House pet dubbing?

[clind98 0]

Thanks everybody for their replies! One last question, my labs coat is very light when brushed when could this be a good colour and how could I change the colour?

 

 

Thanks

[Voge 0]

I recently had to put my Golden down; have some of his hair and want to tie a fly to honor him. Not important to use to fish, (but that would be great), but thought of putting it in a box on the wall. He was blonde/gold in color; I am new at tying flies, so a simple pattern. Any ideas or pics. I could use as a pattern? Thanks!

[#1 Troutfisherman 0]

I have been using my cats (2) hair for years now and the fish love them.

[Preach 0]

My wife has a poodle and it's hair makes great dubbing. They have hair instead of fur. Dogs with fur have a lot of guard hairs that would make good tails I'd think. I take the poodle's hair and put it in a coffee grinder to chop it fine, then dub it on!

[FlaFly 0]

I'm not a specialist but I recall somewhere reading that there is hair and there is fur... some animals have both. Anyway I don't know about using the stiff hair like a lab provides, but fur sure works. I have a Balinese cat with a lot of long, pure white fur around the collar and on the tummy, and she sheds like crazy. I don't see how she grows it back fast enough to keep up. One night's shedding is enough to tie about two dozen flies. Anyhoo, I used some as dubbing and it worked. I even dyed some red. I even wound a body and covered it with epoxy.

 

My advice as usual is: go ahead and try some and see if you like the results.

 

P.S. I don't use a coffee grinder... I just get a little pile of fur and snip it with my scissors to get it short enough.

[Preach 0]

Hey FlaFly,

 

I agree with you, just go ahead and try it and see what happens! You might find the perfect new material...

[FlaFly 0]

Thanx Preach.

I've always avoided admitting my vice (LOL) but I'm one of those guys that looks for alternative tying materials. There are some tyers that insist on using whatever feather or fur was traditional for a given fly or it doesn't count. Since I'm mostly tying for bluegills, and they'll eat just about anything that moves, I can get away with alternatives. I can attest to the fact that a bluegill can't tell whether I used the tummy fur from a female Siberian musk ok, or the fur that I pick up off my carpet. I even once found a web site that caters to people like me, but I lost the link. Some day I think I'll start a thread on the topic. Of course, I'll be taking a chance of getting shunned.

[Preach 0]

FlaFly,

 

I'm always on the prowl for new tying material. I'm guilty of going into fabric stores in search of something to tie on a hook. Some guys are sticklers but not me...if it works...use it! Creativity has birthed some great flies. Just be sure and share if you come across something!

[Preach 0]

Hey Voge,

 

How about a hares ear? The blonde/gold would do fine for that.

[COMike 0]

I am going to use our dogs hair shortly!!!

 

Undercoating seems to be the same consistency of the dubbing packs I purchased and have had given to me. The longer tail hairs/fur...whatever someone elects to call them will function perfectly!

 

In the future I am going to take some videos/pictures of the flies and see how they look underwater in the fish tank!

 

Here are some pics of the dogs.....let me know what you think of the material potential!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

[Preach 0]

COMike,

 

Wow...you have a myriad of colors...should be fun experimenting!

[COMike 0]

Preach,

 

I am excited to work with them! The dog's tails are SOOOO fishy looking for streamers/tails but not sure how to fish them yet in Colorado where I am at. Once I go through my course of Healing Waters Fly Tying I will be more comfortable seeing what I can do!

[Piker20 0]

Kool aid colours fur really easy. Just don't stir the fur too much in the heat or you make a felt.

[FlaFly 0]

I have used food coloring too. One warning about Koolaid, you can't rely on mixing colors like the color wheel from what I've been told... If you mix red (strawberry) with yellow, you may or may not get orange. Food colorings mix true to the color wheel rules. For either one, you use hot water and a small amount of white vinegar, like coloring Easter eggs. Now that Easter is over, you might find some egg kits on sale.

 

Rit dye works very well, but it's expensive unless you have a whole lot of stuff to dye.

[spm 0]

I'll add mine to this. I have a grey tabby cat and have used his fur tying.

 

s.