Tying a few hair jigs to get ahead of the rock attrition whenever I finally get back out fishing. I've made several 1/8 jigs using a new (to me) hook I bought in bulk unbranded similar to the owner 5304 only with a 90 degree eye, but it has a much longer hook shank for the 1/0 size compared to the mustad hook I used previously (#32833). I added a bit of bucktail tied onto the shank of the hook below the collar to help conceal it and then built up the body using craft hair atop that - but it got me wondering if anyone's tried mixing body materials

I know natural hair (bear/bucktail etc.) seems to be preferred for the real cold, with artificial hair providing marginally more action for when the water is slightly warmer, with marabou/feather material only being used in warmer water when a lot of action is natural - but what about surrounding one material with another to add bulk or restrict movement.

I'm lucky in that I've gotten just about every hair I can lay my hands on bear - black and grizzly, rabbit, buck tail, squirrel, lama, bison, camel, arctic fox and nutria, possum tibetan lamb, silver fox, alpaca and I even have huge zonker striips from a Sable fur coat my daughter brought me!  You can mix and match what ever you want and see what works for you and what the fish like.  

 

 

On 11/25/2019 at 11:39 AM, dopey said:

I'm lucky in that I've gotten just about every hair I can lay my hands on bear - black and grizzly, rabbit, buck tail, squirrel, lama, bison, camel, arctic fox and nutria, possum tibetan lamb, silver fox, alpaca and I even have huge zonker striips from a Sable fur coat my daughter brought me!  You can mix and match what ever you want and see what works for you and what the fish like.  

 

 

Where can I get brown bear hair from? Or polar and panda that I can then dye green pumkin.

 

Allen 

I like using multiple materials to tie my hair jigs.  I think the mixture of actions make for a more enticing offering.

Most fly tying places carry black bear but brown is tough to come by.  You could try Moscow Hide and Fur https://www.hideandfur.com/    and look in the pieces section, but I haven't seen any for a while.  Brown is a hit or miss.  

 

Legal Polar bear hair you can get here but you're not going to like the price and it's only in small pieces.  Plus check your state rules or call them first  https://www.boonetrading.com/collections/polar-bear-fur

 

Panda is a protected species you won't get any.  

 

Depending on how long you want the hair try Arctic fox tail it comes in many dyed colors or Finn Raccoon hair

I've been using the tails from the gray squirrels I shoot. You can tie a lot of jigs with one tail and in my case, they're cheap. If you have a friend who hunts, ask him to save the tails for you. I salt the end where it's cut off from the body and put them in big ziploc bags until I use them

I tie a 1/8oz football jig with a #1 and sometimes a 1/0 hook with different materials. I tie in some Arctic Fox tail first due to the length, and then build up a body using Arctic Fox body hair which is shorter in length and softer. It has pretty fluid movement without having to move the jig much and works great in cold water.

On 1/2/2020 at 3:03 PM, smalljaw67 said:

I tie a 1/8oz football jig with a #1 and sometimes a 1/0 hook with different materials. I tie in some Arctic Fox tail first due to the length, and then build up a body using Arctic Fox body hair which is shorter in length and softer. It has pretty fluid movement without having to move the jig much and works great in cold water.

*Smalljaw67 forgot more about hair jigs than I will ever know !! ... I enjoy the learning though .