I will confess I am primarily a nymph fisherman. I have been tying a few dry flies lately. My question is what is the secret to using snow shoe rabbit for wings on mayfly emergers(like Al Campbells too simple bunny emerger) or dries like Fran Betters the “Usual”? I tied up a dozen or so flies with 2x fine dry fly hooks 14-18 with great confidence that they would float( I read reports where the Usual will actually pop back to the surface if it was taken under by a current) I tested mine in the sink and they ALL SANK within 3 minutes.
I bought the snowshoe rabbit feet from a fly shop. There are from Hairline and are dyed dun colored. Does dyeing destoy the floatation properties?
I have a stretch of water in mind that is slow moving a glassy surface. I can catch the trout on nymphs but for variety i would like try a few more dry flies. For the bigger bugs like march browns a hackled fly the right sized twitched is the answer, but for the smaller
mayflies and caddis hackled flies do not drawn any positive attention.
And yes if I am going to use a dry fly it it has to float or hang in the film
I like snowshoe hare’s foot a lot. My primary use for it is as a wing post on dry fly patterns and emergers. I typically tye it with a parachute hackle. I don’t have any trouble with floatation but I do treat the hackle and the post with Frogs Fanny (really fumed silica that I buy in bulk) and have had absolutely no issues with floatation. I guess the big question will be is it the hackle or the hare (or the treatment) that causes the float? I’d say all three.
I don’t know how you all are using it but I love the stuff. I’ll post a couple of pictures of my favorite flies using Hare when I get home from work this evening. Maybe that will help you all see what works for me.
I agree with alra195, use some ‘Frog’s Fanny’ on it. I start the day with a little paste floatant, a light coat rubbed into the snow shoe hair fibers. After a while when the fly becomes water logged I squeeze out the excess water and dust it with the Frog’s Fanny. Now the fly will float like a cork!
As a material I’m not sure the snow show hair floats any better than deer hair or CDC. I do think that it cleans up and dries out easier, a cast off to the side to dunk the fly and wash off the slime, a couple of false casts and you are back in action.
I use Snowshoe Hair for the Usual, for ‘comparudun’ style may flies and for ‘emerger’ patterns. It’s almost inter-changable with CDC.
I use a small comb to clean up a small patch of fur prior to cutting. The more alignment I can do ‘on the hide’ the better. I grasp a small bundle by the tips and try to trim as close to the hide as possible. Keep a tight grasp on the tips and comb out the underfur.
On some flies I tie the fur in by the tips. This reduces the bulk at the tie in point and lets me trim the butt ends to shape as needed. Don’t be afraid to trim the hair to size, the bouyancy is a result of the unique spiral shape of the hair, not on it being hollow. A little trimming will clean things up and help balance the finished fly.
I sometimes use show shoe rabbit hair in a spun loop. On small flies (20,22,24) I find I can trap just enough fibers in a split thread to spin a sparse chennile and use this to wrap a dry fly style hackle post or hackle collar.
Some where recently I saw how to split the foot open to get good access to the long hairs…but I can’t remember where…senior moment…unfortunately I didn’t read it carefully since I was wanting to come back to it…
seems to me i remember reading that you had to use the hair from a certain part of the foot to acheive the greatest bouyancy, ill have to do a little research to find that info again. i beleive if you google “usual” it will probably direct you to a number of articles about tying that pattern and may give you some hints on selecting fur from the right location of the foot.
You do. Split the toes and take the hair from there. Also, it is hollow, are you cutting both ends?
I use the Wulff pattern and I love the SSR on my 30’s and 32’s it works the best. Never had any trouble with them sinking, but I always brush on frog fanny.
The hair from the back (almost heel) works the best.
Split the toes all the way and you can access it easier. Long straight hairs will not float, they need to be very crinkly.
I have a picture of a usual here that shows how crinkly the hair is. http://picasaweb.google.ca/pharps/Flies/photo#5055539008585989522
Snowshoe hare fur from the correct spot on the foot has lanolin on it. The lanolin helps it to float. Lanolin is the stuff in Raw sheeps wool that sheds water to keep the sheep from becoming a big soggy blob in the rain. It is also the stuff you smell if you are around sheep.
Sorry for the delay but here’s the picture I said I’d post of a small parachute style dry with a snowshoe hare post (I really consider this more of an emerger as it sits low in the film). It’s a dreadfully simple fly to tie. It uses pheasant tail for the abdomen, a dubbed thorax, snowshoe hare for the post and a hackle. You pick the colors. This one is in olive with a bronze dun hackle and a medium dun snowshoe hare post. One trick is to leave the tag end of the thread at the tail and after tying in the pheasant tail fibers counter wrap them with the tread tag to reinforce the pheasant tail fibers. Trout teeth can be pretty hard on pheasant tail but the thread help keep them from getting cut up too quickly. This particular olive color in size 18 and 20 has been very effective on the local Brown Trout.
I also recommend Harry’s fly/ dubbing loop technique show above. Another very cool way of applying and using snowshoe hare.
Thanks for the help everyone. I also found some witting by Art Lee on the subject. He said not to dye it because it takesthe natural oils out which help it to float. He recommended tinting the hair with markers instead. I will continue to work with it since its seems durable and practical.
I am out the door tommorrow am Frogs fanny in hand for a mini family vacation. I will get to fish early and late.
Wicked fly Bones
Alra 195
That looks like a good BWO in its current color scheme. That pattern may be just what The doctor ordered for the small mayflies .
Split the toes back into the foot. a screwdriver can be helpful at times.
Take your cuts of the longer hair and fur of the spit parts.
Work out the fine fur leaving he longer hairs.
Now it is ready to tie in.
Emulsify floatant with your finger warmth and work it very thoroughly into the rabbit.
Now it is ready to fish.
I have dyed snowshoe rabbit and the process did nothing to lessen the boyancy of the material! Also, I think many people have said that ‘magic markers’ mat the hair and that that will sink a fly. Anyway, if you want to try dyeing this material first split the foot into toes. A wire cutter is a good tool for this and be careful with the sharp bones. Once you get the toes separated and broken off you can dye each one a different color or bleach it lighter for that matter. If you bleach the hair and then dye it you’ll get a better color. Of course do not use boiling water. Here’s a site that explains dyeing with Koolaid flavors:
