House pet dubbing?

[Preach 0]

Or vice versa Preach... My cat sheds and I gather it all up off the rugs every morning. I can soak it in a bucket with dish detergent or shampoo. I brought up the idea of anise oil because I know for a fact that it attracts at least some fish. I read somewhere about a guy who sprays his flies with odor attractants. I wonder what would happen if I baited a hook with little bit of licorice.

 

Now we're getting creative! I like the idea of washing the hair with detergent. If you catch a fish on licorice, let me know. You'll never know if it works until you try it!

[COMike 0]

So at MY stage in the fly tying journey, I probably should stick to "approved" things.....

 

HOWEVER,

 

I just started a fly with both of my dog's fur.......

 

Here is the shot....

 

 

It won't amount to much but I WILL fish it......

 

 

Now back to attempting the Gold Hare and Pheasant tails........

 

Mike

[caswilso 0]

I'm a tad late to this discussion, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who has ever looked at their pet and thought "Man... That fur would be great on a fly somewhere!"

 

Good to know there are other crazies out in the world!

 

I'm not entirely sure my black, long-haired cat will let me anywhere near him with scissors, though...

[FlaFly 0]

Mine sheds plenty as it is. But now I've moved on... thinking of using my own hair. Snip some in little bits for dubbing and some straight hanks for the tail.

[caswilso 0]

FlaFly- I actually considered that, too. But, then I wondered if the scent would deter fish? One of the fishing guru's that taught me how to fly fish told the guys in my class to wipe their hands really well before tying their flies to the leader because some scientific study showed that the oils repelled fish?

 

Anyone else heard this? I mean, I should be good, since I'm a girl and all, but it made me curious.

[mikechell 0]

LOL Yeah, girl scents attract fish ... it's only man's scent that repels them. LOL

 

There have been studies ... the ones I remember reading weren't conclusive.

Obviously, some scents, those that are "chemical" like sunscreen and bug sprays, can be detected as "not natural". Any wild animal, including fish, will shy away from harsh chemical scents or tastes.

But most naturally occurring scents (including human sweat, spit and urine) generally don't alert fish. Wild land animals have become aware of human scents due to the threats inherent to them. Some fish might become conditioned to avoid human scents, but since fish memory isn't very long, it's less common.

 

Oh, and licorice makes a great catfish bait, but I've never noticed an improvement in bass catching with applied scents of any kind.

[shoebop 0]

I just came across this thread. I can't believe I missed this. I have been using pet hair (fur) for years and so have others. And yes, the pet hair swap has been done before here. I don't know why we think it strange or novel to use pet hair when you think about it. Theye're just animals like all the other animals we use the fur from.

 

Some tips:

 

-No need to cut fur from your pet. Just brush them and you'll have all the fur you need. I use a "furminator" which makes it easier to collect the fur.

-If your pet has different colors, try brushing the colors of fur seperately for variation.

-Coffee grinders are for mixing the fur not for chopping it.

-Try mixing it with synthetics (ice dub, SLF, etc.) for more flash and variation.

-Make sure you label all your dubbing mixes well so that you can reproduce them if needed.

 

 

edit- I just went back and realized this is an older thread that I have participated in before. duh!

[caswilso 0]

Mikechell- I swear sarcasm needs it's on font. The man that told me that, like I said, is the fly fishing master in these parts. So, even though it made me giggle... hard... when he told us that, I still had to wonder.

[FlaFly 0]

Caswilso... remember what I said way back in this thread: if fish can tolerate the smell of a wet beagle, I'm pretty sure my hair won't offend them (any more than shampoo might). Mike's right... most of what I've read about odorants stress the need to avoid getting things like gasoline (from boat motors), sunscreen, etc.) on the lure, and some people believe that all odorants do is cover up any offensive smells, just like perfume and deodorant do. And Shoebop is right... fur is fur, and I sure don't smell as bad as a fox, for example.

But Mike, I can vouch for anise being an attractant. When I was a kid (I can still remember that long) we made our own minnow traps out of a plastic cone and a large mouth gallon jar. Put a hand full of cornmeal inside, with a few drops of anise oil (we could buy it from a drug store), and when you float the jar in the water, you can see any oily film emanating from the jar mouth, and the minnows come flocking! If it works for minnows, there's no reason to think it wouldn't work for bluegills. I plan to buy a package of licorice sticks when I get back home this summer, and put a dab on a hook and a cane pole, and see what happens. If it works, I think I'll start making jig skirts out of licorice strips and selling them by the package.

[FlaFly 0]

Oh, and Mike, let me tell you about fish memory. Years back when I worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, there was a researcher who had fenced off a small inlet of the bay, and was going out every day or so and dumping bags of trout chow off the dock, to see if he could grow pompano like that. As an afterthought, he put a bell on the dock, and intended to ring the bell, like Pavlov and his dog. Wasn't long before the fish learned to listen for his truck arriving, and they'd be flocked around the dock by the time he got out there.

The rest of the story: when the project ended we found that the "fence" had a big hole in it. The fish had been going out into the bay, and returning through the hole to get fed when the truck arrived.

[Ty Flyer 0]

I'll toss my two cents worth in

I have a soup hound (Norwegian Elkound mix) and I find that the best dubbing comes from his shed fur

His rough outer coat works as a substitute for deer hair

[FlaFly 0]

I'm still thinking of making a deal with a barber shop to save all their clippings. If they'd separate by color, we could package it up and sell it to tyers. Make a fortune. I saw a girl not long ago with long, bright red hair. Looked like raspberry red. It was all I could do to stop myself from sneaking up behind her with some scissors.

[joseph russell 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

I used food coloring in microwave with some vinegar its really easy . I will find my o ictures of colors I did.

[joseph russell 0]

[FlaFly 0]

What is the source of the fur?