8 replies to this topic

[todvan]

Hi all,

I am wondering what everyone thinks makes the best tails on small (size 16 or smaller) drys and spinner patterns when you want them to float best. Moose, elk, deer seems too big, microfibbets don't have much floatation. I have not tried paintbrush bristles. Any ideas for me to try? Thanks!

[todvan]

Oops. Please move to the fly tying forum.

[Mickalo]

you may want to try some Coq De Leon (CDL) for tailing material, seems to work great for many dry patterns and is becoming quiet popular as a tail material in many patterns.

Mike

[riffleriversteelheadslayer]

Mike nailed it

[blakejd]

I think it really depends on your application. You mentioned spinners which atleast with tricos I feel a sparse tail fish better. Also with tricos just based on most patterns the wings are as much of a flotation problem as the tails in most instances and they are often fished in calmer water anyhow. For rough water heavy hackled flies moose and elk will beat most. For standard mayfly patterns such as duns as has been mentioned I've become a bit partial to CDL. I fished most of the BWO hatches this fall with CDL fibers and loved the flotation and effect. I would put them at medium flotation and just a bit better than traditional hackle fiber tails. Another nice thing about CDL is the lenght of usable barb which allows for longer tails and are much easier to tie as split tails if you like.

[McGnat]

Get your hands on some spade hackle or find some chinese or imported rooster necks. The imported necks are not much for hackling a fly, but if you can look before you buy, you may find some that have nice stiff barbs of good length that are great for tailing material for dries.

[perchjerker]

FYI: tapered white nylon artist paint brush fibers and Micro Fibbetts are one and the same! Just different "packaging"

[SilverCreek]

Hi all,

I am wondering what everyone thinks makes the best tails on small (size 16 or smaller) drys and spinner patterns when you want them to float best. Moose, elk, deer seems too big, microfibbets don't have much floatation. I have not tried paintbrush bristles. Any ideas for me to try? Thanks!

I use microfibbets. Use a thread ball tying technique that spreads the microfibbets into a fan tail and they work fine.

http://www.garyborge...adams-fan-tail/

As noted above, microfibbets and artist paint brushes are identical. Note the tiny parachute fly below with the fan tail of paint brush fibers. Also note that I have cut fibers off the left side of the paint brush. Since the fibers are lined up on the brush, there is no need to "stack" the fibers before tying them in.

[KCcarp]

I really like using deer mask hair, or microfibbets. They both provide decent "flotation" however, the microfibbets work much better for tiny flies (sz22-) as they are smaller in diameter. Also, microfibbets seem to be much more durable. The deer mask works quite well and is stiffer than deer body hair but still provides some flotation, as well as adding some realisim with the dark dips of the hairs. It can be a little on the brittle side though...

Hope this helps ya a bit!
-Ben