Hi all. I would really value some help and comments here; I've just started out on what I reckon will be a long journey into fly fishing. When I was a little'un I used to coarse fish every spare hour that I had. Work, marriage, kids etc put paid to all that but I never did have the chance to fly fish.
Well, I'm now divorced, retired, poor and wanting to try my hand at this. I am sad but not a little surprised that virtually none of my old coarse gear will cross over to fly (apart from maybe the disgorger!).
Cutting to the chase, I have replaced wife with a dog and coincidentally taken up fly tying - learning mostly from videos and books. I am amazed at the number of different materials that can be used; one source even suggesting sifting through the contents of the lint filter of the tumble dryer to find suitable dubbing fibres! This led me to the thought that I might wait for my dogs next moult and use her hair for fly tying.
Has anyone got any thoughts on this, or any other unusual materials which can be used?

First of all, Welcome to the forum.
You just reminded me of a story I heard recently of a well known fly tyer selling bags of his dogs hair (a poodle) and calling it polar bear dubbing

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Sean


>>>>>>>MEMBER OF THE S.S.F.D.<<<<<<<<<

There are lots of fly tying materials available at little or no cost. When I tied flies semi-professionally many years ago I would never pass a dead squirrel on the road without checking on the viability of his tail. If the hair pulled out I'd leave it, if not he was freshly dead and off would come his tail. All that was required was few days in the airing cupboard to dry it out and it was ready for use.

I used to go beating on pheasant shoots - I now go picking up. This gave, and gives, me access to as many pheasant tails, partridge feathers and duck feathers as I am ever likely to need. I went turkey plucking one Christmas and ended up with enough marabou to last me ten years. Buy Dylon dyes at the local hardware shop and you've more than enough colours to be going on with. When I run short of hare fur I have a word with my local butcher and, if available, a hare skin will come my way. All that is needed there is to pin it fur side down to a board, apply plenty of ordinary cooking salt, and leave it in a warm dry place for a couple of weeks. Once cured simply trim it to shape and store it. I got two skins this year and that will be enough fur to see me out.

The materials mentioned provide the basis for most of the best flies around. Getting some of them is a lot of fun in its own right. Going beating not only gets the materials you need, but it is a lot of fun and you get paid a few pounds to do it. I can't think of many other hobbies that pay you cash for the pleasure of doing them.

Well, the list is endless, apart from picking up feathers in zoos during walks etc., here is some of the stuff i do.

Christmas decorations are a very cheap and good source of diffrent materials for pike flies and some others as well.

Halloween wigs are again a very cheap source of synthetic fibres.

Normal sewing thread is a cheap source of tying thread for pike flies in all colors imaginable. All my streamers are tied with sewing thread plus it absorbs glue really well.

Baloons, condoms, lots uf uses on nymphs, streamers etc.

Plastic shopping bags, tresh bags etc, when cut to ribbons are a good streamer material.

Wool, the kind of you buy in normal stores has a numerus uses from nymphs to streamers.

You can for example make dubbing from old carpet, plush clothes, toys etc. are again a good source of fibres........

The list is endless. Hobby shops have huge array of stuff that can be used in flytying etc.

BlueOne

There was a thread posted somewhere in the fly tying section called something like "list of non fly tying materials". It was posted well over a year ago.
I've just done a quick search but can't find it.
Anyway, there were loads of stuff people listed which I found really interesting.

Very interesting thread! thanks for posting.

I suppose the world looks very different in the eyes of a fly-tyer - potential materials everywhere!!

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I just remembered when i read that thing about a poodle above, a friend told me of an angler who asked one dog owner to brush his dog in front of him, so he could get its hair for tying flies. The owner did it and the guy walked home with his palms full of desired hair. I guess a nice word can go far

When i was a kid it was hard to get fly tying materials so my father, his friends and of course i, would go rooster hunting, driving around countryside, looking for good roosters and when you would spot one you would ask a farmed if he would sell it. The farmer killed it and normally kept the meat and we would get the scalp which would be processed much like it was described by BobP above. And i still have a feeling that flies made of those "organic" roosters have better catching rate than those made of those fancy scalps which we can easily buy today. I just might do some rooster hunting this winter.

BlueOne

My latest "discovery" (which I'm sure others will have discovered before me) is tapestry threads. Currently using them to weave bodies on sedge pupae and corixa. More colours than you could ever use and pretty cheap, since I got the scrag ends off my sister!

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the original dressing of the Tups Indispensable used hair from the inventor's setter.

hehehe...I do same every year
But some roosters I dont kill....just pick feathers and I call that operation The Harvest

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The ancient noble trout of Montenegro

My sister's Father-in-law uses the feathers from her parrot! Nice green color! Personally I'ld use the whole bloody thing as pike bait as it's a biter.

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Or his desserts are small,
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