Harvesting wild game materials for fly tying?

[nastynate]

I want some more pictures of flies from hunted critters! I’m getting in the tying mood.

@Hem @MTLabrador @Sheltowee @anyone else

 

[huntnpack]

Pheasant, whitetail, in-law’s feral peacock. I have a bunch of various wet flies, nymphs, and a couple dries but haven’t taken pictures apparently.

 

[Hem]

I want some more pictures of flies from hunted critters! I’m getting in the tying mood.

@Hem @MTLabrador @Sheltowee @anyone else

One Nate to another.
Yeah, I haven't really delved in to experimental patterns with parts and pieces of " hunted critters". I seem to stick to tried and true patterns that are easy to tie.
Here is about the easiest pattern to tie and very versatile. This particular color is deadly on Fall browns when they are moving towards spawning grounds. I have used this pattern extensively in a variety of colors and size for trout, bass, pike.

 

[RobG]

Killing time at the in-laws tying humpies with deer hair I harvested twenty years ago. One deer goes a long way…

 

[RobG]

But a word of warning, I like to add the little 'eyes' to my Sea Trout/Salmon flies, enter 'Jungle C0ck Feathers' into Google and it might not be what you are expecting to turn up

Cool that you can buy these again.

 

[nastynate]

Grouse marabou bugger.

@MTLabrador can you show me a pic of the type of grouse feather you’d use for the soft hackle on that bugger you showed? I looked at a few and just went with a grizzly hackle instead of something off the grouse…

 

[MTLabrador]

View attachment 307829
Grouse marabou bugger.

@MTLabrador can you show me a pic of the type of grouse feather you’d use for the soft hackle on that bugger you showed? I looked at a few and just went with a grizzly hackle instead of something off the grouse…

I’ll find one as an example. Any feather from the breast, you won’t be able to palmer the entire body with it. Just tie it in from the tip and wrap like a partridge soft hackle.

 

[nastynate]

I’ll find one as an example. Any feather from the breast, you won’t be able to palmer the entire body with it. Just tie it in from the tip and wrap like a partridge soft hackle.

Thanks!I did a little YouTubing for some soft hackles and got it figured out. I’m getting back into the game. My niece and nephew will be receiving a lot of ugly creations they can hammer bluegill with until I get a bit better!

 

[RobG]

I dug through my stash of materials I've gathered through the years. Some I've been using a lot, others I've been meaning to try.

CDC! Most of the stuff in the stores is low quality or just those oiler puffs. Hunters can get the good stuff. Different ducks give different sized CDC. If you don't know where the feathers are, pull the duck's head back so the bill touches the midline of the back. There will be a preen-oil gland (nipple) there surrounded by these feathers. (This makes sense because the duck rubs its bill on the nipple to get oil to run on its feathers.

Below is Canada goose and mallard CDC. I like to use them for upright mayfly dun wings.





This is a size 16 PMD tied with yellow rabbit fur dubbed onto olive thread. The olive thread shows through when wet, giving it the yellow frosted green body of a real PMD. It has splayed microfibbet tails to make it float upright. The wing is made from mallard CDC that has been bleached with a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. This is my go-to fly on spring creeks.

Note how the wing is trimmed, parallel to the stem on the top, and angled down on the backside.




This is a brown drake tied with Canada goose CDC. I put hackle on it for faster water. The wing trimming is a little more obvious here.



To be continued...

 

[RobG]

Mule deer bucktail...

I saved this years ago, but never tried it until this thread inspired me. The white hair is brittle and the tips were broken off. It's pretty useless. On the other hand, the black stuff is like regular whitetail bucktail.

I tied up a Clouser with it, and I'm pretty confident it will fish well. Black is supposedly it is good for smallmouth. It's also good for night fishing since it produces a nice silhouette. For night fishing I'd tie something more bulky, but I'm anxious to give this fly a try for smallmouth.

 

[RobG]

Muskrat. Mr. Fin gave me one of his low grade rats, which I stretched and dried on a board.



Muskrat used to be the go-to dubbing for dry flies. These days, synthetics get used more. Instead of a boring dry fly, I decided to tie a mouse with a trimmed rabbit tail (the rawhide muskrat wouldn't make a good flexible and durable tail).




As you can see, it turned out to be more of a muddler. Oh well, I'm a little out of practice.


Here is one without the spun deer hair head. It looks like a wet cat, even when dry.

I haven't used this, and I'm not sure how it will fish. It probably needs a spun deer hair (or cork) head to float, but I tied one with beaver a long time ago and it wouldn't sink. Flies like this are often tied with rabbit or squirrel, mostly intended to be fished wet. The muskrat fur length is in-between those two lengths so it is good for moderate sized flies.

 

[RobG]

I saw this at the store yesterday. Wow, almost fifty bucks, you'd think it was a jungle c*ck neck.

 

[Ought Six]

Worms work good. mtmuley

Agreed.

 

[RobG]

Now some experimental stuff... Has anyone used metatarsal hair? It looks like great stuff, and you'd never find it in a store. (As an aside, the size of the gland is used to tell the difference between a whitetail and mule deer. Click here for more information)






It's hard to get a good picture of it. It's that vertical fuzzy bunch on the center left of the hide piece.

While I've never used a fly made from this, I already like tying with it. It is easier to work with than calf tail, the hair is much more uniform in length, and it's bushier than elk hair. The tips are like calf tail, but the butts tie in more like elk or deer. I'm hoping it will remain as buoyant as elk hair or calf tail after a few fish.






I tried bleaching some for better visibility for a royal Wulff, but it didn't get as light as I wanted.




I'd be interested in anyone's experience with this stuff. Otherwise I'll report back this spring/summer.

 

[RobG]

I've had this badger hair for nearly fifty years. I tie a similar crayfish pattern with pheasant tail fibers, but the badger has more length for a mid-sized bug. The guard hair tips are a nice touch. I wish badgers came in olive.