Badger and unknown??

[fishoutawattta 0]

Hi,

 

At my TU chapter meeting the other night, one of my raffle prizes was some tying materials. As a new tie-er, I had to ask what they were. i got the answers, but it doesn't necessarily tell me what to do with them.

 

So, what does one tie with the fur from a badger mask (black/grey/white)?

 

And, if I have full pelt of something that MAY be rabbit (there was a disagreement among the seasoned folks, some thought it was too soft to be rabbit), can I tie it ASSUMING it's rabbit?

 

And the third piece was described as "craft fur" -- white. What does one use craft fur for?

 

Thanks,

 

Gary

[SilverCreek 0]

Tanned rabbit is very soft. It has longer guard hairs and shorter soft underfur.

 

Photos would help a lot in helping us to identify materials.

 

White craft fur can be used for streamers.

[fishoutawattta 0]

Silver,

 

Thanks. I'll see if I can get some photos up this afternoon.

 

Gary

[utyer 0]

The rabbit can be cut in strips (about 1/8th" wide,) and used for zonkers and similar minnow and baitfish flies. It can also be chopped off the hide and made into dubbing by itself, or blended with yarn and other furs or fibers. Chop the fur into short pieces between 1/4 and 3/4." Any other furs like squirrel, muskrat, and beaver can also be used this way and blended with other materials to make dubbing. To turn yarns into roving to make into dubbing, it should be combed or brushed out first, then chopped.

 

Blending the furs and other materials is done in different ways. The simple way is to place the chopped or shredded materials into a 1 quart jar, and fill the jar about half full. Shake vigorously for about 15 seconds, then check to see how the furs are blending. Shake again if necessary. Pour out into a large strainer lined with a paper towel. Squeeze out and spread the resulting pile of dubbing out to dry.

 

The second popular way to blend dubbing uses a coffee grinder to do the blending. The coffee grinder has sharp blades that will cut some materials (flash and some synthetic yarns,) into very fine powder. The grinder works best for small batches, which is usually all you need anyway. Place the chopped furs and shredded yarn into the grinder (do NOT water,) and pulse for about 5 seconds, check you mixture, and pulse again if necessary. By doing several short pulses, you can control the mixture better.

 

The third way to blend dubbing is to use a food processor. The food processor will blend larger batches of furs, yarns, and other material. Just add your materials, and about 2 cups of water. Pulse the blender on medium high speed for a few seconds. Check you mixture and repeat as needed. Pour out into the lined strainer squeeze out and dry your mix.

 

WARNING WARNING the jar, grinder, or processor used to mix dubbing MUST be YOUR'S. NEVER use a coffee grinder, or food processor from the family kitchen for blending fly tying materials. Coffee grinders and food processors can and should be found at yard sales and put to this uses. Old empty (plastic,) mayo jars are suitable for shake and mix dubbing, and are easy to come by.

 

The badger mask will contain coarser hair than the rabbit, and by blending some of each, you can make a good nymph dubbing with a lot of spike. The badger mask by itself can be dubbed, but it will work best in a dubbing loop.

 

Streamers is one use for the craft fur. Markers can be used to add bars to it. It can also be chopped and added (very sparingly,) to dubbing mixtures.

[SilverCreek 0]

To add to what Utyer has said about rabbit strips, you can cut the strips with the grain (Zonker Style) or against the grain (Cross Cut Strips). This explains the difference.

 

http://swittersb.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/rabbit-fur-strips-and-crosscut-pieces-how-to-use/

 

 

http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/zonkers/cutting.php

[tidewaterfly 0]

Even if the "rabbit" pelt turns out to be something else, such as Muskrat or Aussie Opossum, it's a very usable material. Most any tanned pelts can be cut into strips as the others have indicated, and the fur of most anything can be used as dubbing. Of course, there are differences in texture & density of various types of fur, so that might have some bearing on what type of flies you'll want to tie with it. I don't tie a lot of trout flies, but when I do tie flies that require a dubbed body, nymphs mostly, I prefer rabbit as the base material, and will sometimes blend it with other furs (and occasionally synthetics) to get a desired "buggy" appearance. No standard here, just whatever suits my fancy at the time.

 

IF, that Badger mask has any longer hair at the neck area, it's a great substitution for calftail on any pattern that calls for calftail. I don't have a mask, but do have some pieces of badger, and use it instead of calftail when tying Bonefish style flies, such as Crazy Charlies. I use these types of flies for some of the Panfish species here & as small Crawfish patterns for stream bass.

 

I remove the longer, courser guard hairs most of the time, and some of the finer underfur. Badger has a natural shine & translucence to it, very similar to Polar Bear, except of course the Badger is finer textured.

 

Even though you're new to tying, if you find a material that you're not sure about using, and can identify it, a Google search or a search on most of the fly fishing forums will often provide some patterns. At some point in time, you can also bet someone has tried it, no matter how strange it may seem! Of course, you can always use your imagination too!

[Henrik Thomsen (DK) 0]

I would tye in some long guard hairs from the badgers mask maybe with 2 or 4 of the wisks for tail.

Then set a rib of mono.

Tie in the rabbit fur in a dubbing loop, and turn it all the way. Brush it heavily down and backwards.

Finally I woult tie in a "ving" of the craft fur and rib it down to the hook with the mono.

 

And here goes a nice shrimp pattern for sea run browns in Denmark. ...

 

Good luck.

Henrik