EP fibers vs Congo Hair

[GG34 0]

Can I tie the same bait fish patterns with Congo hair as opposed to EP fiber? Anybody know the difference? I've never worked with either. Thanks.

[utyer 0]

The main difference is that the EP fiber blends in some flash material with the poly fibers. Congo hair is just a poly material. I think there are some products from the Dungeon that do have some flash blended into the poly, so they would be more similar to the EP fiber.

 

Essentially, these are all made from various poly fibers. These fibers can be kinky or straight depending on what the designer was going for. They are very similar to macrame yarn, Z-lon, and poly wing material.

 

One big difference is the cost. the "designer" fibers are much more expensive. To me they are not worth it, and that is just my opinion.

 

There is no reason you can't use Congo Hair, or macrame yarn to tie these patterns. You can add your own flash materials as you tie them. Many people (including me,) use Congo Hair and it works very well. I tie most of my bait fish patterns with macrame yarn. and the stuffing that was once put inside the tubes of woven flash bodies.

[GG34 0]

That's why I asked. Saw it on the dungeon and it was cheap. I think they make a bait fish blend with flash. Would I tie it just like an EP patten?

[agn54 0]

You can use Congo for any EP pattern just as you would EP with very similar results. In my experience, EP seems a little softer that Congo but they are extremely similar. Ice wing Fiber is another vey similar product that is more expensive than Congo but cheaper than EP

[Peterjay 0]

The thing about FTD blends is that they can be inconsistent. I've bought some (not Congo Hair)that were so curly as to be unusable, while others were OK. It might be wise to buy a small amount of each and see if you like it. There are also other alternatives that are a lot cheaper than EP. Neer Hair is one. You can blend most any fiber with flash if that's what you want. Kanekalon wig hair blended with flash is a dead ringer for SF blend at a fraction of the cost. There's lots of good stuff out there besides the high end materials.

[ditz2 0]

That wig hair comes in lots of colors and some of it already has flash mixed in.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Here's my take on synthetics in general (although I'm probably a 90 to 95% natural materials tyer....). I'd recommend buying a package of any synthetic first - then try it out a bit for different applications to see whether it blends, what it's exact level of "stiffness" is compared to other fibers you're used to, and lastly how easy (or difficult) is the stuff to work with..... (including how easy it trims, shapes, with a pair of scissors..).

 

There's such a wealth of synthetic fibers available today (and the list is growing --keep an eye out for new stuff coming from South Africa, of all places... The last useful advice I'd give any first timer working with any synthetice is to use less than you want to (all too easy to load up on materials and end up with a fly that moves and looks like a mop in the water instead of a flexible, almost translucent baitfish....).

[FlyFishin'Jam 0]

The thing about FTD blends is that they can be inconsistent. I've bought some (not Congo Hair)that were so curly as to be unusable, while others were OK. It might be wise to buy a small amount of each and see if you like it. There are also other alternatives that are a lot cheaper than EP. Neer Hair is one. You can blend most any fiber with flash if that's what you want. Kanekalon wig hair blended with flash is a dead ringer for SF blend at a fraction of the cost. There's lots of good stuff out there besides the high end materials.

The only thing with Neer hair is that it is a floating material, no problem if you have dumb bell eyes on your fly but just keep that in mind.