In 35 years of fly tying, I’ve seen and tried just about every natural and synthetic material to come down the pipe. My first flies were made solely of feathers, natural hair or fur, or combinations thereof because that’s just about all that was available. We didn’t have any fancy synthetic palmering chenilles, 3-D prismatic, glow-in-the-dark eyeballs, holographic super flash and Fan-damn-tastic Fur. When we needed a streamer, by god, we lashed some greasy white bucktail and silver Christmas tree tinsel on a hook. And we liked it!
Actually, I really do like some of the cool new tying stuff. But what I do miss about fly shops today is the smell of mothballs wafting from bulk material bins crammed full of animal parts. I’d come home from the shop with a big bag that was a pretty good representation of what once took a long ride on the Ark.
Eventually, I kept a box of the pungent little bombs to keep home-invading insects from denuding my bucktails; calf tails; rabbit strips; hides of brown, black and polar bear (yes, I know that’s illegal now); and assorted opossum, fox, badger and other fur patches.
And I still use much of that assortment today because some characteristics of fur can’t be duplicated, though tyers are experimenting with new synthetic fibers with mixed reviews.
When you want flies that suspend in the water, push water, present a big profile, and really “breathe,” you just have to let the fur fly.
This tarpon fly has a dense fox fur collar that slows sink rate and "breathes" with minimal stripping. It's ideal for laid-up fish.
At this time of year, inshore fly fishers turn their thoughts to tarpon, snook, stripers, bonefish, redfish, and other shallow flats fish for which countless time-tested fly patterns call for fur. Fur lends as much to a fly’s function as its look. Many furs slow the sink rate—natural oils and hair density both play a hand in that. And a slow sink is ideal for fish suspended close to the surface around structure—such as snook or striped bass along a bridge shadowline or under a dock. You would not want a fly that sinks too quickly where these predators are targeting prey fish at the surface. South Florida fly fishers targeting laid-up tarpon (those that appear to be floating) swear by bushy patterns dressed with plenty of buoyant fur, such as rabbit, fox or arctic fox. Not only does the fly sink slowly, fur has a lot of action in the water, without much stripping on the angler’s part. You simply “bump” the fly a few times to get a response.
Fur flies also excel in small strike zones, where you want to keep a fly for as long as possible. This would include flats potholes that hold seatrout or redfish, or snook tight under a mangrove-canopied shoreline.
However, you can incorporate various furs into flies that you fish on the bottom, too. It may take a little more weight to get them down initially, but the lively action of fur fibers—with rabbit fur strips a perfect example—can be really seductive to a fish. Traditionally, most bonefish flies had wings of fur such as black or brown bear, calf tail or extra-fine bucktail. Many tyers switched to synthetics such as Fishair when it came out (and many others since). However, synthetic winging material is relatively stiff (though some craft furs are a little finer) and does not have a natural-looking taper. Both bonefish and redfish expect their prey to dive to the bottom, even burrow, when threatened. Many bonefishers report fish that enthusiastically pluck a “dead” fur-winged fly off bottom. You can imagine that the fur undulating in the current may be the clincher.
Many furs are easier to tie in than some of the synthetic fibers that do not compress much, or at all, under thread pressure. You can build up a very bushy tarpon fly collar for example, without ending up with a giant thread head.
The author's assortment of snook patterns, mainly comprised of fox, rabbit, and sheep fur, is terrific for night fishing.
Be aware that some natural furs may or may not shed water as readily as plastic-based, non-porous fibers. So you might find them a little tougher to pick off the water and recast. In the case of flies with rabbit strip (zonker) tails, it’s best to keep the lengths to a minimum. Anything over four inches long can be tough to cast when soaked. Plenty of giant tarpon patterns can be made with only a 2-inch rabbit strip tied atop the bend of the hook, and a dense fox fur collar, or a palmered, cross-cut rabbit strip covering the hook shank.
Cross-cut rabbit strips are widely available in fly shops, and are merely cut from the hide horizontally (against the grain) rather than vertically, so that the individual hairs lay back toward the rear of a hook when you wrap the hide strip forward on the hook shank. It’s a lot easier to palmer a hook with a cross-cut rabbit strip than individual hen or rooster saddle feathers, and the result is a denser, more durable collar. You can choose from the standard width rabbit strips (1⁄8 inch) or go with the magnum strips now offered for saltwater patterns. They are wider (1⁄4 inch wide) resulting in a meatier fly. Also, you can buy strips that have dyed bars, giving a fly a segmented look. Or, just mark up your strips with a permanent marker.
