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troutmaster08

wool

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? What kind of wool?  Sweater material (loose, easy to fray)?  Socks (tighter, more thread like)?  Felt (not woven but matted)?

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52 minutes ago, mikechell said:

? What kind of wool?  Sweater material (loose, easy to fray)?  Socks (tighter, more thread like)?  Felt (not woven but matted)?

Probably the wool pads they sell for staining and vanishing at paint shops usually long hair on the hide.

If that's what it is troutmaster it'll work fine.

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If it's raw wool, like fleece, that works great for streamer flies. At one time folks who were tying Sculpin and similar streamer patterns that had large Muddler type heads, wool was popular and used instead of spinning deer hair, since wool sinks better. 

Wool can be used for dubbing also. 

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I like wool quite a bit when doing small mullet patterns instead of using the standard spun and razored deer hair - but only when I'm wanting the pattern to sink then stay at whatever level it stated at down here in the mangrove jungles of the Everglades.... Here's a pic or two... 

Lhtfgu5.jpg

The only part of this bug that's wool is the brown nose... the remainder of the body portion of this fly is Dan Bailey's Body Fur...

XvfttwC.jpg

variations on a theme.. all on 1/0 hooks

 

Unlike deer hair, wool doesn't spin well at all.  What I do is cut the amount desired, clean the wool with a fine tooth comb then slide the bundle over the hook eye so that it's evenly distributed all the way around the hook shank then flare it with a turn or two of flat-waxed nylon thread (Danville's), and finally push it into place firmly before moving the thread forward for a second bundle (if needed).  I use scissors rather than a razor blade for almost all of the shaping process then a new double edged razor for the fnal finishing of the wool.... No head cement at all - just a tiny drop of thin super glue to end the pattern after the shaping... 

One other minor point... the wool I'm using is from Wapsi and very color fast - I've not seen a bit of bleeding out from even the dyed red wool onto a white body ... very nice!

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A guy from Dalton, GA once gave me a lot of wool from carpet samples.  All colors. It's hard to tie as it's all clumped up.  I could probably chop it up or something, but it doesn't seem worth it with all the other dubbing and body materials out there.  It had been dyed and was very dry.

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19 hours ago, vicente said:

Probably the wool pads they sell for staining and vanishing at paint shops usually long hair on the hide.

If that's what it is troutmaster it'll work fine.

It's exactly that

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You can use wool like deer hair too,  build up heads by stacking,   Trim to shape then coat with silicone sealant.  Bob P has a chapter devoted to this in “Pop Flies”.  I was on a tying kick a while back.   Made a bunch of them.   

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