Flymph Challenge - Rabbits Foot Dubbing

[letumgo]

That's gotta be a lucky fly (rabbit foot humor)! Beautifully done.

Have you tried dropping it in water? How does it behave?

I'd be tempted to rub a wee dab of Gink floatant on the body. After watching you do this with your little sulphur comparidun, I believe it helps make the dubbing more translucent.

Keep em coming guys.

[novabass]

A lovely sulfur flymph, Paul. Commercially packaged snowshoe rabbit feet come in a wide variety of colors; is the stuff you used called "Natural" or "Cream"?

It was called natural Bill.

That's gotta be a lucky fly (rabbit foot humor)! Beautifully done.

Have you tried dropping it in water? How does it behave?

I'd be tempted to rub a wee dab of Gink floatant on the body. After watching you do this with your little sulphur comparidun, I believe it helps make the dubbing more translucent.

Keep em coming guys.

Ray, I haven't dropped it in the water yet, but I certainly will to see how it behaves. Should be very interesting.
Thanks for the idea on the challenge.

[DUBBN]

Well done Paul. I saw it on FB and it looked familiar.

[Roadkill]

Here is a #14 Blue Dun Hare's Foot...Medium Dun Snowshoe and hen hackle with red silk and a gold twist.

[tie2fish]

Several years ago, my friend Jack and I ran across a fly pattern in a shop in Hancock, NY that proved to be very successful taking wary trout that were sipping Hendrickson emergers in the West Branch and upper Main Stem of the Delaware River. Later at home, in an attempt to tie a similar pattern, I mixed two colors of Rit dye and colored up some light natural snowshoe rabbit feet. It turned out to be too purple and the flies I tied looked very little like what we had used in Hancock, so the dyed hare's feet were buried at the bottom of a cigar box where I keep some of my failed experiments.

Now, with the advent of Ray's "Flymph Challenge - Rabbits Foot Dubbing" idea, they have been dug out and spun into flymph bodies using both dyed fur by itself and in a blend. The fur-only is still too purple to suit me and also relatively difficult to work with (not unlike seal), so I frizzed up and blended in some magenta wool to add some red and make the snowshoe more manageable. Then, using a waterhen covert as hackle and heavily barred wood duck flank for tail whisks, I tied up a Hendrickson Snowshoe Emerger Flymph.

[tjd]

Bill,

And if they don't take it when the Hendricksons are on the water, it might be a good match for Isonychia.

Dying rabbit's feet seems to be pure witchcraft. I've only had a few dyed feet that were really what I wanted/was looking for. That's why I use cottontail feet for my Hendrickson and BWO emergers/Usual variations.

Very nice looking fly, Bill.

Best,

Tim

[DUBBN]

Serious, tomorrow on the way to work I am going to try and find some fresh roadkill (cottontail).

[Mataura mayfly]

Wow guys, there are some pretty cool looking flies coming along here. Well done.

Like Bill's idea of adding something to the mix to tame the hair (Hare? ). The way I see it, the closer to the tips, the more unruly it is- and there are colour/translucency changes the further down the hair shaft you travel. So, even with an undyed natural foot, there are possibilities of subtle changes within individual bodies- or within a series of flies, depending on how deep you dive.

[Mataura mayfly]

Here are a couple of my "tries".
Start with this......



End up with these.......





Was going to go the "whole hog" and try to catch a fish with these before posting- but time is against me....... maybe tomorrow.

[letumgo]

Dang! You guys sure took the challenge to heart! The dressings are all very creative, and very fishable. Bill - the blended dubbing looks great. I'd be tempted to try blending the purple rabbit fur with some gray/dun colored fur, perhaps on claret silk.

Lots of inspiration guys! Keep them coming please.

Jeff - I am looking forward to seeing photos from you fishing trip.