Am I the only one I know that uses the soft underfur of the snow shoe hare foot instead of the course hair? I use it for all of my dry flies and it floats great. The course hair is, well, course, and slippery to tie in correctly, especially on small dries, so I’ve always used the under fur. Is that wrong?
Bruce,
Don’t know if you’re the only one (probably not), but if it works and you like how it works, how can it be wrong?
Regards,
Scott
I use both. But when winging I use between the toes.
I like to use the underfur as well. I usually cut a clump of hair including underfur; tie it in too long and then clip the tips to length. This results in a fuller, more buoyant wing.
Yep. And, in my opinion it holds up much, much better than CDC; is easier to see on the water, and it holds floatant much longer.
Coarse, of course.
Like John said a mix of both coarse and underfur works very well. Sometimes on small patterns like baetis, the fullness of the fur makes for a larger bump in the thorax than you want. If you tie it in on top, like a spinner wing and then do a couple of posting wraps around the fur, it will stand up enough to make a good wing profile. I usually start with two wraps and then look to see how upright it is. Add wraps as needed until you get the wing angle you like.
Like others, I find snowshoe hair more buoyant (and easier to maintain buoyancy) than CDC. However, CDC provides some subtle motion on certain patterns – eg, CDC & Elk – that triggers strikes at times and can’t be matched by snowshoe hare.
Also, as Jay notes, snowshoe hare can be a bit bulky on small flies compared to CDC. When you say “like a spinner wing”, are you tying the hair in crosswise (ie, perpendicular to the shank) and then pulling it up and together to form the wing?
Yes. crosswise, and then just enough wraps to tilt it up a little, not pulled totally together like a parachute post. About a 45* angle or so.
I use snow shoe hare on my midge patterns down to size 30. I find the underfur to be easily bound down to provide a comparadun-type wing. I’ve been doing if for years. Give it a try. You need very little to float small flies.