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dawgvet

What to look for in Comparadun hair?

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silvercreek...

 

A great write up; but, I have to nit-pick; NOT all deer and elk body hair is hollow, as you state. The soft hair on the tail, that preferred for Clousers, is not hollow, nor is the hair on the head. There are also areas along the fore arm and the flank where the hair is not hollow. I have used deer mask for Comparaduns with great success. It is a shame, at least to my way of thinking, that this hair is seldom, if ever, mentioned as a useable hair; for anything!

 

One can tell, reasonably accurately, whether or not it is hollow by simply pinching a small bunch against the pad of an index finger with the thumbnail. If it is hollow, it will flare to one degree or another, as it bends. Solid hair does not flare.

 

There is no better source for information on which part of a deer hide is 'best for what' than Chris Helm's excellent diagram and written discussion. Check out his web site at: whitetailflytying.com. The folks at BlueRibbon won't steer you wrong either!

 

Many shops offer calf elk hock hair for Comparadun wings.

 

Cheers!

 

Frank

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phg...

 

There is a lot that I have never ever heard of, but referring to Gulf coastal deer hair as being known as "Coastal Deer" is a new one for me! Let alone that that is what one gets when they buy "coastal Deer" in the shops.

 

I have been a Texas resident for 71 years, and tying for well over 40, and everything I have ever heard called "Coastal Deer" is a subspecies of mule deer that inhabits the coastal region of California from just north of Los Angeles and extending well up into British Columbia, as noted earlier.

 

In spite of your claim, the hair from certain parts of the body of a "Coastal Deer", makes excellent Comparadun hair. Having killed my share of Texas deer, and having bought "Coastal Deer Hair", one can tell the difference just by looking.

 

Regards,

Frank

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How well do comparaduns float? I know you can hackle them as well, and am looking for something easier to tie and floating better than the old standard winged dries (who do float reasonably well, but are fiddly to tie).

 

I have an allergy to animal hair, but deer isnt as bad as hare's fur or fox... if im gonna make deer hair caddis, may as well use it for mayflies too.

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How well do comparaduns float? I know you can hackle them as well, and am looking for something easier to tie and floating better than the old standard winged dries (who do float reasonably well, but are fiddly to tie).

 

I have an allergy to animal hair, but deer isnt as bad as hare's fur or fox... if im gonna make deer hair caddis, may as well use it for mayflies too.

 

I hackle larger comparaduns/sparkle duns, like drakes, but not smaller ones. They float well with the deer hair fan. When I use dubbing on the abdomen I'll put floatant on them, but not when I use a biot. They are great flies, I find size 18's and 20's work great for picky trout on a BWO hatch. If you want to add buoyancy you can tie in a CDC feather behind the wing.

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I have found the best hair for comparaduns to be coastal deer mask hair. This is what is described in the book hatches.I recieved a comparadun kit many years ago at a TU dinner,it contained the spectrumized color dubbing and a 1/2 mask. The mask hair provides even tips with low flair and the colors needed, (light and dark basically). Here on the Battenkill i fish comparaduns almost exclusivly and also have great success on a hackle comparadun. Just i thought if you are having trouble aquiring good hair.

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silvercreek...

 

A great write up; but, I have to nit-pick; NOT all deer and elk body hair is hollow, as you state. The soft hair on the tail, that preferred for Clousers, is not hollow, nor is the hair on the head. There are also areas along the fore arm and the flank where the hair is not hollow. I have used deer mask for Comparaduns with great success. It is a shame, at least to my way of thinking, that this hair is seldom, if ever, mentioned as a useable hair; for anything!

 

One can tell, reasonably accurately, whether or not it is hollow by simply pinching a small bunch against the pad of an index finger with the thumbnail. If it is hollow, it will flare to one degree or another, as it bends. Solid hair does not flare.

 

There is no better source for information on which part of a deer hide is 'best for what' than Chris Helm's excellent diagram and written discussion. Check out his web site at: whitetailflytying.com. The folks at BlueRibbon won't steer you wrong either!

 

Many shops offer calf elk hock hair for Comparadun wings.

 

Cheers!

 

Frank

 

Frank,

 

You are of course correct in that not all the hair is hollow. I addressed that somewhat obliquely when I wrote about Al Troth's elk hair caddis, "Al Troth, when he first published his EHC, noted that it should be tied with hair that did not flair"

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SilverCreek...

 

I suspected as much. We all get into the habit of addressing questions like this as if the questioner had some fundamental knowledge of the hide and it's hair, and overlook the simple fact that they don't. I do it routinely!

 

No foul!!

 

Cheers!

Frank

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I'm still a little confused about the difference between hair that is sold as coastal hair and hair sold as comparadun.

 

Randy

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Wow so much information on deer hair, everybody I know lets the butchers keep the hide, so I guess I'm going to have to become a road kill hunter, but at any rate it was a very fine and informative article thanks to everybody posted information. Ed

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