I have a question for anyone who ties flies (for fishing)

[JJSS89]

DC, I've never tied flies with any of my bobcat pelts but I bet it would look good on a sinking fly with a bead-head. I bet it would work in a pinch instead of buckhair. If you have any beaver pelts...those are a secret weapon to tie with.

oops, this is a public forum

 

[Sill]

DC, I've never tied flies with any of my bobcat pelts but I bet it would look good on a sinking fly with a bead-head. I bet it would work in a pinch instead of buckhair. If you have any beaver pelts...those are a secret weapon to tie with.

oops, this is a public forum

You can still find beaver coats at second hand stores...just sayin'.

 

[dc3085]

The beaver coats are a great idea too. Where I live there are tons of thrift stores that are supported by donations from the rich and estates of the rich. Shouldn't be too hard to find some real fur in there.

If I wasn't such an arse I wouldn't have a whole prime winter bobcat hide to use....

 

[JJSS89]

You can still find beaver coats at second hand stores...just sayin'.

Haha, much easier for me to trap them and get it that way. I wouldn't touch a 40 year old coat in the thrift shop hahaha!

 

[dc3085]

Haha, much easier for me to trap them and get it that way. I wouldn't touch a 40 year old coat in the thrift shop hahaha!

If I tried trapping em here in California the eco terrorists would be tying flies with my fur, in short order.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Ive personally never had any luck with the beadheads... and I tie them with a really thick hackle, just personal preference... And I fly fish all, I'm quite close to the Cowichan River, a famous river (not sure if you've heard of it) which has almon, rainbow and brown trout, smallies, and steelhead.. I nymph a lot in the winter, as the lakes don't freeze, and then switch to dries in the summer. for saltwater, a lot of the flyfishing i do is beach fishing in estuaries for Pink and Coho salmon, as well as Cutthroat trout. I have also tried flat-fishing bonefish style for flounder with a 6 wt and that was great... never tried boat flyfishing but it sounds awesome... it really is paradise here, if you ever have the chance to come over do it! and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Cheers

Wow! You have it all and do it all. Indeed, I have heard of the Cowichan River. What a selection of species to take there too. Color me green with envy. In this hot dry desert I live in I have to travel to water, with the nearest good lake over an hour away. I'm not too far from San Diego though and last week I got a couple days fishing the surf. I found it super challenging and fun and even caught a bunch of fish (all small). I fished the flats in Laguna Madre (Padre Island, TX) for sea trout and that was a blast! I'll bet the flounder flats fishing was too. If I ever find myself up in BC, I'll definitely pick your brain for suggestions on where to go.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

The beaver coats are a great idea too. Where I live there are tons of thrift stores that are supported by donations from the rich and estates of the rich. Shouldn't be too hard to find some real fur in there.

If I wasn't such an arse I wouldn't have a whole prime winter bobcat hide to use....

What kind of condition is the skin in? Is it flexible at all? If nothing else, the fur would probably make fantastic dubbing for nymphs.

 

[LavLady]

Do you guys think I would get in trouble if I picked up a road killed beaver and preserved the hide? I saw one last year and almost went back for it to bleach the skull for a novelty item, but SO said not to it might be illegal to possess without a tag... I am not interested in trapping beaver, I won't kill anything I'm not going to eat unless it is harassing or killing my birds. Road kill it seems to me ought to be okay to take. (It sounds kinda gross to me but if its fresh should not be too much trouble.)

How about nutria hides for flies? There are tons of those in OR, about an hour from me and they are considered a pest, there was even a bounty on them at one time. They are invasive escapees of some fur farmer, so I presume the fur on them is nice.

 

[QuailRaiser]

So in diggin through my garage I found a bobcat pelt that i didn't tan. It's worthless for the most part but the fur is still in really good shape. What would be the best use of a soft multi colored fur? For feathers I have plenty of hawk and turkey feathers ATM (my garage is hiding my poultry feathers from me...)

yeah, can i see a photo so i can comare it to something? it's soft and non-ridgid right?

 

[QuailRaiser]

yeah flat fishing is flat fishing... all the same! did I mention that you can salt-water fly fish for halibut and salmon here too? If you like, I cane tie some more flies later that I use for beach fishing..