Off season tying ... snow bunny foot properties

On Jan 28, 11:36*am, "Tom Littleton" wrote:

texture that can be pulled off and used in small flies. Try tying a small
clump 'x' style like a spinner wing, and then clumping upright. This works
well on sizes 16 and down.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Tom


Except for a few early season insects, a 16 is about as big as I
normally fish. I think this may be why I bought the feet but
never did much with them. One was missing a small area or hair but I
don't have a memory of tying flies with it. The hair seems too
long for most wings I tie ( or way too difficult to work with at the
very tips )

I tried ( I think I read it right ) the blend and clump method on an
18 last night and ending up trimming back the fibers to a small enough
length. It seems this trimming works better than with many
materials and doesn't yield a product that looks un-natural. If
the fibers owe their float to hollowness, does cutting them reduce it?

As ( on the foot I've started on ) you work out from the skin under
the foot you have a dark gray area, then a lighter nearly white,
nicely transparent in places zone, and finally a crinkley section I'll
call stained looking in color. Does this entire fiber, three
distinct colors, have the same floating qualities?

That dark gray area nearest the skin brings some uses to mind, but it
also brings 'underfur' to mind and thus, sink like a rock.

I'm going to try tying a cripple ala Quigley with the stuff later.
Positioned so the dark section ends up representing the wing case and
the lighter the unfolding wing, it should look great ( at least in my
mind's eye ) and the stuff is lighter than deerhair and just might
produce better physical traits in the fly, too !! ( not that I
honestly believe M-any fish will notice the difference ... but
chucking out something I like does increase confidence and any angler
with much experience knows confidence is essential )


Oh, Tom, do YOU find the various colors useful?

"Larry L" wrote in message
...
I tried ( I think I read it right ) the blend and clump method on an
18 last night and ending up trimming back the fibers to a small enough
length. It seems this trimming works better than with many
materials and doesn't yield a product that looks un-natural. If
the fibers owe their float to hollowness, does cutting them reduce it?

it sounds like you did just fine. I have seen little loss in floating
properties. I think the reason is this: the hair, if you look at it closely,
has a lot of curl. A bunch of it produces curls that create a ton of air
pockets, going every which way. Clipping it might expose the tips to taking
on water, but the trapped air keeps those tips well out of the water contact
required to sink them.




As ( on the foot I've started on ) you work out from the skin under
the foot you have a dark gray area, then a lighter nearly white,
nicely transparent in places zone, and finally a crinkley section I'll
call stained looking in color. Does this entire fiber, three
distinct colors, have the same floating qualities?

not exactly. The crinkly stuff floats the best. However, when you do the
blending thing, getting some of the softer parts(avoid the underfur right
close to the skin) doesn't seem to have an adverse effect, and sort of makes
the whole clump a little easier to control and shape. Experiment, as you
seem to have struck a few nice possibilities, and you may well discover lots
of stuff I haven't. And, therein lies the fun of tying for yourself!

Oh, Tom, do YOU find the various colors useful?

who do you think led Reid to his suppliers? Personally, I tend to use
certain shades heavily, others far more sparsely. Without doing an exact
count, I suspect my basement stash consists of:
10 natural pairs
20 dark dun
20 medium dun/brown
5 pale dun
with a few each of sulfur yellow, tan, chartreuse, olive
and rusty brown. My signature fly, if I have one, uses the darker dun for a
wing, and thus, I am about to grab another 20 pairs for the coming season's
needs.
Tom

On Jan 29, 4:50*pm, "Tom Littleton" wrote:
"Larry L" wrote in message

...I tried ( I think I read it right ) the blend and clump method on an

18 last night and ending up trimming back the fibers to a small enough
length. * It seems this trimming works better than with many
materials *and doesn't yield a product that looks un-natural. * *If
the fibers owe their float to hollowness, does cutting them reduce it?

it sounds like you did just fine. I have seen little loss in floating
properties. I think the reason is this: the hair, if you look at it closely,
has a lot of curl. A bunch of it produces curls that create a ton of air
pockets, going every which way. Clipping it might expose the tips to taking
on water, but the trapped air keeps those tips well out of the water contact
required to sink them.

As ( on the foot I've started on ) you work out from the skin under

the foot you have a dark gray area, then a lighter nearly white,
nicely transparent in places zone, and finally a crinkley section I'll
call stained looking in color. * * Does this entire fiber, three

distinct colors, have the same floating qualities?

not exactly. The crinkly stuff floats the best. However, when you do the
blending thing, getting some of the softer parts(avoid the underfur right
close to the skin) doesn't seem to have an adverse effect, and sort of makes
the whole clump a little easier to control and shape. Experiment, as you
seem to have struck a few nice possibilities, and you may well discover lots
of stuff I haven't. And, therein lies the fun of tying for yourself!

Oh, Tom, do YOU find the various colors useful?

who do you think led Reid to his suppliers? Personally, I tend to use
certain shades heavily, others far more sparsely. Without doing an exact
count, I suspect my basement stash consists of:
10 natural pairs
20 dark dun
20 medium dun/brown
5 pale dun
with a few each of sulfur yellow, tan, chartreuse, olive
and rusty brown. My signature fly, if I have one, uses the darker dun for a
wing, and thus, I am about to grab another 20 pairs for the coming season's
needs.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tom

Love my chartreuse bunny foot. Dark dun is great for a caddis.
Frank Reid