"Mike Connor" wrote in message
...
You need the right hair for such flies. The (non-flaring, because
non-compressing) tips are used for the tail.
QUOTE
5. Selecting hair is a matter of deciding what you are going to do with
the
hair. You have two basic operations with deer or elk hair -- wings or
tails
and spinning. The best hair for wings and tails on flies like humpies,
Wulffs, compara duns, etc is located (a strip about a foot wide) on the
animal along the back bone, down over the shoulder, and down over the
rump.
The best hair for flaring or spinning is located on the rib and belly of
the
animal. Seldom to we get the opportunity to select hair from a complete
hide. Usually we are searching through a group of 3"x5" plastic bags in a
fly shop hoping we will get usable hair and later finding the hair does
not
fill our needs. Here's what you look for when selecting hair that is
already
packaged. The hair fibers located near the back bone of the animal has a
dark gray band in the middle of each -- the hair fiber is colored starting
with a dark point on the tip followed by a tan (deer) or cream (elk)
section
directly below the dark tip. From there the hair fiber enters a dark gray
area which eventually fades to a light gray area where the hair fiber
joins
the animal's hide. For wings and tail you need hair the is at least 50%
dark
grey in the middle of the hair. On the other hand if you are spinning hair
you want hair fibers whose middle section is mostly light grey in color.
REMEMBER -- dark gray hair, wings & tails --- light gray hair, spinning or
flaring. Back to the index.
UNQUOTE
Courtesy of http://www.btsflyfishing.com/Tips_Tricks/TT.htm
Thanks for that link and the quote: its come up here several times in the
past few years and I remembered it was out there, but forgot where.
Actually, I'm not using deer hair, so I have to be more educated in my
methods: I'm using some African critter that has hollow fiber hair like a
deer, but its a bit harder to work with. However, it sure flares easily, so
I think I really WILL stop trying to make humpies and instead just learn to
spin this. It might be rather special for that.
--riverman