# Love/Hate Material for Fly Tying



## BrownDog (Jun 22, 2019)

I was tying a few flies earlier and got to thinking how much I like the look of a trimmed short EP brush body on a lot of my crustacean flies but hate how long it takes to trim correctly with my OCD. I would say 75% of the time spent tying the fly is spent on trimming. Oh and if that's not bad enough I keep scissors in my fly box for trimming/changes on the water.

Anyone else have any materials they are in a love/hate relationship with?


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## efi2712micro (Sep 17, 2015)

BrownDog said:


> I was tying a few flies earlier and got to thinking how much I like the look of a trimmed short EP brush body on a lot of my crustacean flies but hate how long it takes to trim correctly with my OCD. I would say 75% of the time spent tying the fly is spent on trimming. Oh and if that's not bad enough I keep scissors in my fly box for trimming/changes on the water.
> 
> Anyone else have any materials they are in a love/hate relationship with?


never seem to be able to line up EP fibers and silly legs across the hook shank consistently to make nice crabs. so Trimming is very secondary. I guess more a skill issue than material .


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## tx8er (Jun 3, 2016)

I just got started tying, so as of now I hate them all. Time will tell.


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Goose biots for wings on small flies, I love the way they look once positioned properly, but like you said, OCD with the positioning drives me crazy.

Everything affects how they sit, previous wraps, thread dia, wrap pressure, wax etc. Drives me crazy sometimes.


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## redchaser (Aug 24, 2015)

Deer hair, I can tie an ok fly with it if I have to, but a total PITA and makes a huge freaking mess. My love love material is Finnish Raccoon for tails, I'm addicted to that over priced stuff.


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## RABillstein (Jan 10, 2019)

I still haven't grown to like mono thread.


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## Rookiemistake (Jan 30, 2013)

I hate that ep brush has thinned out making us use up more material for flies. Deer hair needs a mini vac to clean up. Also hate when my scissors seem to dull out or stop cutting at certain points .Im also the guy who takes damn near every patch off the rack weeding through scrap fur and the one i want is always the last one on the peg


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## Doublehaul (Oct 3, 2015)

BrownDog said:


> I was tying a few flies earlier and got to thinking how much I like the look of a trimmed short EP brush body on a lot of my crustacean flies but hate how long it takes to trim correctly with my OCD. I would say 75% of the time spent tying the fly is spent on trimming. Oh and if that's not bad enough I keep scissors in my fly box for trimming/changes on the water.
> 
> Anyone else have any materials they are in a love/hate relationship with?


Have to agree with the deer body hair being difficult. you can do some great things with it and makes a nice head, but is a PITA to spin, pack and trim properly. When it comes out right though, it is very cool though.


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## BrownDog (Jun 22, 2019)

Rookiemistake said:


> I hate that ep brush has thinned out making us use up more material for flies. Deer hair needs a mini vac to clean up. Also hate when my scissors seem to dull out or stop cutting at certain points .Im also the guy who takes damn near every patch off the rack weeding through scrap fur and the one i want is always the last one on the peg


I have been using the crustaceans brushes as they are thicker but trimming down a 1.5” brush for a size 2 fly is tedious.


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## Flyfish40 (Sep 23, 2019)

Tied a few crab flies using some marabou and ep brush for the body. A lot of trimming involved.


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## KurtActual (Sep 25, 2017)

Right now I am hating dubbing. EP brush is too dang expensive to buy all the colors I want to use, so I bought wire and dubbing to spin my own brushes. Talk about a pain in the rump.


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## Doublehaul (Oct 3, 2015)

Flyfish40 said:


> Tied a few crab flies using some marabou and ep brush for the body. A lot of trimming involved.
> View attachment 100280


Beautiful, like the idea of the marabou.


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## A.vulpes (Nov 15, 2017)

Attic fox. Love the action. Absolutely hate how expensive it is, how small the segments they sell are, and how much you need to use for a simple tail segment.


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## Ccantwell (Aug 16, 2019)

tx8er said:


> I just got started tying, so as of now I hate them all. Time will tell.


This. Hahaha


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## Shallow Expectations (Jun 11, 2019)

Deer hair for me. I have never been good at packing it tight them trimming it down to look good. They are those who are amazing with it and can make some very cool flies. Not me as of yet


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## Howard Cummings (Apr 8, 2016)

Coyote tail is my current favorite for bug tails. I have been tying for 30 years and still can’t get a dubbing loop right.


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## Snakesurf (Jun 18, 2019)

Was a big EP fiber fan but now I prefer SF because it seems like it has more little waves and I like the way it trims up better.


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

I find peanut butter very frustrating to work with.


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## karstopo (Nov 28, 2019)

My daughter gave me this gadwall flank from a hunt. I love working with it. I also love working with marabou so these Gartside Soft Hackle Streamers are a nice marriage of duck flank and marabou. https://postimg.cc/gallery/wlelv44a/

I like spinning and trimming deer hair
https://postimg.cc/gallery/qp6srevu/

I hate glues in general and especially epoxy. UV cure is a possible exception, but I try to avoid using glue when I can and generally omit the glue step in any recipe.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Won't use deer hair. When I spin it, it looks like a porcupine on drugs


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## k-roc (Feb 8, 2018)

I like Drew Chicone's thinking on flies, he loves Yak and will take it any day over EP fiber. I got all excited and decided to give it a try. 
To make sure you get the right blend of colors and perfect thickness to your fly, Drew wants you to count the individual strands of Yak!!! It makes for perfect flies perhaps, but it drove me totally NUTS trying to do it.


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## jay.bush1434 (Dec 27, 2014)

EP fiber. I like tying with it but it is a PITA getting the right amount out of the bag without a bunch of it coming out and then getting tangled up. After I trim it, the fibers seem to float around my tying bench. I've just started stacking and spinning deer hair and I have to say that I like using it a lot. Certainly messy but I find it easy enough to work with especially considering how good it make baitfish and crab patterns.


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## MatthewAbbott (Feb 25, 2017)

jay.bush1434 said:


> EP fiber. I like tying with it but it is a PITA getting the right amount out of the bag without a bunch of it coming out and then getting tangled up. After I trim it, the fibers seem to float around my tying bench. I've just started stacking and spinning deer hair and I have to say that I like using it a lot. Certainly messy but I find it easy enough to work with especially considering how good it make baitfish and crab patterns.


Zip tie the end of the EP hank before you pull it out of the bag. Then just snip off how much you want.


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## birdyshooter (Sep 17, 2019)

Gotta be deer hair for the win on this one. What a mess!! My second is turkey biots, I can never get those things to wrap the way I intended. But, when I do.....


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## featherwhipper (Aug 12, 2019)

permitchaser said:


> Won't use deer hair. When I spin it, it looks like a porcupine on drugs


That’s straight funny right there


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## Skram (Feb 8, 2019)

MatthewAbbott said:


> Zip tie the end of the EP hank before you pull it out of the bag. Then just snip off how much you want.


+1. I wish they would pre Zip Tie EP a SF Blend.


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## MatthewAbbott (Feb 25, 2017)

Skram said:


> +1. I wish they would pre Zip Tie EP a SF Blend.


I don’t know why they don’t. Plenty of other material comes that way.


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