DEER HAIR FLIES

[dsaavedra 0]

ok. i am aware that deer hair is hollow, not in a drinking straw way, in a styrofoam way, with tiny air pockets. therefore it floats...duh. thats also the reason deer hair poppers and such are made.

 

my question is: if deer hair floats, why is it used to imitate bottom dwelling organisms, like sculpins. i mean, take the muddler minnow for example. obviously a sculpin imitation, but its got floating deer hair....doesnt make sense to me. is there a way that i just dont know of that you can make it not float or sumthin, cuz plz tell me b/c i have alot of deer hair, and would like to make some subsurface streamers and such, but i cant cuz it floats.

 

thanks.

[Guest]

flies like muddlers can be pulled under the surface by using weight on the fly with lead wire, cone head, etc. You can also use a sinking line that will pull the fly under.

[dsaavedra 0]

when i used a lead wire underbody, the fly still floated. :crying: :ripped:

[Alex C. 0]

The original muddlers were tied with a very sparse deer hair head that looked nothing like they do today. Ted Patlen had one that he kindly let me check out at the Somerset show in November. From what I can tell, Dan Bailey is the one who started tying them with the full head they have today

[flytyingscotsman 0]

 

This is a really great question, in that it is probing at one of the the

very few occurences where fly design has deviated from the use of

materials suited for the job in hand; materials that absorb water for

wet flies and materials that repel water for dry flies, i.e. why would

a wet fly or streamer be tied with a floating material, in this case

spinned deer hair ?

 

My personal experience with muddlers is I didn't catch much with them

before I started using weight; first in the form of split added to the

tippet and latterly in the form of dumbell eyes (a trick I learned from

a John Geirach book entitled "Good Flies"). The process of spinning

deer hair over the dumbell eyes is not easy and the results are not

that pretty, but the rewards are worth it - it would seem the deeper

the better for this fly !

 

 

 

[Guest]

I fish alot of muddlers and muddler style flies.

 

The reason that I have so much faith in this style of fly is the action it can give a fly. Because of the cone shaped head it will push alot of water and will cause the fly to wobble giving it a life-like swimming action. Also because of the shape and size of the head it also gives more realistic profile to the fly.

 

If you use a sinking fly line with a short leader it will pull you fly near the bottom but because the fly is trying to float it will keep it from actually getting snagged on the bottom.

 

I personally prefer the larger full head on the muddlers because of the reasons above so whoever it was that "reinvented" the pattern is a smart man.

[Alex C. 0]

I personally prefer the larger full head on the muddlers because of the reasons above so whoever it was that "reinvented" the pattern is a smart man. biggrin.gif

 

I agree, because of the full head you have way more presentation options when fishing with them. Not many flies can be fished as a hopper on one cast and a sculpin on the next

[Inconnu 0]

I like the floatability of most sculpin patterns. When you watch a sculpin swim, they come up off the bottom to grab dinner and dive back down to the bottom. If you use a sinking tip line you get the desired effect.

[Guest]

I believe that the key to the sucess of flies like the muddlers or the zoo cougar is the undulating action that their bouyancy gives them. If left to sit still they begin floating up, the longer the leader the higher they will float. When you strip in your SINKING line the fly actually appears to dive down towards the bottom and then slowly rises when the strip ends. This action is deadly on big trout. Have fun and hold on tight.

[dsaavedra 0]

ok so from what i understand, muddlers work best with a short leader and sinking line. ok. i can deal with that. but what about patterns that are completley deerhair, like the magic minnow. this is a pattern that is jointed, and the entire body is spun deer hair. how would this work? cuz that would definitley float, but it would immitate a minnow which are subsurface prey.

[adso4 0]

Not all minnows are actively swimming under water.

 

Sometimes, minnows may be wounded (by a dam) or dying, and they can be found floating low in the surface film. The minnow pattern in the link below utilizes such concept:

 

http://homepage.mac.com/kencube/kencube02/...ges/Image1.html

 

Imagine a wounded minnow, floating low on its side in the surface film and being transparent when back-lit by the sun.

 

It may be good to have an assortment of streamers that cover the varying depth of water, low-floating as well as deep-sinking patterns. Also, poppers are very effective for trout, not just for bass.

[Inconnu 0]

You can also fish those deer hair minnows on full sinking or sinking tip lines to vary depths. Alot of Rapala plugs are floating and will either dive when they are trolled, or you add weight, when you stop for a second or two, it heads for the surface, then when you move it again. it starts to dive again. The same effect can be had using sinking lines with deer hair flies.

[kamloopstrout 0]

You have to remember that a sculpin is a fish and will not be tumbling along the bottom. The deer hair gives the muddler bouyancy, and this keeps it off he bottom, and somewhat imitates a swimming sculpin. Mostly I fish the muddler with a sink tip and shorter leader and this keeps it down. This is only one idea amongst many that are out there.

Cheers, kt

[panfisherteen 0]

put a lip on the fly and make it a diving minnow

[dsaavedra 0]

dustin, thats HARD to do. plus, unless its perfect, it rarly works, and just makes the fly roll around on the surface.