# WHAT YA CATCH IT ON?



## troutwhisperer (Jan 1, 2009)

I find great personal satisfaction catching fish on flies that I have tied. Making it even more challenging I have used stuff you dont buy at the local flyshop and have caught fish. On one outing my older brother and I were bragging on what we have used in the past, that proved to be fish worthy. I have used knap from carpet, my dogs hair. pieces of a Barbie dress and tinsel from my Christmas tree. My brother stated he went to the zoo with his grandkids and got some camel hair from the fence. Hoping others are out there _ what ya catch it on? _(O)_


----------



## tacokid789 (Apr 24, 2008)

Blue wrapper from the silvery foil on fun sized oreos. Used for dorsal torso colors on terrestrials.


----------



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Lets see. Weirdest fly tying materials.

My wife's hair, harvest from her hair brush. Spun into a rope, better than dubbing for hare's ear.

Horse main/tail (from a shetland pony named Pete) - spun and wrapped for a leach pattern.

End of shoelace - with the plastic thingy still on there, and the thread frayed out.

Curlies from a bison package. Just to say I did.

I've also used christmas tree tinsel, craft foam, model paints, colored flies with sharpies before, and used phone wiring for ribbing.


----------



## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Guard hairs from my friends dead dog (10 years gone)

Bristles from a broom.

Real bumble bee wings.

Dog whiskers. Boston terrier whiskers make great mosquito patterns.


----------



## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

One of my first ever flies was tied with the frayed ends of an old bath towel.

I was at the Green and a guy was killing the Trout on a Caddis Nymph.

I went back to camp with one of his flies, that he gave to me for a pattern, and tied up some flies of my own, using a salmon egg hook.
C
A cream towel body and a black thread head and I had my Caddis Nymph.

I caught a lot of fish on those flies on that trip.


----------



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Nope. I could make up some story on that one but I won't. A friend was in the bison ranching business. He had, shall we say, an open, tanned with hair-on it pouch on his desk with peanuts in it. I got to looking at it and said "That isn't what I think it is, is it?" He just started laughing. He had removed it off a bison they had killed a few years back. This guy was an avid hunter and used to supply me with all sorts of funky fly tying materials. So I asked if he had any more. Well, a couple days later he gave me one. Tanned with the hair still on it. I tied a few flies with some of the hair, like I said, just to say I did it. And truthfully, it isn't great tying material. But its one of those fly tying accomlishments to bring up around fellow tyers. "Hey, can you guess what I used to tie this thing up?" We all know the types of discussions. The same ones that end up in pulling out the dozen royal wulffs on size 22 hooks, neatly lined in a little box.


----------



## martymcfly73 (Sep 17, 2007)

fatbass said:


> GaryFish said:
> 
> 
> > Lets see. Weirdest fly tying materials.
> ...


 -BaHa!- :rotfl:


----------



## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

I thread some Cherry Nibs on a hook and caught every rainbow in the pond. Oh wait, that would be considered bait. Oh well, best bait I ever used.


----------



## caddisguy (Sep 10, 2007)

I once hooked a bat casting just before dark. The bat was not too happy to be hooked and wasn’t about to let me set him free without a fight so I opted to slap him on the water to break the tipped or unhook him. As soon as I slapped him down a huge Brown came up and grabbed him. The tipped snapped and that was the last I saw of him. I have since tried to come up with a bat pattern without success.


----------



## Pez Gallo (Dec 27, 2007)

my uncle is a taxidermist in Washington, and when I got into fly fishing he gave me a grab bag full of snippets of different animals. I dont even know what all of the animals are, but to be honest I don't use the materials very often because I don't tie with hair very much.


----------



## OPED (Jan 24, 2009)

Some of favorite flies to tie and use are the ones my children help me to make. I allow them to choose the style, colors, materials, etc. It is hard to explain the excitement they have when they catch a fish on their "own" fly.

We have a couple flies tied with some of their own hair from haircuts that haven't produced, but they still think they are cool.


----------



## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

When I was a kid I used to snip all kinds of stuff off an Indian Mandela my mom had hanging up. She had to eventually throw it away because it was mangled. Wool, golden pheasant tippets, rabbit fur, pheasant tails, deer har...... it was like an entire material kit!


----------



## troutwhisperer (Jan 1, 2009)

Thank-you all for your replies, the winner has to be curlies from a bison package by no other than GaryFish. LOL :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


----------

