New material?

[Chad Lewis]

I just took a class and started tying a few weeks ago. So anyway, I was in wal-mart yesterday and swung through the craft section. I found a yarn called 'fun fur'. It's three twisted strands with about 1" strands woven through it, giving it a "furry" appearance. It comes in a lot of colors. I thought it might make a good fly. I tied one by just wrapping the hook a couple of times. It'll sure have a lot of movement, but I'm not sure what critter, if any, it looks like. Any of you tried using this stuff?

[Philster]

Yeah, some of that stuff will collapse in the water and look like a skinny pencil. Some of it will be awesome. Hopefully you got some of the awesome stuff. If you want something better, search the net for Mohair leech... What it represents is something that is moving like it's alive, thereby is something worth taking a whack at by a trout. Yes, it's that simple.

I've always scored better than folks using photo-realistic crawfish by using a mohair leech, specifically what used to be called a mini-leech in Kaufmann's nymph book, in brown or olive, with a couple splits a few inches up the leader. Dead drift, with a hop every now and again... Faster to tie up than wooly bugger, and swims without twisting.

Go to a craft store and ask for Mohair yarn. It's a natural product so it's going to cost you a little coin, but not bad. If you can find a skein, and it shouldn't be hard, the one with red, brown, and orange mixed together might make you thow it in some boiling water thinking it's a giant boneless crayfish! And for you steelie guys you'll sometimes run across blue/black, Purple/orange mixes too:eek:

[Chad Lewis]

I checked out the fly I tied in the water and it looks okay. Lots of movement without losing its "body". It's polyester, not cotton, so that should keep it from getting waterlogged. I've a couple ideas about how to tie a minnow pattern with it that should have a lot of movement in the body with a good profile.

Philster, I have used mohair and like it. I was buying mohair flies before I knew what the stuff was! The pattern you described seems to work well at Pass Lake in the warmer months.