[fredaevans]

One of the VERY best materials I've ever run into is the BowTyer 1xl zonker strips for tieing egg, et. al. patterns. Tied on #8, 6 or 4 double salmon hooks ... sniff ..sniff and your mine. But ít seems these folks may/may not be around anymore.

Anyone know of a shop that has a good supply of their materials?
fae

 

[Flyguy9]

Fred,
Yes, it seems the proprietor has passed away and the company is kapoooot, or so I've heard. I travel a lot and visit fly shops around the country. I've bought as much as I can find. If I see a big stash somewhere I'll let you know. I seem to remember the Blue Dun in Spokane had a pretty good selection this summer.

LV

 

[NrthFrk16]

Fred-
Fishhunter Enterprises bought up the rest of the stock and has attempted importing some of the materials. Email me exactly what you need and I can see what I can dig up for you.

 

[flytyer]

Fred,

The owner lived in Blaine, WA and unfortunately is no longer with us. The material is nothing more than artic fox fur (not tail) that was dyed the various colors. The owner moved to the states from Sweden (he was married to an American) and bought the artic fox fur as trim pieces from Swedish furriers. I suspect that Fishhunter will ultimately be succesful in getting it into the states from the same furriers in Sweden since it is not a banned material.

Also, North American Fly Materials, a distributer from Wisconsin, sells it. The trick is finding a retailer who buys from them so you can get it. In the meantime, I'd get ahold of Ryan and buy more than you think you'll need from him at Kaufmanns.

 

[nevada caster]

Not tail??

I have some Bowtyer Arctic Fox cut from the tail. I believe that if you want the longest hair, it comes from the tail, i.e. body fur is shorter. But then I am not an expert on Arctic fox fur!!

 

[fredaevans]

All the BowTyer materials were top end stuff, but

my very fav. of all are the 1XL's which are actually mink fur. Makes a 'tight tie,' and absolutely fluffs under water. The 1xl is the smallest (as I remember anyway) of their Zonker strips.

But size was/is important, but I think the choice of fur has more to do with it's effectiveness (IMHO anyway). The Artic Fox material mentioned above is some of the best stuff available for the Willie Gun (or other hair wing) pattern(s).

fae

Forgot to add for Ryan: I'm looking for Orange, Red, Black and Purple.

 

[flytyer]

Nevada caster,

Artic Fox back, flank, and rump fur is just as long as the tail fur. It just has longer underfur than the tail. The short hair is found on the legs, belly, front shoulders, upper neck, and the shortest of course is the face hair.

Fred,

One of my favorite trout flies is Charlie Brooks dragon fly nymph that he tied with brown harbor seal fur strips that were cross cut nad then wrapped over a heavily weighted underbody on #2 to #8 4XL hooks with a few wraps of real ratty dyed brown grizzy as a front hackle. They just come alive in the water, like the mink you spoke of.

 

[Willie Gunn]

Re: All the BowTyer materials were top end stuff, but

The Artic Fox material mentioned above is some of the best stuff available for the Willie Gun (or other hair wing) pattern(s).

fae

Dear oh dear have I tauught you nothing, a Willie Gunn is tied with bucktail, artic fox is too soft.

 

[fredaevans]

We jenuflect at the feet of the ..

Willie Gun JediMaster.

I have sinned, therefore I am UNWORTHY!!

 

[JGrice]

Arctic Fox

Hello Fred,

Arctic Fox and Racoon fir is available, I retracted the phone number as the supplier is not a sponser, send me a pm and I'll forward his information. John