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Artic Fox fly tieing material

6K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  tomd 
#1 ·
Melanie, Daugher of the infamous "Willie Gunn, tied seven tiny steelhead tube flys for me (wonderfully done I might add) that featured Artic fox tail fur. Does anyone know if this material is available in the States?

fe
 
#2 ·
Yes it is Fred. It is most commonly marketed by a company that goes by the name of BowTyer. And there is actually a great book titled Modern Fur Flies that gives a great indepth instruction on how to choose arctic fox and how to tie with it.

...and some of the flies that I am sending in for the swap is actually tied with the BowTyer material.

I will look around for you and see if I can find a website.
 
#3 ·
Fred-

Here is a decent website that sells BowTyer online. BowTyer

When I first started tying with artic fox, I was keyed on just using the artic fox but many of the other furs avaliable through BowTyer have very very similar properties. The fur you will recieve will be dependent on the length and the style of cut you want.
 
#7 ·
John-
I tie tails with the materials, wings with the materials and the crosscut strips I actually palmer. I believe it is the perfect compromise between the way in which marabou swims and breathes and the bulk and profile that rabbit provides.

Here is a pattern that can be found in the archives that I tied for last years swap. This was tied with the 3xl zoker strips.

 
#9 · (Edited)
Several places to buy these goodies ..

Interesting the number of 'hits' you get when you plug in 'artic fox + fly' etc. Pricing is quite different ranging from $3 -$5 per packet (don't know for sure if they're of equal size) and a considerable number of colours. Willie Gunn put me on to a UK site but after repeated attempts no luck in getting the site to load. Want to go back and explore this one tho, gather it's one of the largest suppliers in the UK.

Now I know this is going to cost me money.:eek:
 
#14 ·
John Desjardins said:
The Bow tyer material is interesting. So far I've only used it for tails on wooly buggers though. Anyone have any other suggestions.
I had bought a full tail of arctic fox awhile ago and found that the length is perfect for the throats of the flatwings that I tie that call for the hair to be just beyond the bend of the hook. I also use it to enlarge the profile of the deceivers I tie to imitate p'bunker. Another use is for short clousers(anchovies) and top it with some of the backside hairs of a yellow dyed bucktail- a perfect match. Hope this helps get the creative juices flowing.
 
#15 ·
#20 ·
I'm surprised that Arctic fox isn't more widely known in US - it increasingly used for salmon flies (especially tubes) over here. If you are interested, try sticking a post up on the Spey clave & see if you can get a response from Per - it really took off in Scandinavia & Russia some years ago. The mobility makes it particularly well suited to the 'post wing' style of tube fly - eg Templedogs. Sorry I don't have the technology to post a picture; maybe someone else can provide one.
 
#21 ·
Artic Fox

:eyecrazy: wow... I forgot how much that stuff sold for in small packets, I bought 4 whole tails for 8-10 bucks each at the flyfishing show last spring!!! look for whole tails if you want to save $... the strips are easier to work with, but I think I'll suffer through! Tom D :hehe: :devil:
 
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