Hair and Fur again

All about flies Fly Tying
1

Sorry to be boring guys…

But some hide has really short hair. EG antelope, springbok, summer fallow deer etc… sometimes as short as 6mm or a quarter of an inch. Is this fur any use in fly tying?? If so how can it be used?

Is it dubbing material or can it be used otherwise?

2

The really short stuff, I use on Muddler heads and small EHC’s.

3

So you mean its possible to spin it? It must be difficult?

I tried cutting and using some for dubbing but it doesn’t dub well. Using lots of tacky wax worked but the resulting body was very stiff and not really bug like…

4

Mick, after psycho-analyzing your recent posts regarding hair and fur (which I am in no way qualified to do), I have come to the conclusion that you are going bald and not dealing with it too well… OK, I’m just kidding. To make spikey dubbing, you might want to add some of your short, stiff hairs to wool, mohair, alpaca, or some other softer hair that can act as a binder. Think of the stuff that comes straight off of a hare’s mask. There is a mixture of stiffer hairs mixed in with the softer stuff. It is time to invest in one of those little, cheap, coffee grinders. Congratulations, it is time for yet another step down that oh-so-slippery slope known as fly tying. Don’t forget to lay in a supply of small, zip-closure bags to store it the dubbing) in. To save you some trouble, let me suggest that you spring for the slightly more expensive ones that you can write on, the FIRST time you buy a bundle of bags…
And yes, after a while you will probably notice that your fingertips have taken on new colors. No, you aren’t sick, it’s just the dubbing. Well, at least you aren’t physically ill…
regards,
Ed

5

EdD

I have been tying for years with feathers, mole, hares ears, squirel and a bit of seal fur (like most of my fellow countrymen)…

All this new fangled deer fur and moose is a mystery to me. I am learning off my more gun happy american cousins!! Hehehe

All this information is enabling me to tie more robust (if not so pretty!!) flies…

[This message has been edited by mickporter (edited 21 April 2006).]