UV-Cured Adhesive (Resin) & Buoyancy of Fly Tying Fur for Musky Flies

   So, I sat down tonight to tie a musky fly.  I planned to experiment again with skunk tail.  Then, I recalled the one skunk fly I did fish was fairly buoyant in the water –something I didn’t want occurring with the next fly. 

   At that point, my plans ran amuck.  Experiments with buoyancy of 3 fly tying materials occurred, along with readying a few newer flies for an upcoming musky trip.

   I examined another skunk fly and a couple other musky flies I'd fished this weekend.  Then, I reinforced some fly heads with Loon UV Clear Fly Finish.  BTW, I give this resin –at this time anyway- an ‘A’.  If it didn’t still feel a little ‘tacky’ after hitting it with my Loon UV mini light, it would get an ‘A+’.  I make it a point of setting the flies outside in the sun for a short time and most of the tacky feeling is then gone.   I believe this commonly occurs with many light-cured resins.  The tiny version of the Loon UV light also has an on/off button which is easily pressed.  If thrown in a bag and there is pressure on the button, one may later discover the light has dead batteries.  If my opinion later changes on the resin I will post something at that date.  For now, I believe if one uses a good light-curing resin, there is no going back to other adhesives for big fly heads.  Time is precious.  (BTW, I've reviewed a couple of resin-curing UV lights.  Here is the link: http://strip-n-twitch.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-fly-tiers-comparison-of-uv-curing.html   ** I've learned that using these light-cured products can make fly tying more efficient and creative, but these resins are not without their 'quirks'.  Following more research, I plan to post tips and tricks to increase one's ability to successfully cure the resin and to maintain an appropriate resin-fly bond.  In the  meantime, visit your product's website for more information.  If your questions aren't answered there, visit the competitors' websites; chances are you will find some answers.  UPDATE 1/9/13: 'Tips for Use of Light-Cured Resins' to be posted very soon!) http://strip-n-twitch.blogspot.com/2013/01/major-light-cured-resin-players-answer.html

   Now on to ‘the nonscientific hairy experiments’:  I filled a glass bread pan with water.  Then, for the first test, I cut similar amounts of fur from near the tips of a skunk tail and a slightly crinkly buck tail.  I also cut fur from near the base of another skunk tail.  I placed all 3 bunches of fur on the water and they floated on the surface for ~20 minutes.  Then, I pressed each down uniformly below water level.  The slightly crinkly buck tail was the most buoyant, remaining in the surface film of the water with tips slightly lower.  Surprisingly, the skunk tail taken from near the tip floated mid-surface (tips slightly lower) while the skunk tail from the tail’s base sunk to the bottom.  After 8 minutes, I pressed down again & there was little change in the buoyancy, except that the buck tail and skunk tail (taken from the tail’s tip) had sunk the tiniest bit more in the water column.

   Then, to compare the base and tip of one skunk tail, I took hair hanks from the base and tip of the tail which had previously sank to mid-surface.  Again, the hair taken from nearest the tail’s base sat lowest in the water with the tips lower.  Buck tail again remained in surface film and & skunk fur taken near tail’s tip presented with tail tips mid-surface & base in surface film.

   So, to be clear, the slightly crinkled buck tail (fur taken near the tip) was the most buoyant –sitting in the surface film, the skunk tail with fur taken closer to the tip, sank to mid-surface, and skunk tail with fur taken near the base sank the lowest- just at/near the bottom.

  

   Then, I tested natural Yak hair (red) and more buck tail.  One tail (brown) was straight & had a sheen I wished my hair had.  The other tail (orange) was fairly crinkly.  I again cut similar hanks of hair & both buck tails were taken from near the tip.  I set the hair in the water and after ~1 minute I pushed each one uniformly down to the bottom.  The yak hair remained on the bottom.  No 2^nd-guessing the depth of that one.  The tips of the crinkly, orange buck tail sank to the upper portion of water’s mid-surface.  The smooth, brown buck tail was buoyant, remaining in the surface film with the tips sinking slightly lower.  Then, I cut fur from the base of the fairly crinkly, orange buck tail.  Pressing it in the water similarly, it remained very buoyant, sitting the highest of all the tying material, even after 10 minutes.

   In summary, if your goal is for your musky fly to sink, the more expensive natural yak hair is your best bet.  After this, the ever popular skunk tail with fur taken closer to its base is 2^nd best choice.  The skunk tail with fur taken from near the tip (it sat mid-surface) is still a 3^rd good option.  Crinkly deer hair taken from near the tip would be my final choice.  If you want your fly to remain fairly buoyant, look for that crinkly buck tail, taken from the base.  That sexy, shiny, straight buck tail, taken from the tip, is a good 2^nd choice.  I imagine that fur taken from the base of this latter type of buck tail would also be a good choice (but I forgot to check that out). 

   I won’t promise that you will have the same results in your tying room.  However, it doesn’t take much time to trim off a hank of fur, immerse it in a little water & experiment for yourself.  Back to that buoyant skunk tail fly:  the skunk fur was taken from the tip & I also incorporated buck tail, most likely taken from near the base.  A few feathers had been tied in as well.  Now I know why I had a buoyant fly!  As far as buck tail goes, generally if you tie with the fur from the base, it will flair more.  It is also generally longer than the fur at the tip.  These were characteristics I desired when attempting to create a larger, bigger profile fly, but now I fully realize the trade-off.  I sense a new, quicker-sinking musky fly in my near future!

Whaddya Get When a Skunk & a Musky Cross Paths? Hopefully, a Hook-Up!

(*Update 4/13/12: Trialed fly in local quarry.  Happy with this first edition. Plan to trial more sparse skunk tail. Profile in water was good. I'm pleased with the action. When fly drying on my jacket's fly patch, I could smell slight skunk odor. However, after a few hours the odor is gone. The fly was allowed back in my house.)

