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Fish Hair

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  pmflyfisher 
#1 ·
Found several unopen packages of Fish Hair in my old fly tying supply box my wife had banished to the garage.

Looks like a synthetic replacement for buck tail. Suppose these would be good for salt water flies what about steelhead hair wings ?

Anybody out there a user of this stuff ?

I bet I bought these at least 17 years ago and forgot about them

If my wife ever knew how much I have spent on fly tying supplies over the last 21 years I would be in big trouble !!!

:hehe: :tsk_tsk:
 
#2 ·
I have used it..just last year.. for saltwater sand eel patterns.. I think it has nice movement and is great for thin profiles.. not good for Deciever type patterns where you are looking for a little splaying out. I would not throw out the stuff.
 
#3 ·
Thanks I will try it on some streamer and steelhead patterns this winter.

I don't think throwing things out is in a fly tiers vocabulary ??

I still have some things from my first fly tying kit in 1980.

I bet this stuff would be good for larger patterns salt water and probably big pike streamers.

:hehe:
 
#4 ·
PM- Fish hair is good, durable stuff. I use it for surf candies when I don't have any ultra hair around, and it seems to stand up to the teeth of bluefish better that bucktail on a few of my small juvie patterns. I agree with Striblue that you should hang on to the stuff and give it a whirl. Your point about use in pike flies probably has merit as well.

I agree that it's against the nature of a tier to throw things out. You never know when a material might be that one key ingredient that's needed for a new pattern.
 
#5 ·
Never tried it as a wing material for steelhead, but I would think it's transparency and stiffness would make it far from the usual wing effect most try for. Although polar bear is semi-transparent and a favorite for many wet flies... maybe it would be effective.

The thinner diameter stuff people have been talking about lately might be a better choice?
 
#6 ·
Using fish hair

I use red & yellow fish hair for "BIG" (#2's with a 4x long hook) Mickey Finn's, the pike just jump all over it. :hehe:
I tried it as an extended body material for wet adult mayfly patterns with modest results. My best luck has been with streamers.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the input. Agree it is probably to thick for steel head flies, but streamer, salt water, and pike flies looks OK for. Now I have to get some larger streamer hooks.

I also have to find some pike areas to fish locally in Chicago area this spring. Know of one 15 minutes away that may be possible to fly fish.

Actually I thought of another potential use. Each spring the young 1-2 year old coho salmon come to the southern end of Lake Michigan since the water is warmer on this side. Also steelhead,king salmon, browns, and lake trout also come but the Coho fishing seems to be the best, you can hit huge schools near the shoreline if you hit it right. They are cruising in the upper 5-10 feet of water and are taken with trolling gear. I suppose that a big streamer on a sink tip could take them. They only average 2-4 pounds. My eight weight would be OK for that.

Just have to find a good location and the right day to do it. Fishing into the wrong side of an April Lake Michigan wind is not productive I can assure you.

:hehe:
 
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