Best natural materials flies that work like foam flies

[Brooks]

As I mentioned in the thread "what flies do you avoid", I would like to know what natural materials patterns that you have discovered that fish like some of the new deadly foam and synthetic flies.

My bucket-list retirement goal is to someday tie only flies with materials that I have shot with my guns or bows, with my hunting partners and dogs:
elk, deer, ducks, geese, turkey, pheasant, chukar, bear, etc etc.

I think it's a worthy pastime that would keep me busy and extremely happy. I'm guessing that probably many here already do this.

Patterns, such as the Sunken Stone come to mind, muddlers, deer hair wakers, Dave's Hoppers and such all work well. Wondering if any of you have come up with any spectacular versions? Let's face it, Chubby's and Morrish Hoppers, and foam-back style wakers all perform really well.

Any killer versions? And should this be moved to the fly tying section? Probably. . . . .

[Flykuni3]

A lot of places I fish are broken, pockety waters, and flies get soaked and begin to drown no matter what I use for floatant...I've tried all hairs and furs, feathers from Canada geese to CDC to snowshoe hare, which didn't float like everyone said it would. Best feathers I've found for durability and ability to hold floatant, and dry out on false casting is one you'll never find in a shop, because I picked it up on a beach. Seagull breast. The bird was in pieces, long dead, and I took the breast on a whim. Had it for years, feathers are curled and tough things -- then one day tried it as loop wings on a thorax style dun. They work. I understand that what I did was likely illegal, so what I just wrote is all fictional ramblings on an internet board.

[DrLogik]

Flykuni,

Senator, I do not recall.

A person I met, heard from a friend of his who watched a video that somebody in the video said that Polar Bear fur is translucent and makes a great fly tying material. I can't recall the name of the person I met though.

[16pmd]

For big flies like hopper and stoneflies, foam is pretty much unbeatable for floatation. Spun deer hair, caribou, and antelope clipped to shape have worked next best for me. Soaking in liquid floatant to get it into the hollow hairs and allowing it to dry well before fishing and then slathering it with paste floatant when fishing it helps too. Multiple wings tied in at various points along the body like on the "Sunken" Stone help as an alternative on dubbed bodies. Still, foam is unbeatable and much easier to use. And are you going to shoot an antelope or caribou?

[NewUtahCaneAngler]

I don't tie, but I do/have hunted and have a hard time believing that antelope (assuming you are referring to pronghorn) would make a good fly. If I look at the one mounted in my office wrong, it sheds! Very fragile hair on pronghorn. I should snip a few hairs from my Rocky Mtn. goat and see how they float.

[Brooks]

Still, foam is unbeatable and much easier to use. And are you going to shoot an antelope or caribou?

I guess I’ll try and pull an Idaho tag for Sponge Bob Squarepants and Gumby

Antelope are plentiful where I live, and I do like some of their fur for tying. Been wondering about playing with big hollow goose quills (plugged at the cut end) for hopper or stone body …..but in my imagination, I just can’t picture how it won’t look like a kindergarten project.

[mac7x]

And are you going to shoot an antelope or caribou?

I haven't hunted in many years, but I certainly wouldn't mind putting a caribou in the freezer.

[Gnome]

Rocky Mountain Bighorn is way tougher than Antelope and way easier to spin than any other hair IMHO! can be spun with 8/0 and it is tough to acquire but worthy of the search, I do have a large piece and would share with the first 3 people who ask. Just PM me your address

[rsagebrush]

Who knows it might work great, Vince Marinaro did that too. Seems like a lot of work and foam is quite easy and quick too. It would be kind of painful to lose the fly after all that effort.

[Gnome]

Who knows it might work great, Vince Marinaro did that too. Seems like a lot of work and foam is quite easy and quick too. It would be kind of painful to lose the fly after all that effort.

dont knock it till you try it!!

[ted patlen]

Unclipped elk hair is stronger than most natural materials and can be used as a nymph's covert, legs , a beetle or ant. etc.

[rsagebrush]

I meant Goose Quill bodies, sorry for the confusion.

[Flykuni3]

Flykuni,

Senator, I do not recall.

A person I met, heard from a friend of his who watched a video that somebody in the video said that Polar Bear fur is translucent and makes a great fly tying material. I can't recall the name of the person I met though.

I believe, senator, that I was misquoted…I recall saying “parlor bear,” a throw rug in my parlor. Can I go now?

[snorider]

Yep spun hair is about as good as you can get and the Gnome is right on that hollow bighorn hair, darn floaty stuff. I you need some just watch the highway north of Big Sky on you next trip to Yellowstone. About 5-10 a year get busted while licking salt off the road...

[DrLogik]

I believe, senator, that I was misquoted…I recall saying “parlor bear,” a throw rug in my parlor. Can I go now?

Wow, just wow! You need to go in to politics my friend.

[billems]

George Harvey had a spun deer hair beetle that floats like a cork and can hold up to repeated strikes. He spun deer hair along the shank, shaped it with scissors or razor blades, and tied black goose biots on the sides near the head, for legs. He'd even glue a nail from a jungle cock along the back as a siter. I tied some, and they're fine performers. But they're a lot of work, and somewhere along the line I gave up. Joe Humprheys has an illustration of one in "Trout Tactics," in the dry fly section.

[poolhopping1]

i have been using bear under fur . i find some is more kinky than others but it's durable and floats like a cork. cris

[Doug K]

I don't tie, but I do/have hunted and have a hard time believing that antelope (assuming you are referring to pronghorn) would make a good fly.

the flies weren't very good, but they did work ;-)
my son got a pronghorn a few years back, tied some of ibookje's Alien Bugs with the pronghorn hoping for some sympathetic magic on Wyoming trout.. the fly works great, the hair wing lasts about 5-10 fish only. Fly keeps on working but it's not as handsome..



This year I got my first and last elk, now have elk hair for the rest of my days..

Been tying a lot with pheasant recently, it can make a lot of different flies. A variant of the Carey Special with the rear half of body the tail fibres, front half the marabou-like plumes from the rump pheathers, makes a terrific bass streamer.

Oddly enough I find foam still needs to be treated with floatant. I do like the Alien Bug and another foam beetle that I tie, but otherwise tend to just use the spun deer/elk hair or Humpy-style hair pulled over. These float very nearly as well as the foam, but are fiddly to tie.

[mlarocco]

I recently fished Pyramid Lake NV for the first time. One of the popular methods (as described to me) there is casting a shooting line with a full sink line (long casts to reach drop offs), short leaders and a tandem fly rig, one or both being foam flies. The sink tip gets the flies to the correct depth , the rise on the pause triggers strikes. Wish I had tried it as the follows breaking off at the beach were frustrating. I don't think spun deer hair would satisfy this method. If I get the chance to go back I will certainly be trying the foam fly method.