Venutian_Lures Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Not sure if this has been answered somewhere else, if so please excuse my lack of poor searching abilities. I have never tied a fly before in my life, and have only recently taught myself how to fly fish.I was wondering what types of fly tying materials to use for tying in conjunction with silicone skirting material? If there are right or wrong feathers/materials to use, and if I need to use any type of sealer or treatment since these will be tied onto football head jigs that sink to the bottom.I already have self harvested deer tails from hunting this year that just need to be processed and dyed. would like to know what other things I can use and how. Preferably looking for some long, thin feathers to sort of act as "trailers" or antenna's that are tied under the silicone skirt and intermixed with deer tail.Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 This is a tough subject to be honest, not one that is easy to answer quickly. First, check out YouTube to see if you can find any great fly tying videos. There are other videos and books that teach the subject. If you can find a local fly fishing club, they will love to teach you. Had these resources been available to me 50 years ago it would have saved me a lot of time and mistakes. Most natural fly tying materials can mix with Silicone skirts, but for long and thin feathers, I suggest saddle hackle. I don't think I could recommend mixing anything with deer tail, but tying it under of over would work well. As for processing deer tails, the first key is to dry them very well. I use to clean and prep them by washing them in salt water, strong salt water. Then I would rinse them off and soak them in Hydrogen Peroxide for a couple of hours. I would then dry them (air dry). Most I would not dye, but if I did dye them, I found that some fly tying materials suppliers would sell dyes. Ritt dies are often used but I don't like them. I know this is not much, but it is tired and I wanted to at least get you started. Good luck, and most of all, don't get discouraged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venutian_Lures Posted December 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 This is a tough subject to be honest, not one that is easy to answer quickly. First, check out YouTube to see if you can find any great fly tying videos. There are other videos and books that teach the subject. If you can find a local fly fishing club, they will love to teach you. Had these resources been available to me 50 years ago it would have saved me a lot of time and mistakes. Most natural fly tying materials can mix with Silicone skirts, but for long and thin feathers, I suggest saddle hackle. I don't think I could recommend mixing anything with deer tail, but tying it under of over would work well. As for processing deer tails, the first key is to dry them very well. I use to clean and prep them by washing them in salt water, strong salt water. Then I would rinse them off and soak them in Hydrogen Peroxide for a couple of hours. I would then dry them (air dry). Most I would not dye, but if I did dye them, I found that some fly tying materials suppliers would sell dyes. Ritt dies are often used but I don't like them. I know this is not much, but it is tired and I wanted to at least get you started. Good luck, and most of all, don't get discouraged. Thanks for the reply! I've checked out a few basic videos on how to tie on deer tail etc. I got a bunch of fly tying tools for Christmas so I'm ready to rock there. I just didn't know if there were certain things I shouldn't use or that needed to be treated with something since they will be "wet flies" or jigs rather. I'll look into the saddle hackles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted January 1, 2015 Report Share Posted January 1, 2015 I tie hair jigs for bass, most are smaller for winter fishing but I use a lot of different materials. I use chenille, silicone, bucktails, marabou and zonker strips along with flashabou and Krystal flash just to name a few. Look my name up on youtube, I have some tying videos that should give you some ideas of stuff to try. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter1 Posted January 5, 2015 Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Great new faux tube video, SJ. Love your stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisheye56 Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 I have become a scavenger , any road kill I have a few plastic bags for tails, fox , coyote, deer. fox is great and you can learn to dye them or not they work fine natural. need to find the jig size and hook size combo get some 210 denier flat waxed thread in black or olive . you can find lots of things at the local hobbie shops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaw Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 You can also use koolaid to dye your tails although I just started buying predyed tails to get away from the mess. I used to tie crappie jigs a lot and one of my favorite material to use was cow tail ( Kip tail) and squirrell tail. You can also get a lot of tying material during clearance sales of Christmas decorations such as tinsel plus different foam material from craft stores or foam dowel rods from hardware stores even earplugs. Not sure you can incorporate some of this material in your bass jigs but Atleast you will have some ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
