I was looking at a fly recipe that required moose hair, which I do not have(but at the rate I am buying fly tying stuff, I will have a whole moose by Christmas), would calf hair or deer head be just as effective? I am attempting to tie a royal humpy
If you have some dark calf hair that would work. Deer hair always seems to break off when I have used it for a tail. I think it is too brittle. Other possibilities are squirel tail, ground hog tail, hackle fibers, and microfippets. There are probably other things that would work too.
I’ve definetly got microfippets handy. Thanks for the help.
Hi Bedlam,
If you have bucktail, that would work.
Regards,
Gandolf
If using the moose body for the tail and the overbody I have substituted dark colored elk. For me, calf hair does not work well for the overbody of the humpy. Moose is a bit hollow like deer and elk but tougher than deer. This seems to help with flotation on the Humpy along with the stiffness of the fibers. I find moose body a bit easier to stack and work with than deer or elk.
A patch of moose body hair will tie dozens of flies.
Another way to tie the humpy is to make the overbody out of foam and use whatever is handy for the tail. A foam bodied humpy will float very well.
if you use other than moose body hair then is it still a “Royal Humpy” ?
no “P’s” in microfibbets 