Pet Inspired Patterns / Uses

[dryflywaters]

OK - I have read a few posts about tyers using their pets fur or feathers. I had a wonderful cat named bootsie who had amazing fur. She is long gone now - but I still have some hair in a dubbing dispenser that I use for a bootsie version of a hares ear nymph.

So - Lets hear from all of the tyers that have used a pet of some sort for tying purposes.

[Kerry Pitt]

Oscar the Budgie


The hairwing on this Alsation Spey is made out of.....yep Alsatian tail hair.

[flyfisher117]

my cousins cat is great for grey dubbing so he has a lifetime supply of grey

[MrEsox]

My cat, Sysco, her hair is very soft, I use it in the same way as rabbit fur. A simple grub or Rat Tail Maggot pattern work great. She is orange tabby and well, when dubbed it a nice maggot color. These little grubs work great on pan fish.

[HELLFIGHTER5308]

The very first time I ever tried to tie a fly, I set up my vise with a hook and realized that I had no tying material except thread. I looked around, saw my loyal dog "Toby," a golden retriever, looking up with an excited look that seemed to say, "Try me!" So I did. I reached down, cut some rear flank hair and tied my first fly. I fished the fly in a local pond but snagged it on a bush in the water. I waded out, retrieved it, and have since enshrined it for posterity. Of course I call it the "Toby Fly."

[Rip Tide]

We had a pet rabbit once. It died a natural death years ago, but it some ways it seems like it's still with us

Just don't mention that to my wife

[bekiu002]

Fur from my sisters black lab Shadow and my parents red mutt Cassie have both found there way into the coffee grinder I use to make dubbing. The natural fur adds a really buggy look to a blend of synthetic yarn from the craft store. Here is a scud tied with Shadow and Cassie fur in the dubbing.
Cab's Olive Scud

Cabot