fly in the water.

Also, has anyone tested the effectiveness of this fly by adding some red deer hair to give the illusion of gills? A friend suggested if I wanted gills to just replace the white calf hair underwing with red calf tail, but that seemed like a bit of overkill. Any thoughts?

Joe

[bones]

ask the man himself...Kelly Galloup

slideinn@3rivers.net

[darrell]

I've never had to wonder about modifying it for a more effective patten .... yet. But as for gills - I'm thinking the 1st bit of spun hair can be red if you really need it.

re: wings - I have tied them with one and with 2 on top - and yes - the difference equates to more / less action.

I absolutely love this fly - so adaptive to so many different situations ..........

[Jgoding]

I added a "sub" wing I guess. I thought it came out pretty good. Haven't fished it so I can't say if the action is different or not.

[whatfly]

I took a tying class from Kelly at the FFF Conclave a few years ago and he argued then that 1 feather was sufficient if it was large enough. He only used 2 feathers when he ran out of big mallard flank feathers.

Luck.

[Joe Valencic]

I took a tying class from Kelly at the FFF Conclave a few years ago and he argued then that 1 feather was sufficient if it was large enough. He only used 2 feathers when he ran out of big mallard flank feathers. Luck.

THAT's the response I needed to hear, and it makes perfect sense. I'm waiting for my brother to get back from his 3-week waterfowl hunt in Quebec, and I'm hoping he did well on ducks this year. I am running low on large flank feathers so I hope to fill a few bags to carry me through the next year. I love tying this fly, but have yet to catch a trout with it. I've caught LM bass, and have to say they really slammed it. I give a lot of Zoo Cougars as gifts and donate them to FF Club Raffles in boxes of 3 & 6 flies in different colors. Below are some of my early flies that I donated for a Christmas Raffle at our club. I've gotten better at the proportions and a CD from Chris Helm has helped a lot with the deer hair. (Rancid Rodent is my alter ego and evil twin )

Thanks to all for your input!

Joe



Joe

[flybop]

I have been tying and fishing zoo cougars this fall, but with some modifications. From my experience the action of the fly comes from the shape of the spun and trimmer deer hair head.

The zoo cougar has been producing some nice fish but ,like Kelly, I like to fish them with at least a sink tip line.

Also, tie em' big. Size 2 is not too big. We caught some brownies yesterday that were less than 12" on size 2 cougars. Cast them to the bank and strip them out into deeper water, and hold on.

[Ron Mason]

I love Zoo Cougars and have caught tons of trout on them. I do put gills on mine by simply dubbing a bit of bright red rabbit dubbing right over the very front of the body before you tie on the wing. I normally use 2 mallard flank feathers stacked on top of each other and look for the ones w/ the most pronounced curvature I can find. This fly is best tied unweighted and fished on a full sink or sink tip line. I have to disagree w/ flybop in that the fly action is dictated by the curvature of the mallard flank. You can enhance the action a bit by attaching it to your leader w/ a loop knot such as the non slip mono loop. This will give the fly a little more freedom to wobble.

[Joe Valencic]

You can enhance the action a bit by attaching it to your leader w/ a loop knot such as the non slip mono loop. This will give the fly a little more freedom to wobble.

Thanks for bringing up this point about the loop knot. As fly flickers we sometimes forget how much action stick baits have when tied with a loop knot, and big flies like Zoo Cougar are excellent candidates for this termination as well.

Joe