Had a buddy send me a tanned fox Squirrel skin, parts of it had some shaved spots so I cut what I could into zonker strips and shaved the rest for dubbing.
Looking around for some decent priced tanned squirrel skins, I really like the looks of the strips from them.
Nice looking Zonkers. I really like to two tone multicolors of Fox Squirrels. Please post photos of some of the flies you tie with them.
Jim Smith
What Jim said…
Thanks,
Ed
nice looking stuff, will make for some good ties
a couple years back, I got tired of paying high dollar for poor quality saddle hackle for making wooly boogers. I ran across a pattern on this web site called, a pine squirrel cheater. it uses zonked pine squirrel as its main ingredient. I toned it down a little bit by only using two wraps of zonked squirrel, and loop dubbing the remainder of the body.
I call it an unwooly booger, because it uses no hackle. its really just a pine squirrel cheater that has gone on a diet.
ive been using it for about 3 years now, don’t even tye any wooly boogers any more, don’t need them. no more high dollar hackle, and no more leader twist.
Those are some nice zonker strips. Will make a nice two-toned Slumpbuster.
In trip to South Carolina I have seen the black squirrels with a white face, has anyone seen zonker strips made from this type of squirrel that can be purchased at fly shops? I can find dyed black pine squirrel zonkers but have not seen natural black squirrel zonkers.
Alberto
Wapsi sells pre-cut, tanned squirrel hides called Zonked Squirrel; I’ve seen them from various vendors from $18-23 so not cheap. I’ve also seen full tanned pelts for $25 on up, so maybe the Zonked skins aren’t such a bad deal.
Regards,
Scott
We have black squirrels here in MI, but I don’t think we can hunt them.
Tie up some of Jeff Guerin’s [FONT=arial][FONT=arial][SIZE=5][SIZE=3][COLOR=#ff0000]“Squirrely Tukass” [/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]flies .
Jeff is as guide on the Little Missouri River (Little Mo) in southwestern Arkansas and hecame up with this pattern in the late '80’s.
It has produced huge numbers of trout ever since…
Have never done any business with him, but this vendor has been around for a while: http://www.flytyingfurs.com/. Site does not indicate if skins are soft-tanned or not, so you would want to be sure before ordering but price seems quite competitive. Moscow Hide and Fur would be the next most likely source, the damaged skins are usually a good buy for tiers. Finally, Feathercraft also has full skins in the range of $20. While that might seem like a lot, still pretty cost effective versus buying those little packets.
AMEN FYI [http://flyanglersonline.com/fotw/2009/fotw20090921.php
a](http://flyanglersonline.com/fotw/2009/fotw20090921.php)lso, j stockard, a sponsor here, has excellent whole zonked skins http://www.jsflyfishing.com/wapsi-pine-squirrel-skin-zonked
Jeff -
Thanks for posting the link to the PSC.
I haven’t done a lot of streamer fishing this year, but I did today, in Northern Idaho. Temps in the low to mid thirties, snow flurries on and off, and a bit of ice in the guides late in the afternoon.
Three different spots in three hours - produced about 30 west slope cutts in hand, ranging from about 10" up to 17" on a sculpin olive PSC.
John
P.S. Spent the last couple hours fishing three other spots with FEB ( foam body version ) October Caddis and Salmonflies. Hooked up another ten cutts, finishing the day with the biggest fish of the day, at just over 18".
Forgot to mention 
The zonker strips shown might seem to be too short for a PSC. But you can do the PSC in sections - tie in a short piece for the tail and mid-body, then, after the rear of the fly is done, tie in a piece to wrap the forward body.
Also, for deeper and faster water, it can help to add some weight. I don’t like beadheads and coneheads, so I use 10-12 wraps of .025 non-lead wire. If you aren’t using a full sinking line or a sink tip, you probably do need to add some weight.
John
That’s because I cut alot of them cross-cut for tying jigs, I just got 5 tanned skins 4 greys and 1 pine from a guy on ebay and told him I can always use them