polar bear

[bear claw 0]

A friend has offered to give me some polar bear fur.  suggestions as to what I could tie with this would be greatly appreciated.  Bear Claw

[cphubert 0]

Many salmon and steelhead patterns used polar bear wings as well as streamers like Alaska Mary Anne, Art flick used polar bear in his original black nose dace pattern (white portion of wing. I used to use it on a lot of streamers it is very durable, easy to dye, has a wonderful translucency, additionally save the underfur and use it for dubbing I used it for the white body on the Alaska Mary Anne with a polar bear wing. Tie it sparse and substitute it for bucktail in saltwater pattern also.

[SilverCreek 0]

I would advise you not to try to take flies with polar bear into the USA.

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-64?language=en_US

"You cannot import skins or You cannot import skins or items made from, or trimmed with, the fur of these animals. Furs from seals, polar bears, and sea otters are also prohibited."

[flytire 0]

the original poster is from north bay ontario canada. different laws than usa. no?

 

@cphubert has given you some ideas on what to use with polar bear

[SilverCreek 0]

Different laws BUT even if the flies are legal in Canada, they are not legal in the USA. So if you travel to the USA to fish, leave the flies tied with polar bear home.

How do I know? I know because when I went fishing in Canada about many years ago and came back to the USA, the agents looked at my fly boxes for flies tied with polar bear.

[Mark Knapp 0]

4 hours ago, SilverCreek said:

Different laws BUT even if the flies are legal in Canada, they are not legal in the USA. So if you travel to the USA to fish, leave the flies tied with polar bear home.

How do I know? I know because when I went fishing in Canada about many years ago and came back to the USA, the agents looked at my fly boxes for flies tied with polar bear.

Interesting to know. It's funny because, those flies are legal to use in the US, but not legal to import. Wacky.

[cphubert 0]

legal to use just can not cross a international border. I have also been inspected at the US/Canada border searching my RV and fishing gear while returning to the US. Unsure of the recent California Fur Sale Bans effect on fly tying or if it is just garments. There are many quality substitutes today and on occasion you may find a piece of on old rug for sale.

 On another note,

The US government has quietly dropped its campaign for an international ban in the trade of polar bear parts, which would have given the practice the same outlaw status as the elephant ivory market.  (2016)

“Though we remain concerned about the commercial use of polar bear hides as an additional threat to the species, we are not pursuing increased Cites protections at this time,” the USFWS 

polar bear is endangered but not prohibited.

[DFoster 0]

13 hours ago, cphubert said:

legal to use just can not cross a international border. I have also been inspected at the US/Canada border searching my RV and fishing gear while returning to the US. Unsure of the recent California Fur Sale Bans effect on fly tying or if it is just garments. There are many quality substitutes today and on occasion you may find a piece of on old rug for sale.

 On another note,

The US government has quietly dropped its campaign for an international ban in the trade of polar bear parts, which would have given the practice the same outlaw status as the elephant ivory market.  (2016)

“Though we remain concerned about the commercial use of polar bear hides as an additional threat to the species, we are not pursuing increased Cites protections at this time,” the USFWS 

polar bear is endangered but not prohibited.

I believe the U.S. government used to require that to legally have possession of Polar Bear one needed documentation to be able to prove the Polar Bear was harvested before a certain date, something like 1974.  Do you know if this still the case?  

[flytire 0]

pre 1972

i believe its still the case

there are 2 sellers online that sell pre 1972 polar bear

 

[Mark Knapp 0]

The Marine Mammal act of 1972 says that, to take, buy sell, trade or barter a marine mammal or marine mammal part one must be a coastal native of Alaska. They include polar bear, walrus, sea lion, one of the many seals and sea otter. Whales are covered by another law.

So, yes, it is still important to know that the polar bear you have died before 1972.

[cphubert 0]

7 hours ago, DFoster said:

U.S. government used to require that to legally have possession of Polar Bear

True for animals harvested after 1972 and if you have polar bear post 1972 insist on CITES documentation (a copy) harvested prior to 1972 no such paperwork existed, and it cannot cross international borders. That is what drives the price of old polar bear trophies and rugs up, in 1972 Herter's sold 3-inch length polar bear for .65 cents an ounce. (2016) USWFS stopped lobbying for increased protection of polar bears (they remain endangered) under CITES most say due to Canada's native populations usage and sale of their hunting rights for revenue generation. That may or may not change again, it is less expensive and easier to find a substitute unless you live in Alaska or Canada where you can readily find and use it.

[bear claw 0]

It is interesting how an innocent post can create such a furor.  Yes, the laws are different in Canada. I have no intention of travelling to the States.  I hoped to get a few patterns to try..Thanks to all for your advice. Bear Claw

[cphubert 0]

2 hours ago, bear claw said:

furor

bear claw no furor good discussion try the Alaska Mary Anne it is one of my favorite patterns;

streamer hook, black thread, tail -small bunch of red hackle fibers or red hair, body-  ivory or light tan floss (I prefer polar bear underfur or white seal or substitute dubbed on a loop) with a silver tinsel rib, wing- polar bear tied sparse extending to end of tail, cheeks (Optional) jungle cock tied short

developed by Frank Dufresne patterned after a jig used by the Kobuk Eskimos in Kotzebue Sound Alaska in the 1920's

White Yak is my favorite substitute for polar bear and that is getting harder to find 

[Mark Knapp 0]

47 minutes ago, cphubert said:

bear claw no furor good discussion try the Alaska Mary Anne it is one of my favorite patterns;

streamer hook, black thread, tail -small bunch of red hackle fibers or red hair, body-  ivory or light tan floss (I prefer polar bear underfur or white seal or substitute dubbed on a loop) with a silver tinsel rib, wing- polar bear tied sparse extending to end of tail, cheeks (Optional) jungle cock tied short

developed by Frank Dufresne patterned after a jig used by the Kobuk Eskimos in Kotzebue Sound Alaska in the 1920's

White Yak is my favorite substitute for polar bear and that is getting harder to find 

Luckily, there's lots of legal polar bear around.

[Sandan 0]

15 hours ago, Mark Knapp said:

Luckily, there's lots of legal polar bear around.

👍