Beaver dubbing

[McFlyLures 0]

Hey guys, I’m tying a mole fly.  I’ve only got a light tan color beaver dubbing.  I want it a bit darker.  Would it be bad to mix brown hareline hare dubbing with it to mix it up?  I’m not sure the properties of beaver really.  Would it work? 

[SilverCreek 0]

Natural fur off the pelt has two kinds of hair. There is "underfur" which is the soft fur/hair next to the skin. It is used for dry flies because it is fine and soft and the dubbing from it forms a fine even dubbed body.

Then there are the "guard hairs" which are the long hairs that project over the fur and create the sheen of a tanned beaver hide for coats and jackets. When the guard hairs are mixed in with the underfur, the dubbing is spiky and is used for nymphs because it creates a rougher sly body that looks more like a nymph.

When a fly tyer cuts dubbing from a piece of fur he gets the shorter softer underfur and the longer spikier over fur. For dry flies the longer guard hairs are pulled away and the under fur is then dubbed, For nymphs, the underfur and guard hairs are mixed and dubbed creating the spiker nymphal body.

Here is beaver fur.

Here is the clipped dyed black beaver fur. Note the longer guard hairs.

Hareline makes several kinds of "hare" dubbing. So you need to look at it and see how closely it will match real beaver. I doubt that it will be a close match since rabbit and beaver have a different consistency but that does not mean your fly would not be effective.

[McFlyLures 0]

Well ok let me explain what I’m doing.  It’s a mole fly.  It is made with some of the spiky guard hairs (at least in cravens video) and it’s gotta somewhat go below the surface.  He said not to use an ultra floaty dubbing.  I figured the closest will be rabbit, at least that I have.   I tried it, it turned out ok.  Seems to have similar outcome.  It will fish.  Thanks!    

[SilverCreek 0]

One thing I should add about beaver is that you will hear or read that because beavers live in water and they cover their fur with oil secreted from glands that beaver fur makes for great dry flies and poor nymphs because of the oil coating.

However, because beaver fur for fly tying has been tanned and loose fur has also been cleaned and processed, it has no oil left in it,

[McFlyLures 0]

1 hour ago, SilverCreek said:

One thing I should add about beaver is that you will hear or read that because beavers live in water and they cover their fur with oil secreted from glands that beaver fur makes for great dry flies and poor nymphs because of the oil coating.

However, because beaver fur for fly tying has been tanned and loose fur has also been cleaned and processed, it has no oil left in it,

Ok cool thanks, this answers my question.  

[chugbug27 0]

Dettes has it for $3 in brown. Hare and beaver are very different from mole.

https://detteflies.com/collections/mole/products/mole-skin

[McFlyLures 0]

8 minutes ago, chugbug27 said:

Dettes has it for $3 in brown. Hare and beaver are very different from mole.

https://detteflies.com/collections/mole/products/mole-skin

Thanks.  Unfortunately it’s for a customer.  It took 3 weeks to get the materials in already.  I asked for brown, I was sent tan.  I need to get this out to him ASAP.  Unfortunately.   And Charlie craven ties it with beaver.  That’s the one this guy asked for.  

[chugbug27 0]

No problem, I didn't understand

[McFlyLures 0]

42 minutes ago, chugbug27 said:

No problem, I didn't understand

No I Didn’t explain, not your fault.  I do appreciate it.  If covid shipping wasn’t bad enough, throw Christmas into the mix and it’s the perfect storm!  Haha

[Mark Knapp 0]

I can send you some dark beaver ASAP. No problem. Let me know. PM me your address.

[Sandan 0]

18 hours ago, McFlyLures said:

Thanks.  Unfortunately it’s for a customer.  It took 3 weeks to get the materials in already.  I asked for brown, I was sent tan.  I need to get this out to him ASAP.  Unfortunately.   And Charlie craven ties it with beaver.  That’s the one this guy asked for.  

I tie 'em like Charlie does. If you're gonna use the hareline use the underfur.  He get's the buggy look not so much with guard hairs but rather by doing some judicious roughing up of the dubbed body.  That's straight from Charlie, I asked him at the shop one day. [edit] That mole fly is a killer emerger btw [/edit]

[McFlyLures 0]

39 minutes ago, Sandan said:

I tie 'em like Charlie does. If you're gonna use the hareline use the underfur.  He get's the buggy look not so much with guard hairs but rather by doing some judicious roughing up of the dubbed body.  That's straight from Charlie, I asked him at the shop one day. [edit] That mole fly is a killer emerger btw [/edit]

Great info thanks!  Yeah so it turns out that after mixing the colors and tying a few, I sent the picture to the customer and they asked for it to be lighter.  Hahaha!  Sooooo, I just ended up tying them all in the lighter beaver dubbing I’ve got.  Worked great.  Thanks everyone for your help.  
 

[SilverCreek 0]

43 minutes ago, Sandan said:

I tie 'em like Charlie does. If you're gonna use the hareline use the underfur.  He get's the buggy look not so much with guard hairs but rather by doing some judicious roughing up of the dubbed body.  That's straight from Charlie, I asked him at the shop one day. [edit] That mole fly is a killer emerger btw [/edit]

I carry a 22 rifle bore brush with me in my fishing vest to roughen up nymphs to make them more buggier before I fish them. I also have one in my fly tying kit.

[Sandan 0]

49 minutes ago, SilverCreek said:

I carry a 22 rifle bore brush with me in my fishing vest to roughen up nymphs to make them more buggier before I fish them. I also have one in my fly tying kit.

Great idea

[kerusso 0]

The mole fly has been a great pattern for me over the past 3 years.  I have made successful substitutions regarding the beaver hair.  I dyed some goose biots to a brown hue I liked and it worked well.  I also used dark brown thread as a body along with a segmentation that will contrast with the dark brown thread.  I also fish the mole fly tied with beaver (certainly nothing wrong with that).  Good luck!  FWIW, I prefer tying this fly using a dark brown  body