Best type of elk hair for the elk hair caddis??

[.D.]

Originally Posted by KevCompton

Is the 'flare' the desired characteristic? When is it good/bad?

It's good when you want it and bad when you don't!

Originally Posted by KevCompton

What do you mean by "less resistant in the take"?

I'd say I get a better hook up rate with CDC flies, for example than I do with flies tied using stiff animal hair for wings. Perhaps it just seems that way

Originally Posted by KevCompton

As hide to hide varies, so does patch to patch. Yearling Elk can be short and quite coarse depending when the animal was harvested.

Of course that's absolutely true - and you are plainly more familiar with the beasts than I

Originally Posted by KevCompton

I suppose, in the end, each piece or patch of hair is suitable for a certain application(s). This creamy, short, coarse Yearling Elk seems to work well on smaller Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators, and CDC&Elk.

Originally Posted by .D.

To be honest I think you'll find all of the above useable - just in some cases more for certain sizes, and in others you'll find flare an issue ( good or bad).

The last two quotes are broadly alike

It isn't likely that many UK tyers (me included) get the chance to inspect Elk hides, or even inspect patches in advance of purchase. In the pieces I have ( and I have several of each, through trial and error, for the reasons you state) I'd generally say that the Bull Elk is pretty stiff, and the Cow pretty coarse.


Cheers,

.D.

[Mike N]

A tip I've recently discovered for reducing flaring: After making 2-3 pinch wraps, make a single wrap under the wing itself, and slide it as close to the base of the tie in point as you can get it. (so just the hook gets this wrap) Then do one more pinch wrap directly over this spot. This allows you to get back just a bit farther on the wing, which will compress it a bit more without leaving too much thread showing. This also works very well for compressing/ combatting flare on deer hair tails on humpy's etc.



M