what hair for small jigs

[tckurt]

what hair for small jigs?
I tried some deer body and belly hair like the looks but pretty coarse
and big for me anyway.
is buck tail less coarse than body or belly hair?
I tried craft fur type stuff not impressed with it.
what do you recommend for a finer hair than deer belly or body hair for
1/32 1/64 and maybe 1/16 oz jigs?

have none in area to look at but going to order  hooks from Hagens and they
have.angel hair,poly bear,shimmer,zonkers.
 photos of what you use would be great also thank you for any help.

 

[Jig Man]

Arctic fox....

 

[tckurt]

Arctic fox....

fur or tail?

 

[Jig Man]

I prefer the tail... Good action and tougher than marabou.

 

[tckurt]

I prefer the tail... Good action and tougher than marabou.

thanks jigman

 

[tckurt]

what is a good place to buy the foxtail, barlows is the only place i see it listed

 

[redear]

I use kiptail or calftail, same thing, it is deadly if tied right, use very little hair on the jig, and I like using two colors on each jig , one on top and one under, go for the thin low profile look and I use a nibble on the hook if fishing it under a bobber.

 

[redear]

barlows has good kiptails too, get some purple, gr. chart., black, yellow chart., white, gray, ya gotta be patient when tying this stuff it's a challenge to say the least.

 

[hookup]

Bucktail's the staples of the oldies I grew up around

Rabbit zonker & crosscut really get the job done

Fox is easy to work with

Bear is awesome

Just got some beaver & mink that I haven't tied with & am looking forward to

It's all good

 

[Jay Wirth]

For small jigs calf tail is good and can be found in any color - of course you can also use hackle and marabou. If you want to stay with deer hair and want something a bit fine would be to use Coastal Deer Hair or comparadun Hair (same thing) though this may be for your smallest 1/32 and smaller.

 

[Barefoot]

JS is a good site to compare and can be counted on for quality.
Fox, Rabbit and Calf will work well for small jigs.
http://www.jsflyfishing.com/fly-tying-furs
I do alot with synthetics like Congo Hair as well.
http://www.flytyersdungeon.com/Materials/synthetichair.htm

 

[DrCrappie]

I know you said you don't like craft fur, but it works well and these 'samples' are really cheap! check out what they have...

 

[AtticaFish]

For small jigs 1/24 and under....... kip tail all the way! There are a lot of other hairs that work but my favorite for the light weight jigs is kip. A member here got me started tying the tiny kip jigs after he sent me some and had outstanding results on them. There is a learning curve involved when tying kip tail......... i have to start with a solid thread base that is glued/polished on to the hook shank to keep things from slipping and sliding.

 

[Fatman]

Arctic Fox - best for assortment packs is Waters West http://waterswest.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=28_282_30  if you want to try a bunch of colors first.  

Rabbit zonkers (straight or cross cut), bear,  squirrel zonker strips,  for those that don't like calf tail get calf body hair instead but I like the wavy hair on tails.  Beaver is nice but short and has a LOT of underfur, mule deer, buffalo hair.  

As others have said craft fur - I love the stuff, there is cheap stuff out there and if it's what you have it will drive you nuts.  The stuff makes great jigs.  Depending on what size jigs you're going to tie you may have to cut the fur off the hide to keep it short.

When buying pieces of fur ask how big they are!  A lot of the companies you'll only get a 2x2 piece of hide.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

About the only hair I wouldn't recommend for small jigs is buck tail. It's all good.

 

[AllenOK]

I really like fox tail. I've got a few colors, and want more.

Rabbit zonkers are nice.

Both of those move really well in the water.

 

[Muskygary]

I got a couple of packs of the Waterwest artic fox that Fatman recommended and it is great! Going to buy more. Thanks Fatman!

 

[Fatman]

I got it from AllenOK!! but thanks!!

 

[tckurt]

thank you for all the info. I take it the fox or rabbit is easier ti tie than calf tail?
I have done lots of marabou but would like to try hair.
I must of just had some nasty fake hair may have to check that out again someday.

 

[AllenOK]

Calf tail has a reputation for "being hard to work with" because it is rather difficult to get the stuff to stack and line the tips up.

I don't mess with that when using fox tail. Just snip a little, and tie it on. Plus that fox moves like nothing else in the water.

Rabbit I usually do as a zonker. Just cut a little of the fur off the hide, and tie the hide to the jig and let it stream behind the jig for a tail. Or, wrap the zonker around the hook for a leach-like effect. Both work.