I have been meaning to get this info on the site for a while. I had the good fortune of Santa giving me just what I wanted this past Christmas. I have been wanting to put some real energy into deer hair bass bugs and decided that 2013 is the year I do it. I have a number of DVDs by Chris Helms and have tied some really nice bugs in the past but have never really put in the hours at the vise to really get a solid handle on working with Deer hair.
So, I asked Santa for some stuff from Super Fly and luckily Santa came through. Super Fly is run by Pat Cohen, who has taken the deer hair bug world by storm in the past couple of years. If you have yet to see any of his flies then you have to head over to rusuperfly.com. Pat has tied up some really great fish (as in fishable and should be fished) flies as well as some other great fish (as in flies that look like real fish and could be fished but are probably better to just look at) flies. He even has a series of flies that are birds and all are done in deer hair. Just some amazing stuff.
So, I wanted to see what kind of hair pat used. Assuming, what he sells on his shop is what he uses. He has some great “select” hair at very good prices. As well I have been anxious to check out the Fugly packer. This is a new hair packed that Pat has designed and it looks like it will pack a hell of nice bug. It is big and meaty and a tool that will last a long time.
The other thing I have been very anxious for is Pat’s DVD The Stacked Deer Hair Diver. So, far, the DVD is as far as I have gotten in by deer hair project. I opened up the select deer hair and it looks like great belly hair for this type of bass fly. I have no doubt it will stack, spin and pack just great. I have held the Fugly packer in my hand and it is a hand full. It is bigger than I thought it would be but it fits in the hand much better than a brassie. I think it will be a lot easier to use and much sturdier than anything on the marked.
In regards to the DVD all I can say is if you are even remotely interested in working with deer hair, you have to have this DVD. Sure, if you are wanting to make bass divers and poppers then it has all the info you need. However, even if you are wanting to make a better Muddler or Zoo Cougar this DVD will help. Pat takes you through all the tools used in making stacked deer hair flies as well as threads, glues and related materials. He walks you through each step fo making one of his deer hair divers and makes it very easy to follow as well as follow along. The steps needed to get intricate spots, stripes and accents in your bug are all explained and demonstrated. By the time you watch this DVD the only thing limiting your creation is your imagination.Or in my case, time to actually sit at the vise. But that is my issue and soon will be resolved. I will have another post in the coming weeks about the select deer hair and the Fugly packer as I actually start to use them. But I wanted to let everyone know the DVD is great. A definite positive edition to the library.
Thanks Santa!