   After partially deoderizing a skunk tail last year (it is still sitting in borax in a sealed bag in the garage) and then rifling through a boxful & choosing two non-stinky skunk tails at the HFFA fly fishing show this year, I have finally tied a couple of flies with the black and white fur.

   Of course, a musky fly called to me.  While skunk tail will never replace the easily-dyed buck tail, the suppleness and luminescence of skunk fur lends itself very well to hook and vise.  Furthermore, the length of portions of the tail and the ease with which the fur can be reverse-tied was, frankly, a thrill for one who loves to hunt musky.

   I'm still working out the recipe and hope to take a fly or two for a swim in J-Mac Lures (a local & on-line biz for mucho fly tying supplies including those for toothy critters) minnow tank.  If the action proves as good as I expect it to be, I will post the recipe under my Fly Tying tab.  

The Fly Tying Trials of Skunk vs. Polar Pony Hair

  The quest for skunk tail started when I discovered, on-line, a Clouser-like musky fly made with 'Polar Pony'.  My fly material sources didn't know what it was, but Google did.  It comes from a pony which lives in Iceland.  Evidently, Icelandic pony hair is a very special thing since a package of it, with dimensions similar to flashabou, runs about $14.  Now, if that Clouser-like musky fly could guarantee me one 50"+ musky this season, I'd buy it.  However, I never saw that claim on a package.  http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2011/02/07/steve-silverio-ties-the-silverfishfly/

   So....that is what led to my desire for skunk tail.  Frankly, I no longer remember how or if skunk tail is similar to Icelandic pony hair.  However, we all know that once one starts looking at a particular fly pattern, then looks for substitute material for said pattern, other discoveries are made.  Then, the initial search is temporarily forgotten due to the curiosity elicited by discovering the potential for yet a different fly tying material.  This is why a particular fly tier can gather a lifetime of tying material in a couple of years. 
   However, I do believe there is a correlation between an Icelandic pony and, well, a skunk. I want to tell you that the reason for the high cost of the Icelandic pony's hair is that the pony also values his hair and has developed a defense mechanism to prevent would-be fly tiers of Icelandic pony hair from creeping up and cutting off its mane or tail.  I want to tell you the pony lifts its tail and tries to spray those wanting to steal away it's long, shiny hair. Therefore, one can understand why the hair is so expensive; it’s hard to get & hard to get rid of the smell if sprayed.

   However, if I told you all that I would be lying.  The truth, if I remember correctly, is that skunk hair is said to be long, shiny and almost translucent. Somewhere in my memory banks, skunk hair sounded like a nice substitute for Polar Pony.

   'John', a hunter and fisher, goes to K&K Hardware every Tuesday to visit a friend who works at the store.  I occasionally stop by to visit with 'the boys' & to shop for fly tying material.  John is also becoming the man who provides me with 'excellent tail'.  I was given my first tail shortly after deer hunting season.  It was prime bucktail.  The bone had been removed and the tail had been dried.  I later thanked John with home-made cookies. 

   So, when I first started thinking of skunk tail, I thought of John.  If 'the boys' were out hunting and happened to run across a dead skunk on the side of the road --in good shape, perhaps just a head injury-- maybe John would be willing to harvest the tail for me.  Unrealistic to find one in good shape?  Perhaps, but I tend to be optimistic. 

   It just so happened that when I asked John about skunk tail, his neighbor had trapped one that day.  I can't say I like it, but these boys are hunters and John says skunks eat the eggs of the birds they hunt; he said the skunk wasn't going to be around much longer.  I emphasized I didn't want a skunk killed for me, but if it was going to happen, why should the tail be wasted? 

   A couple weeks later, I came into the store and John just as quickly left.  Soon, he came back with a smile and a sealed bag containing the skunk tail.  We could smell the tail through the bag.  John noted that his cats, Connie Chung and #5, wanted that skunk tail more than catnip.

   So, I took the tail home, did a little research, and soon the tail was double-bagged and sitting in borax.  I only needed a nice day to be able to mix up a ‘cocktail’ which has been known to neutralize the odor created by skunks.  Now, I live in a little slab home with an attached tiny garage in a tiny yard, surrounded by neighbors who don’t like the smell of skunk.  It’s also been raining a lot.  Due to the smell, the rain, and the fear of a cat carrying my tail away, it’s been sitting for a month or more in the bag in the garage. 

   But today, it did not rain.  I took the tail outside, mixed up the ingredients (1 pt 5% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, 1 tablespoon liquid dish detergent –use when freshly made) then placed the tail in a bowl with the ingredients.  The mixture frothed up like the head of steamed milk on a cappuccino.  It pushed half the tail out of the bowl.  I waited at least 5 minutes, pushing the tail back into the liquid.  I noted the greatest odor was coming from the bag which now only contained borax.  I sniffed the tail before and after rinsing it off and estimated at least 75% of the odor was gone.  After letting the tail sit outside for a while, I sealed it in another bag filled with fresh borax.  I would buy the recommended fresh hydrogen peroxide soon and give the tail another bath. 

   Then, I left for the fly fishing club meeting.  Upon returning home, I noticed a slight odor in the garage…  I'd been wrong.  I now estimate the tail odor has actually been reduced by 50%.  I can’t say the tail is fly tying material yet, but it’s getting there. 

   (By the way, when the tail is ready and a fly is tied, I’ll post a picture.  Perhaps it will be a Clouser-like fly tied with a great substitute for Polar Pony.  And, while researching how to deodorize and dry a skunk tail, I came across a very funny article about ‘The Skunk Hair Club’. This is the link: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/Skunk.html) 

~Twitch