FLYMPH FORUM

Do any of you tie with mohair? This seems to me to be a good product for bugs and probably leeches. If any of you do use mohair, would you mind sharing some of the trout patterns you use this with? Yesterday I picked up a few spools of mohair and I'm going to order another dozen or so of the colors I feel will be good for trout. Any help will be most appreciated, thank you.

Hi Tim,
tie2fish alerted me to your post, knowing that my father Pete Hidy used mohair for flymph bodies, often blended with other fibers, but sometimes used alone.
Below are images that might be useful.
The first one is a pattern that he tied and fished a lot. The body is 100% mohair. He varied the proportions and size, and played around with different ribbing styles. We call it a Mahogany Flymph.



Here are samples of his tups flymph tied with mohair. He spun his bodies using a home-made Clark spinning block.



Here is an example of a blended body that includes mole-colored mohair.



Highly-magnified scans give you a better view of the actual texture of some of Pete's mohair bodies.





I think Pete like mohair partly because it made it possible to create any degree of wild shagginess that he desired. As he got older, his flies often became more shaggy in the body, presumably to imitate a hatching nymph with shuck still attached. Whatever the reason, the fish loved them.

I hope this helps.

Lance

Many thanks, Lance, for the post and the pictures. I've never had much success with soft hackled flies but that may be my fishing technique as much as anything. The shagginess of the mohair is what attracted me as I always thought my flies weren't shaggy enough. Thank you again, I appreciate your post.

Tim

Tim, I've tied up some leech patterns using the Uni-mohair. I honestly don't know if it's actually mohair, or has similar qualities. The beauty is the ease of tying. I don't have any pics but they are very nice looking. Not unlike a simple fuzzy yarn. The Uni products are excellent for quick ties.

Lance, I absolutely love getting to see these images. thanks for pointing us toward your father's preferences and use of the material. Not being one for shortcuts, I don't know if he would have liked the Uni-Mohair, but then he was game for simplicity and it certainly offers that.

w

Thank you WA for your suggestion. Many guys up here use a weighted leech pattern with a cone head, ball etc. I am not fond of using weighted flies so I never use them(just a personal preference). My lines are fitted with furled leaders but next season I am going to try sinking leaders and see how that works for getting my fly down a bit.
Most of my fishing is dry or some wets so my floating leaders work fine for me. Some guys seem to feel if they don't get a trout it wasn't a very good day. For me any day on a trout stream is a good day, with or without trout so I like to keep my fishing set up simple much like the guy using it...lol.

Tim

Great little topic. I've never really used the uni product in place of the natural one but, I'm sure it'll catch fish all the same.
Maybe angora goat would be an excellent substitute? It certainly looks very similar.

Lance those flymphs are just awesome! Thank you.

Tim, their site says it's a real mo-hair yarn and it comes in a large number of colors. I find it suited to #10 and up but a creative person might find it useful in a lot of techniques. I'm with you on the unweighted leech patterns. Tim Didas turned me on to a very small little leech pattern with a black marabou (very slender) tailing and two lengths of holo-flash type strands with the tail. The body is just a slender little brushed black yarn, or Uni Mo-hair body. It's a seriously effective pattern. and it's very light and small so you won't feel like you chunking streamers or some weighted rig. You can fish it like you would a little soft hackle. If I've ever taken a pic I'll look for it. Maybe I'll have to tie one and post it. Here's the phrase that puts a halt on my plans....I'll put it on my list of things to do.

w

Lol...I hear ya, WA, been there done that. The pattern sounds interesting, if you do have a pic I would be interested in seeing it. I put in an order to a local fly shop for some of the colors I was missing in the mohair, it should work with bugs. Maybe it will make my soft hackle a little more interesting to the trout.

Tim

I use mohair a lot. I use it by itself and as an add-in to other dubbing. It is extremely durable, has a nice sheen, is manageable and can easily be manipulated to be scraggly or neat. I think it is the best natural substitute for seal. I am not that fond of the uni-mohair quality however it is nicely stranded and easy to work with especially on leech patterns where you just need to wrap it on the hook and comb it out.

Next year I am heading to Newfoundland for some trout fishing. Over the course of the winter I will be tying some soft hackle flies using the mohair to take with me. I will be borrowing some of the patterns that many of you have posted including Mr. Hidy's and Mr Leisenring's as well. WA, I would like to see that leech pattern you spoke about, while I haven't had any success with the leech pattern to date I would like to give it a whirl with the mohair. If you get a chance, post a pic of it, please and thank you.
The only fly in the ointment is my buddy is going in for a cancer operation on Wed. Hopefully all goes well and we can continue with our preparations. He doesn't tie flies so that is left to me and I want to have a good selection of different flies for our trip. Thanks again for all your help and patience, it is appreciated.