Streamer materials?

[mainbutter 0]

I'm putting together a short birthday wish list of "wanted" materials for warm water flies and need some help.

 

I fish for the easily targeted species in Minnesota lakes:

Pike

Largemouth Bass

Bluegills

Crappies

 

I've got a decent selection of rabbit strips, congo hair, flash, and stick on eyes.

 

I know nothing about feathers and am confused by words like "hackle" or "herl", but think that musky and pike flies that look like they are full of feathers are absolutely beautiful and stunning.

 

I'll be adding some CCG to the list too to help finish the heads and keep eyes from falling off.

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

[coinman66 0]

Polar fiber!

[MIKE*A 0]

Don't forget about buck tails........simple to tie use colors native to your area or stick with the basics, black/white, chartreuse, olive, you get the idea.........feather wing streamers are nice, but going after pike, may not hold up as well........I got hooked on murdich minnows last year, all synthetic, shed water well, bulky so they push water well and fairly durable....here is a link

 

http://www.flyfishohio.com/Murdich_Minnow.htm

 

Mike

[JustinCarf 0]

Bucktail!

[pikehunter58 0]

synthetic yak hair looks awesome and easy to work with

[Piker20 0]

As said above, the pike flies with feathers doesn't last long, soaks up water making it heavy for casting. Synthetics are the way to go for pike flies. Buy some body rattles. Rubber legs. Dumbbell eyes are useful too. The salt water eyes are good as they have a large outside diameter for their size.

[Phish 0]

Most important is tying books on all the materials and instructions like the orvis book for a start. Read it before tying anything and make notes. You will learn well and be happy tying!

[pike2002 0]

what I suggest is EP fibers from Enrico Puglisi great material colorfull and resistant. buck tail are good too. big hook 3/0 to 7/0 are great

[ditz2 0]

Many saltwater flies would would work well for pike. I use a lot of bucktail but for big flies that are easy cast go to synthetic hair. Lots of flash is also good and unless you need to go deep stay away from the big lead eyes. They are a b......to cast. I hate casting those large lead dumbells. I would suggest some natural colored streamers and some bright colored ones. I bet a large Mickey Finn with a lot of flash would work well. Tie it as an inverted Blond and you should be able to pull it right thru the weeds with little problem. I think I will try that for some bass myself.

[catmanclark 0]

I live in mn, and i think everyone needs to have a healthy supply of craft fur. Its versitile and supple..

[tidewaterfly 0]

"Hackle" refers to feathers, and there are different types that are located from different areas of a bird. All birds are the same as far as location of the feathers, but of course different types of birds will have different types of feathers. Neck or cape, both terms are used interchangeably, are feathers from the head & neck area, further down the back gets into the saddle (think of it as a saddle on a horse), then into the tail area. Schlappen hackle comes from the end of a saddle right is it becomes the tail. Then there are various feathers from the wings & body. That's the basics of hackle.

 

"Herl" is the individual fibers from an ostrich, peacock or Emu tail plume.

 

The majority of the tying I do is for warmwater or saltwater, and covers most of the species you'll have in MN. I don't fish for Pike or Muskies, but many of the flies I tie could be used. I tend to use "cheaper" grades of feathers, meaning I don't often buy dry fly hackle. Dry fly hackle is used to tie dry flies, which I rarely tie. I use a lot of strung neck or saddle hackle, which is the feathers taken from those areas of a bird, and sewn together. Strung hackle is often sold based on length. So, when you see strung hackle, 4-6", that means the feathers are mostly within that length range. If you're tying longer flies, you'll need longer feathers. Very simple.

 

The strung feathers will be of the same basic size, which is good when tying bigger flies, because you won't get small feathers too often. There will be some that are not shaped well, or may be damaged. I use them for wrapping collars, or even strip the fibers sometimes for various uses. I waste very little.

 

You can buy the capes (necks) or saddles still on the skin, which will provide a wider range of sizes of the feathers, but will also limit the number of feathers in a given size. So, if you only tie big flies, you're likely better off buying strung hackle. It's less costly too, per pack. However, if you find the capes or saddles (on the skin), like on Ebay sometimes or from someone who has either that they're selling, at a good price, and can afford it, it's not a bad idea to buy them. You never know when you might want to tie some different patterns or sizes, and saving a bit on materials is always a good idea. Capes & saddles both are sold for different tying purposes. Those sold for dry flies, are as I noted previously. There are also those sold for bass or saltwater flies, and there are hen capes & saddles. The type of feather obtained from each will differ in shape, width, length, stem strength, stiffness, flexibility & stiffness or softness of the fibers. All of these qualities may or may not be desirable, depending on the type of fly you're tying. So, if a fly pattern calls for hen saddle hackle, there's usually a good reason to use that particular type of feather. However, that does not mean other feathers cannot be substituted. One of the great things about tying & tying your own, is you can do anything you like. Nothing is set in stone!

 

As you get more into tying, you'll likely acquire an extensive collection of materials, which is something many of us have done. Properly stored, it won't go bad!

 

BTW, I & others posted some pictures of flies in this thread: Favorite Smallmouth patterns. Take a look & you'll see many flies that will work fine for the species you intend to target. For materials used in each pattern, just ask. That's often the easiest way to compile a list of what you need, and many patterns use similar materials.http://http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=67515

[fishn311 0]

craft fur, laser dub, ice wing fiber, large 3d eyes, icelandic sheep. i use a lot of these in my patterns

[Phish 0]

Yak hair, Bucktail, very long peacock herls and hackles is all you need to make great looking baitfish patterns!

 

Just don't shove the eyes right next to hook eye!

[TheCream 0]

Another vote for Laser Dub, here. Very versatile material, I use it a lot. It can be used as the primary material on smaller streamers like the Senyo Ice Man, or as a collar material like on several Strolis streamer patterns, and I like to use it as a streamer brush material for wrapped heads. It has flash mixed in, comes in great colors, and takes color/marking from Sharpies quite well. Awesome stuff!