Fleece & Fur

Intro | Thread | Dry-Fly Hackle | Foam | Wet-Fly Hackle Hackle | Plumage | Chenille | Dubbing | Hair | Quills/Biots | Yarn | Plastic | Wire | Dry-fly Wings | Wet-fly Wings | Flash | Beads | Eyes | Rubber | Adhesives | Fur and Fleece | Paint and Markers

Body Fur flies tied by John Boyd.

Animal fur is one of the oldest tying materials, and still has many uses in fly tying. Animal fur is comprised of two useful components; guard hairs and underfur. Guard hairs are fine, stiff, shiny fibers that act as a protective outer layer for the critter. In fly tying, they are generally used as tails or wings. Underfur is the soft insulating part of the coat, and it is composed of many fluffy fibers. The most common tying use is as a dubbing material--see dubbing section--but it can also be used as a wing tuft on emergers or as a marabou substitute.

Depending on the animal, the guard hairs and underfur can be of varying importance. For example, fox and woodchuck body hair have pronounced, long guard hairs and are primarily used as streamer wings, but on beaver and muskrat, the long underfur is the most important component and it is a common dubbing material.

Fleece. Sheep fleece is used in place of deer hair on some sculpin and large profile minnow imitations. It absorbs water and sinks quickly. It can be found on the skin as sheep fleece or in loose wool yarn called Sculpin Wool. Use strong thread to flare it and then trim it to shape. Bob Popovics uses wool in combination with silicone caulking to create his neutral density baitfish PopFleyes. Egg yarn can be used in place of lamb's wool.

Body Fur. Body Fur is a fine acrylic fiber with pearl-mylar fibers that is strung into a thin cord. This material can be wrapped similar to a hackle, either left full or trimmed to a desired shape. Body Fur makes it quicker and simpler to tie bulky patterns and for the inexperienced tier that means patterns are simple and possible. Patterns like woolheads, realistic minnows, crabs, and offshore flies are easy and quick to tie with Body Fur. Body Fur comes in 26 different natural and a few unnatural colors and it takes permanent marker very well. You can use your imagination to the fullest with this material. It will absorb water quickly but it also releases the water as soon as it is false cast. It is sold by Dan Bailey's.

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On-Line Catalogs
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