Hi Larry,

This is exactly the subject I like! I've been tying with snow feet a long
time and consider these flies far mor superior than " just" CDC. I't much
more durable and the patterns have a rough and messy appearance I like in
all my dries.
I will sent a document with the patterns (unfortunately the website they
were on is lost) to your G-mailadres. Another pattern I had great succes
with in your given circumstances is this:
Hook: TMC 107 #'s 15 & 17
no tail
body: one CDC feather tie in (by the tip) at the point og the hookbend,
then slightly twisted and woundf forwards (exacly like in the CDC and Elk).
Don't cut the extending fibers!
Wing: Snowshoe feet's hair tied flat like in a caddispattern.
That's all, so I don't have to be sorry when I loose one or two in the
branches.
Floats good. It's a great caddis pattern!

Greetings
Hans van der Stroom
"Larry L" schreef in bericht
...
I admit to preferring to fish in places known to be 'technical' ....
and I further admit to a personal tendency to over complicate even
those places. This leads to me catching far fewer fish than I know,
from experience, I "could" elsewhere, but the pleasure I receive from
each success is greater, and it suits me. I know many of you
probably find this silly, but, heh, it doesn't harm anyone else, so
I'll just continue G.

However, a part of this affection for technical angling that I don't
like is the difficulty it adds to off season tying. The fun part of
tying, to me, is the subtle parts. I get a great kick out of making
slight variations and then trying to test them for relative
effectiveness. Sadly, I find this nearly impossible ... off
season ... because I lack real 'models' for my tying and because such
tests can't be completed with the creation process fresh in mind.

An example: I just this morning ran across a couple untouched Snow
Shoe Hare's Feet in my stash of stuff. Looking at it brings emerger
wings, and a couple other potential uses to mind. A brief search
( I have a crappy connection and simply don't wait for most pages to
load ) yielded only "could be anything" style attractor flies using
the material ... not my style. Tying up a series of patterns
without the ability to test the first few for 'float' and apparent
appeal to my targeted fish is a waste of time. I've been there done
that in the past and it just leads to fly boxes crammed with **** I'll
never really fish.

My real QUESTIONS?? When I think of 'bunny' I think of water logged
wet flies. Does this 'Snow Bunny" hair float or sink given it's
own, non- chemically altered choice. Are there tricks for tying
it that make flies more durable, it looks like the hair might have a
strong tendency to pull loose. Compared to the CDC I use often in
the type of fly I'm considering is this bunny hair going to contribute
to "internal motion" in the fly, a key feature, imho, or be more 'hard
and un-moving"

My first impulse was to mail the feet to a friend with a limited
budget and different tastes than myself in fishin' holes. I refuse
to tie much that I can't really test soon, but I'd like your comments
of this material, your uses of it, it's strong points and weak points
etc. Should I keep this stuff to try next season? As always your
opinion on fishing matters is appreciated, if not shared G


Larry ( in the midst of cleaning out the kit )