I found a bag of carabou recently. Is it essentially a straight substitute for deer or elk hair or does it have some unique or preferred applications/patterns?
Carabou is great for spinning. It is too fragile to my mind for wings or bodies. It is my first choice for spinning small fly bodies like size 16 irresistables or heads on small muddlers.
I have to agree with rainbowchaser. I have what is probably a lifetime supply of Caribou, thanks to a taxidermist. I’ve tried using it for Caddis flies, and it’s way to soft. However, a tightly spun and trimmed head is great. I do Muddler Minnows on 3xl curved-shank hooks, sizes 10, 12, and 14 with a Caribou head. Great flies! I should probably try to do an Irresistible with the Caribou.
I tried using it a long time ago and found it to be way to brittle. I was tying commercially back then and two fish flies are bad for repeat business. I just threw it away.
Caribou floats better than both elk or deer, but without the durability. I like it for small panfish bugs and have used it in skating patterns for steelhead. I also tie a mouse pattern with it.
In the patch of carabou that I have, most of the hairs have long wispy tips, vs. the sharp pointy tips that deer hair has. Are these wispy ends normal? I guess you would just cut them off prior to spinning anything with it?
Yes, you can either trim them prior to spinning, or spin then trim. Either way, the tips are gone. Most of the hair I have used only provides enough good hollow hair for heads up to about 1/2"-5/8" in diameter when spun. That is why I tend to use it for smaller patterns.
As a kid I remember all the nature shows and such talking about caribou and how they floated so high in the water because of the hollow hair. Many years later a friend shot a caribou which ran out into a lake and died. We floated it beside us while gutting it and failed to hold onto it after the fact and it went straight to bottom!!! Fortunately we were able to get a line on it and bring it back up.
Caribou float very high in the water because they are floating on a HUGE bag of bubbling, gassy, fermenting lichen. And that hair that makes them ride so high in the water is actually up in the air when they are swimming!
That said, it is like the story of the blind men and the elephant. The hair varies a great deal all over the animal. The hair on the hocks is very tough and great for wings. It runs very light in color and takes a Sharpie well. It tends to require more stacking.
Belly hair is brittle, but very light color and also takes a Sharpie well. Spinning it in a loop and adding a light bit of Goop or other rubbery adhesive to the hook shank right before wrapping will create a very durable body which will float well despite the rubber cement layer. That is how I usually tie Goddard caddis flies. I guarantee they are not two fish flies when grayling fishing and often they go past three figures on any given day. But I have always preferred a well used fly…
IIRC… how likely is that??? Denny caught his best grayling with my son on a caribou Goddard… but I may be misremembering that. Actually, he was using a fly tied by my son and that means I probably am misremembering the fly as Riley is not fond of spinning hair, though he is remarkably good at it.
When spinning caribou great care in selecting thread is very important as is being sure you do not get carried away in cinching it too tight.
I am having trouble imagining where hair that short is coming from on a caribou? They do not insulate against such brutal cold as they deal with by having short hair?
I have some that is easily 2" of thick hair and would easily yield 2 1/2" diameter bodies, tightly packed.
Hap, The hair is long, correct. But it is fragile in comparison and the tips are long. At least with the patches that I have used over the years. The core of the largest and hollow portions of the hair float best, and hold up better trimmed shorter. You can get larger bodies with it, and I do with a mouse pattern. but for the most part I use caribou for tighter trimmed smaller bodied patterns, using only best portion of the hair. It is probably my favorite hairs for muddler heads and such.
Got ya.
A couple ideas… wash your caribou hair and add a bit of hair or fabric conditioner and let it soak for a while before rinsing and drying. Do not let it sit for too long between uses or dampening it again to keep it flexible. It will cut much easier when working and it will be considerably tougher.
Like any other natural fly tying product it likes water.
Playing around with caribou
Goddard Caddis
Strawman (inserted in split thread, spun,wrapped, trimmed)
Caddis (body is dubbed underfur, head is hair inserted in split thread, spun,wrapped, trimmed)
Clipped Caribou Sedge
Quality of a lot of packaged caribou was an issue; much of the stuff I purchased had broken tips, although that’s not an issue if you’re spinning/trimming. I found some very nice patches at Blue Ribbon that I now use when I want to use it for winging/tailing.
Regards,
Scott
Scott, excellent examples. It is really nice hair for smaller hair applications. While it can be used for anything, I have never personally been able to get the same results as with deer hair for poppers and such.
Although caribou wouldn’t be my first choice for 1/0 bass bugs or stuff like Bombers, it has it’s use with larger flies
Terasaki Pooldozer (#4)
Deadly Cicada (#6)
Irresistible Stimulator (#6)
Since it spins and packs well, it makes for a nice, dense body.
Regards,
Scott
Agreed, I would include Steelhead/salmon dries as part of the smaller crowd…larger Bassbugs and such are where I lean away from it. Still usable, but not my preferred.
I’ve got what is probably a lifetime supply of caribou from a taxidermist several years ago. Like Ralph, I find that Caribou really isn’t suited for the larger bugs. However, on smaller ties, it’s great! I use it for heads on Muddler Minnows in small, panfish sizes. Maybe one of these days, I’ll take a stab at an Irresitible.