Squirrel Zonkers

[Fatman]

Had a buddy send me a tanned fox Squirrel skin, parts of it had some shaved spots so I cut what I could into zonker strips and shaved the rest for dubbing.






Looking around for some decent priced tanned squirrel skins, I really like the looks of the strips from them.

[James Smith]

Nice looking Zonkers. I really like to two tone multicolors of Fox Squirrels. Please post photos of some of the flies you tie with them.

Jim Smith

[Ed_D]

Nice looking Zonkers. I really like to two tone multicolors of Fox Squirrels. Please post photos of some of the flies you tie with them.

Jim Smith

What Jim said...


Thanks,
Ed

[1hook]

nice looking stuff, will make for some good ties

[john52948]

a couple years back, I got tired of paying high dollar for poor quality saddle hackle for making wooly boogers. I ran across a pattern on this web site called, a pine squirrel cheater. it uses zonked pine squirrel as its main ingredient. I toned it down a little bit by only using two wraps of zonked squirrel, and loop dubbing the remainder of the body.

I call it an unwooly booger, because it uses no hackle. its really just a pine squirrel cheater that has gone on a diet.

ive been using it for about 3 years now, don't even tye any wooly boogers any more, don't need them. no more high dollar hackle, and no more leader twist.

[Alberto]

Those are some nice zonker strips. Will make a nice two-toned Slumpbuster.

In trip to South Carolina I have seen the black squirrels with a white face, has anyone seen zonker strips made from this type of squirrel that can be purchased at fly shops? I can find dyed black pine squirrel zonkers but have not seen natural black squirrel zonkers.

Alberto

[ScottP]

Wapsi sells pre-cut, tanned squirrel hides called Zonked Squirrel; I've seen them from various vendors from $18-23 so not cheap. I've also seen full tanned pelts for $25 on up, so maybe the Zonked skins aren't such a bad deal.

Regards,
Scott

[AllenOK]

We have black squirrels here in MI, but I don't think we can hunt them.

[bowfin47]

Tie up some of Jeff Guerin's "Squirrely Tukass" flies .

Jeff is as guide on the Little Missouri River (Little Mo) in southwestern Arkansas and hecame up with this pattern in the late '80's.

It has produced huge numbers of trout ever since...

http://www.littlemissouriflyfishing.com/

[whatfly]

Have never done any business with him, but this vendor has been around for a while: http://www.flytyingfurs.com/. Site does not indicate if skins are soft-tanned or not, so you would want to be sure before ordering but price seems quite competitive. Moscow Hide and Fur would be the next most likely source, the damaged skins are usually a good buy for tiers. Finally, Feathercraft also has full skins in the range of $20. While that might seem like a lot, still pretty cost effective versus buying those little packets.