Thread: Hair/fur/feather comparisons

Rabbit, arctic fox and bear hair would be 3 good bets for crappie baits. The rabbit and fox you can cut off the skin and tie in or easier is to have them cut into straight and cross-cut zonker strips. Bear you'll have to cut off the hide and tie in unless you can find a REALLY soft tanned bear hide.

So may different ones and probably you should go to a shop that sells materials, Bass Pro or Cabela's. A fly fishing/tying shop would even be better. That way you can feel the difference yourself! It's not really very hard to just think about it for a few minutes and probably can come up with several options. Rabbit is so soft that I think it's kind of the hair of marabou and deer is stiff, bit some are even more stiff. A lot of guys like fishing kip tail which is just calf hair.

All feathers are different and you should just spend some time reading a place like Fly Anglers On Line and learn a lot of good things. There are so many options and even Hackle has so many kinds. Besides you seem to know what your looking for and just need to go feel it.

Maybe look into taking a tying class?

Skip

Squirrel tail could be an option for you too. Not to mention easy to peel off the highway if you're after the natural gray or brown look. You will get some looks though when you're froggering it across the road with a pair of shears in your hand....

Originally Posted by callmecamo

Squirrel tail could be an option for you too. Not to mention easy to peel off the highway if you're after the natural gray or brown look. You will get some looks though when you're froggering it across the road with a pair of shears in your hand....

Yes and pretty easy to tie. Also can buy dyed tails.

Skip

In my area there are two smaller Cabellas, but neither has any tying supplies. I've been to the local Field and Stream as well as Bass Pro, but their supply was somewhat limited and neither had arctic fox that I could check out. There is a Gander Mountain north of me but I haven't been there to see what they carry.

Originally Posted by CrappieDreamer

Has anyone compiled a comparison of different hair/fur materials?

I have recently started tying and have a lot to learn. Rather than buying tons of materials, I was hoping to find some info about various hair lengths, softness/action.

I have tried tying some from Maribou and buck tails. I was looking to find something that has an action between the two that have fairly long fibers. I get the impression that arctic fox or rabbit might be good options.

My passion is crappie fishing, so at this point I am only interested in tying crappie jigs and not flies.

If you're a new tyer and love crappie fishing, I suggest focusing on one type of jig until you can tie it in your sleep. The basic "chenille body with marabou tail" jig will catch crappie anywhere in the country. The only materials you need are ... marabou and chenille.

Originally Posted by CrappieDreamer

In my area there are two smaller Cabellas, but neither has any tying supplies. I've been to the local Field and Stream as well as Bass Pro, but their supply was somewhat limited and neither had arctic fox that I could check out. There is a Gander Mountain north of me but I haven't been there to see what they carry.

Well a few things to consider, length of hair you like because kip tails usually are not long much at all, but Fox is much longer as is Deer and some others. Rabbit is soft as can be, but again length is shorter and when I tie Rabbit I tie with the hide on like Zonker or Crosscut strips. Arctic Fox is about as soft as it gets and has medium length, but you could also just buy Fox tails as the hair is plenty long enough and you can get them dyed. Lot of jigs will come off of one tail! It's just hard for us to know what your really looking for.

Also what dtegb4disco said is correct and marabou is very hard to beat with any material IMHO! The action is so f fantastic!

Skip

Always heard squirrel hair