Umpqua deer hair popper coating

[804ScottC 0]

I was looking at their dhp today and first those things are packed tight. VERY TIGHT! Second they seem to be coated with something rubbery. My question is two fold. Are they packed really tight because of the coating and what is the coating????

[johnnyquahog 0]

Many guys coat the face and belly with watered down Liquid Fusion. I'm not sure what Umpqua is doing. Liquid Fusion is good stuff in that the chemicals won't damage your brain cells.

 

 

[tjm 0]

Where did you see them?

Don't think I have seen a coated hair bug. Hair can be packed very tightly with the right tools and methods.

 

^^ed. > well, now I have

[Mark Knapp 0]

I was going to make a joke about a "pooper coating" but I couldn't think of anything classy to say. Go figure.

[mikechell 0]

Sorry, Mark. I edited the title to keep those remarks to a minimum. This thread would quickly devolve into chaos, otherwise.

 

Well, since I'm leaving your comment there ... it still might !!

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I occasionally use something called Flex Seal on my deerhair bugs - here's a picture of the bug - it's a Razor Cut Mullet...

 

Flex Seal is a clear, solvent based product that has the consistency of honey. I dip a small dentist's spatula in it then carefully coat a finished bug (tied, spun and razored down , weedguard bent into position then deerhair colored with Prisma-color or Sharpie markers, then allowed to dry first... Then after everything is done and dry - a last step is that coating of Flex Seal (I get it from Wapsi - unknown if it's available elsewhere...).

 

The finished deerhair head is waterproof, and much more durable than the normal deerhair bug.. The downside to me is that sometimes these types of bugs fish better as they get water-logged from use...

 

Yes, the Flex Seal does leave a rubbery coating on the bug head - but it's clear not colored.... Bugs where I fish my anglers are in a salt or brackish environment - that, along with what fish do to bugs in the 'glades doesn't result in a long life so I can't tell you how that coating would last long term....

[Bruce Derington 0]

We coat the face sometimes to help push water, and coat the botton to help keel the fly

[Bryon Anderson 0]

When I first starting fly fishing for bass, I had the same experience -- the first hair bugs I ever fished were purchased from an Orvis store, and I was just amazed at how tight the bodies were packed. They felt more like cork or balsa than packed hair! Although I didn't realize it at the time, they felt that way partly because of the hair being packed very tightly, but also because they had been coated with something. (I don't know what -- maybe Flexament as that was a very popular product at that time.)

 

Since then, I've learned to pack nice tight deer hair bodies myself (the secret is threefold: GSP + Fugly Packer + using a LOT of hair ). I began brushing CA glue (I like Titebond brush-on) onto the faces and bottoms for the reasons Bruce Derington mentioned above, but also to help slow the process of water soaking into the bug, and to help secure the hair to the hook shank so that the body has less of a tendency to spin around the shank, especially after it gets wet.

 

I have since experimented with coating the entire body with both Liquid Fusion and Solarez Flexible UV-cure resin. Both worked okay, but most of my hair bugs today get the Titebond on the face and bottom, and I leave it at that.