yak hair

[Guest rich mc]

I ve been reading drew chicones featherbrain book, great book. anyway whats the difference between yak hair and saltwater yak hair thanks rich mc

[MIKE*A 0]

Rich,

I will make a wild guess.......maybe that it has to do w/the length of the hair? I remember an old member on here "Sean Juan" lived on the cape and used to use yak hair quite a bit.....I remember him posting some of his flies that were over a foot long using longer hair....I think he mentioned a couple of times that it was getting harder to find the long stuff that he needed for his Striper flies....

 

Mike

[tidewaterfly 0]

There's no difference other than the label "saltwater" added. The length may be a issue for some folks depending on the flies they tie, but the material is all the same.

[Christopher K 0]

The long yak is quite easy to find around here, usually it's about 12" long and is great for big flies where you need a lot of body, slippery stuff though! Sorry, not sure what the difference is.

[Crotalus 0]

Length and color most likely.

[Guest rich mc]

I didn't think about length since yak is long. I wondered if it was treated in some way. thanks all

[tidewaterfly 0]

Rich, I've purchased raw yak in a bundle, not packaged, and some packaged as tying material. Other than some of the packaged yak being dyed, I cannot see any difference. It ties some nice, long flies no matter. IMO, it's like "saltwater" bucktails. No difference, but the term is used to imply it's for saltwater tying. The primary use of the term with bucktail is for hair with 4" or longer hair. I believe the same is being applied to yak. It's simply marketing.

 

BTW, combining both materials, yak & bucktail can yield some nice, long, flies as well. I like to use the yak as a tail, and the bucktail as a body. Takes advantage of the best of both that way.

[Piker20 0]

Yeah, yak and more so goat provides lots of movement but can fold over and foul around the hook. A stiffer material, synthetic or natural holds it up for you.