material for wings?

[shmish 0]

Hi,

Looking at pictures of fly patterns, I've seen polar bear, bucktail and arctic fox all used for wings. With photos, they all look kind of similar to me. What are the main differences between these materials and do they generally make decent substitutes for each other? I have some different dyed bucktail which I bought for clousers and it would be nice (ie cost effective) if I could also use them for flies like a coho candy. Basically for coho and steelhead flies...

 

Would something like Neer hair or Flash n Slinky be okay substitute for polar bear?

 

thanks

[buggybob 0]

The synthetics are great for both long and short patterns, really good for the big baitfish patterns. That said, if they have the same motion in the water as the natural materials go for it. In the case of the coho candy, it would be difficult to find a synthetic hair with as much motion as the artic fox called for. Marabou would work if you don't want to use hair.

 

Neer hair is fairly stiff kind of like polar bear, works well for several patterns mostly streamers, Flash N Slinky is softer, it would stay stiffer in current than the artic fox but still may have some limitations.

 

So my best advice is to think about what you want the wing to do in the water, stay realtively steady (stiff) or move when in the current or under retrieval conditions. To do that you may need to handle the material to see how it feels.

[tidewaterfly 0]

I think to appreciate the differences, you have to be familiar with them, but they are all good streamer wing material. Polar Bear is a little stiff, but usually straight, generally a shiny off white color, and the fibers have a very translucent appearance, much like that of many baitfish. This made it very desirable when it was readily available. Good bear, had very well defined tips to the fibers.

 

Bucktail is sometimes straight, but often a bit crinkly and ranges from very fine textured to heavy & hollow . The natural white is very opaque bright white. When properly selected, the hair has very good action, but lacks the translucence of Polar bear. The fine textured hair is best for flies.

 

Arctic Fox is very fine, almost marabou-ish. There is much more underfur in a fox tail than there are guard hairs, but when properly prepared, it makes an excellent wing with lots of action, and is much more durable than marabou. The color is also generally opaque.

 

Some folks will say that there are suitable synthetics that mimic Polar bear. Personally I've not found anything that does this well. The only other material I've used that is close is Yak hair, but it's not always available & is usually very long. It also often lacks the nice tips that Polar Bear had, but it is somewhat translucent. Another material that is a good substitute is the white part of skunk tails, but the color is opaque, and also lacks the translucence. Polar Bear is a very unique material.