Swedish Long wing material

[Philster]

Okay, I'm looking for a great LEGAL material for the swedish long wing, or "temple dog" style flies. I haven't been able to find anything I like that will let me consistently tie over 2 inches long, and still have enough body to not collapse into nothing when wet and under tension.

Requirements are a texture between the bears (black or brown bear) and arctic fox on the stiffness and sleekness spectrum with a length that will allow wings of 2 to 4 inches. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[sean]

Arctic runner is good stuff for these types of flies. You gotta get it from oversees but it is not too spendy...Will send you a PM for the website to get it from.

-sean

[Norseman]

Philster

Have you tried Finnish Raccoon.....nice and long a very slightly stiffer than artic fox....or Icelandic Sheep or Indian goat....Long and stiffer for certain.

Try Jack Cooks place

Irishangler.com

Cheers

[Benjamin]

Hey Philster,
to get a nice high wing I use Polar bear or other stif materials as underwing.
2-3 cm are enought. Ón this i tye softer Matwerials specialy Fox.
So the fly is working very well and will not collaps under tension.
Tyiing original Tempeldog Flys, like Hakan Norling, they tye many smal Segments of Fox or dog. Between all Segment they use Hacels to make it stiffer (just 1 up to 2 Turns).
Also it is impotent to tye every segment a litle bit longer to stabilize the wing.
Ben

[flytyer]

Ben,

Unfortunately, polar bear is illegal in the US unless you can prove it was either acquired prior to January 1, 1973, or came from a tanned pelt or rug that was made from a bear killed prior to January 1, 1973. If a person in the US knowingly uses or possesses polar bear that was harvested after January 1, 1973, he is subject to arrest and prosecution by the federal government with fines of $10,000.00 US possible for each piece or hide of polar bear he possesses and up to 10 years in federal prison for each piece as well. This includes in already tied fishing flies.

This means in the US, unless a person can prove with documentation that polar bear was harvested prior to January 1, 1973, it is not worth the risk of possession because even one fly in your possession can result in the arrest and fines or prison sentence. This is why US tyers are always looking for something in natural hair to substitute for polar bear.

Personally, I think the law should be changed to allow the use of legally taken polar bear, as long as the person could prove it came from a legally taken bear because I know that polar bear can be legally harvested in some countries and that even in the US Eskimos and Alaskan Native Americans can legally harvest a limited number of polar bear each year. However, I honestly don't think this will happen because environmental activist groups would lobby very strongly against such a change.

[Nooksack Mac]

Second only to Stupid Criminal stories, I feast on news of bizarely inappropriate judicial rulings. I can hardly wait for W's new Supreme Court to deal with the appeal of the hapless steelheader who was sentenced to fifty years of hard labor for having a couple of original-specs Polar Shrimps in his fly box. :hihi:

...as long as it's not me. :(

[McIntyre]

If a person in the US knowingly uses or possesses polar bear that was harvested after January 1, 1973, he is subject to arrest and prosecution by the federal government with fines of $10,000.00 US possible for each piece or hide of polar bear he possesses and up to 10 years in federal prison for each piece as well. This includes in already tied fishing flies.

Good thing to know!

Was thinking of having a box of Ally's shrimps tied with polar bear for my trip to PNW next year, maybe I drop that :roll:

Guess I need to drop my box with heron spey and dee flies too :mad:

How is this rules in Canada?

In Norway it's legal to use and possess polar bear as long as it's legally killed. In Svalbard they have to shoot a bear for self protection a few times. This skins are now sold for up to $10000, so it begin to get very expensive, but there are still occasionally some old skins that get sold a lot cheaper, which are dyed for flytying purposes.


For long tubewings I mostly use dyed Silver Fox tails or Templedog hair. Icelandic sheep is also a possibiliy for the very long wings (12-14 cm), build a good underwing of fox bodyhair to keep the wing up and put another bunch of foxhair (you could also use arctic runner hair for this) above the sheep hair.

[speyman]

As much as I have some BIG temple dog coming in some day.....

The least expensive and long, 10-14 inches, is Icelandic sheep. You see this stuff in all the Temple Dog style flies. In a 3 layer wing you will see IS in the firsat two layers plus half of the third layer. After that the Runner or other fabncu hairs take over. WIth the amount of fur we are putting into these flies the core needs to be cost effective. At $4 a hank IS gives me the look I want at the price I want.