Question... Do you really think using the stick on or glue on Eye's catch more fish? I have been fishing and tying a little while now and wanted to ask a Professional such as yourself.. Thank you
Great info! I have always shied away from tying deer hair heads in the past because I couldn't get them to spin correctly. Thanks! Time to hit the vise and give it another shot!
Great tutorial! Started tying the muddler minnow this weekend. Had trouble with spinning deer hair and came out with, fishable, but awful looking muddlers! Learned techniques that will surely shorten my learning curve. Really appreciate your efforts to share your expertise!
Thank you for taking the time to show us how to spin deer hair with your method. I just started to practice this art of spinning deer hair and I notice one side always have more hair than the other. Your method makes a lot of sense. I’m surprised Kelly hasn’t commented on your method! Kelly has already mentioned your idea of using hair clips to hold flared marabou out of way on one of his videos. (^_^)
I've always struggled with deer hair work. I've watched a ton of videos going way back to the pre youtube pre CD days of video cassettes. None of them mentioned distributing the hair around the shank with finger pressure before spinning. I never could figure out why my heads were coming out eneven. Now I know. That is a great tip! Also I like how you trimmed the butts of the collar before tying in the stacks. That's another area where I've struggled, smothly transitioning from the head to the collar. Thanks for another great video!
Thanks Gunnar! Perfect timing - Zoo Cougars and Dahlberg Divers were on the agenda for this weekend's tying sessions. Think that subtle maneuver of pressing the hair down is going to be the ticket for better heads.
Ohhhh man!!!! You are AMAZING!!! I’ve stayed away from deer hair for the longest. I had a horrible time with it. This video saved me many more years of frustration 🙏 thank you x1000
Thanks Gunnar, I have tied many deer hair flies and been frustrated that the heads, more often than not were lopsided in hair thickness. So no matter how I cut them none of them fished the same. I think you just told me the nugget I needed to know to get some balance to the flies. Thanks so much for specifically mentioning the push around the shank before spinning. All the best, I've learned so much from watching your video's. All the best, Happy New year to you and yours. Sean
Excellent! A couple questions: 1. If I want to start working with deer hair and a first want to start with a small investment of only one patch of hair what color would you advise? 2. Where do you get you deer hair from, local or online? If online do you have a favorite vendor(s) that tends to have consistantly good product? 3. Any tips on selecting deer hair? Thanks Dave
My favorite is the Natural Tan/Brown paired with a white body, but the bias is simply because "white" flies have been my top producers two years running, and the tan head adds excellent contrast - and I always prefer my heads to be a shade or two darker than the fly body. The best online shop for quality has been Galloup's Slide Inn, they do an excellent job of pre shorting all their hair. That being said, its always best to pick it out in person if you have the chance. For selecting hair, the biggest thing is checking the consistency in guard hair length and cowlicks. The guard hairs have the color separation at the tips, when the color separation creates a distinct bold line, it typically indicates the seasonal time frame from which the deer was harvested - being an early season deer - there will be less underfur and insulation fibers that you need to remove, as well as having consistent hair length for collars. Cowlicks are more or less permanent, if you tie in a cowlick, it will stay a cowlick.....look for straight back how, with no twist. When selecting Deer Belly hair - not typically used for collars.....but is more often used for stacking and packing bass bugs, I like to feel for the coarsest fibers as these tend to have the greatest amount of trapped air, and tend to be more durable when tying large stacks. Deer Belly hair is harder to find pieces without cowlicks, just look for the longest fibers.
Was never big into pencil thicknesses. I think the fly tyers thought of a pencil thickness is really a sharpie. You've done a great job of showing the biggest key to stacking deer hair- true slack when doing those first few wraps. Right one Gunnar.
Thanks man, and I totally agree with the pencil thickness thing.....just watch the end of the Skinny Dipper vid.....I go on about it for like a full minute, haha.
We’ll said dude. Where I live there isn’t a big saltwater fly community and the nearest social fly shop is a couple hours away so I’ve never tied with anyone or had a seminar or anything, so RU-vid and books are all I have. It’s almost sad that it took me a as long as it did to realize the pencil thickness thing meant nothing… my take is Brammer and Galloup are right when they say you have to just tie enough and practice enough where knowing the amount is automatic and intuitive for the specific fly and hook size. Took me a lot of money and deer hair, but I feel like experience is the only way to get the right heads 😂
Thanks, very much. I've not tried your method of pushing the hair down and around the hook shank but the way you described the problem with the bundle of hair traveling around the shank perfectly describes what I have always experienced. I'm looking forward to trying this. Thanks again for the excellent presentation and attention to details.
Gunnar, you're going to hate me for this, but in a good way, I hope. I'm guessing it was around 40 years ago now, but Andre (Andy) Puyans taught me the exact technique that you're sharing here. It's surreal to watch this. I know your technique came from hard-won experience. I had the good fortune and the benefit of having an amazing friendship with a fly fishing luminary. Hah! I almost wept as I watched this video. You are an incredibly talented tyer, and if I could I would give you a standing ovation!!! Thank you so very much for posting this. Love, and respect to you Sir. ❤😎👍🏻
Lots of new tricks for an old timer. Not sure what the gel is though. Is it like UV knot sense although he said it was Super Glue Gel. Didn't know that could be cured with UV.
The "gel" and the UV resin are two separate units in the video. The Gel super glues is a Loctite Super Glue, "Gel Control" simply implying it has a thicker viscosity and slower cure time. You can see the two drops of gel super glue on the head before the eyes are applied. Once applied, I then coat the eyes with Deer Creek UV Diamond Fine as a top coat to cover the edges of the eyes and increase their durability.
Been tying 4 years but 4 some reason I have managed to convince myself that I can't do deer hair. But resently I was given áhuga patch so I guess I can afford to f... up a few tries.
Dude, this is one of the best fly tying tutorials I’ve ever seen. Clearly demonstrated and explained *with purpose* so that concepts are more practically applied.
Do you fish this with a floating or sinking line? I would imagine it would mimic an unweighted plastic fluke which is a great bait for smallmouth around here.
Full sink is my preference, similar to Kelly Galloup's Zoo Cougar. So long as you animate the fly immediately, it will run in the top foot of the water column even on a 250 grain full sink. On a float, it functions similar to a skater/diver, but if you intend it for that purpose I'd recommend tying the Deer hair in much denser.
Best thread for the application is GSP 150 or 200 Denier. You can get away with 100 but because its very thin it is easy to pull to hard and cut straight through the deer hair, 150 or 200 is more forgiving for this reason (not that you need the extra strength). You can also get very good results with 0.008" Monofilament tying thread, which is my preference when working with Bucktail. You can also pack heads that are less dense with 210 Flymaster Plus or similar
Trimming wise, more a less, but the deer hair on dungeons and other lead eyed bugs is typically "stacked", instead of spun. Similar to how the collar on this fly is tied.....only on top, the deer hair around lead eyes is typically done with a sparse stack on top, and a sparse stack on bottom, both behind and in front of the lead eyes. I have a old video titled "articulating flies, part 2" that goes over stacking a deer hair head on a dungeon. It's not nearly as high quality as this one, but should point you in the right direction!
Been struggling with deer hair to get something fishable. Your videos are great !! Well paced packed with info!! My skills are growing Thank you for your guidance.
Gunnar - you do such a great job teaching / instructing in your videos. There are so many of us that really really appreciate the time you put into it. I’ve learned a great deal from you and am so thankful. Stay safe and thank you again!