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Li'lDave

Squirrel?

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Just received my first lot of squirrel..

 

Got some red and grey squirrel tail, as well as a red squirrel patch and a full red (fox) squirrel hide...

 

Has anyone got any recommendations for ties?

 

The squirrel tail looks awesome for shrimpy ties. ..

 

Also got a bunch of deer belly hair.....

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The fly Kirk shared a while back, squimpy? I think. And I reckon a cascade style would work well on salty shrimp eaters.

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The fly Kirk shared a while back, squimpy? I think. And I reckon a cascade style would work well on salty shrimp eaters.

It was a Squirrely. Thread body, beadchain eyes, squirrel tail wing. Kirk cuts the white tips off of the hair after it's tied in but I like to leave them on.

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The belly hair from the squirrel dubs really well :)...

 

The tail hair is a little fiddly.. but I'll get there.

 

 

It's a poor tie but I'll probably still fish it... One day... when I finally get back on the water....

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For quite a few years squirrel was the collar on many Cockroach tarpon patterns... The only pic I have is my version of the original pattern (by the late John Emery, I believe...). This was done with deer hair (the natural brown portion of bucktail... Just change from the buck shown to squirrel (gray sq. for the Cockroach, red sq. for variations...). Hope this generates some possibilities for you...

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Dave Whitlock popularized the RFSH nymph (red fox squirrel hair). This fly was featured in Judith Dunham's "The Art of The Trout Fly". I searched "art of trout fly Whitlock" and a few URLs down was a link to page 59 which has this fly with correct recipe.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=5F2nP64N7YoC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=art+of+the+trout+fly+whitlock&source=bl&ots=u7IOwJORDw&sig=xcZDfsGqhdIxQkDL5R3LzJZhEP4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VqX9VNWMMPTdsASDtoKwAw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=art%20of%20the%20trout%20fly%20whitlock&f=false

 

I haven't tied one in years but had this picture in my archive.

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At least red fox squirrel tail will also make a simple crawdad pattern that is quite effective here in Middle TN. A small to med bunch for the tail, a little chenille or estaz for the body and a small to medium bunch for the wing and medium bead chain eyes on a size 8 hook. This is tied in a hook up style. Smallmouth and rock bass like them. I have also tied them with no tail like a crazy Charlie. ......The squirrelly is on a size 10 hook as Kirk ties it.

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I use my squirrel skins for both zonker strips and dubbing. I "micro" zonker them and use a lot of them for tail on my buggers and leeches. I dyed them in olive, black, claret, brown and purple. I find a squirrel zonker tail holds up better than a marabou one. You can tie in just a short piece and the hair still extends back to the length you want. The short piece of hide keeps the tail from fouling around the hook bend which I dislike about marabou ones.

 

Nice part about doing my own zonkering is all the dubbing it creates too.

 

Cheers

 

J

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Awesome info guys. Thanks So much

 

Capt Bob.. I might give your suggestions a go for some barramundi... I enjoyed tying with it last night... We found some cool zonkered squirrel as well, but not sure...

 

I have to be careful though. The hide I got sent looked like it had been dried rather than tanned... I don't want to get in trouble with customs....

 

I played with my new deer belly last night too.... It's amazing what some good quality fur can do.

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Oh man, I forgot about the squirrel zonkers. They make great crawdad pinchers and probably crab pinchers as well though I have never done that. I also make small Zonker streamers with them.....they are much lighter than rabbit since the ones I have bought are more narrow than rabbit zonkers. I do use rabbit too but I use the squirrel zonkers more.

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Can't find pic of Squirrely that Fisherboy is referring to but this is a modified one with rabbit dubbing body; could use squirrel body dubbing for an all squirrel fly.

kirk-dietrich-albums-flies-picture460-ds

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