Aunt Lydia's sparkle yarn

[Traditionalist]

I get all I need,( actually  far more than I need), from roadkill and some local hunters. They don't need or want the skins and would usually discard them.

Roadkill is advantageous because you can get skins from various times of the year, which has various colours and properties, and also when the animals are out of season for hunting.

I have also dyed quite an amount for myself and others. Extremely versatile stuff.

TL
MC

[Inchlaggan]

If you want winter hare as roadkill, try the Dalwhinnie- Spean Bridge road, just the bit over the hill from the distillery.
I've never driven it in winter without there being a couple of corpses by the roadside.

[Traditionalist]

With regard to the polypropylene and other yarns, a lot depends on the diameter of the fibres. ( And of course on the actual material properties).  The very fine straight stuff does not work as well as stuff which is thicker. The thicker stuff does not "flop about",( higher elastic modulus), or clog so easily with floatant.  Very hard to determine this without actually trying it, but most rug yarn is OK.  Rug yarn made from wool is no good at all, it becomes waterlogged too easily. Floatant does not help much.  I have had some success with kid goat hair and also with calf tail, but it is not as good as hare fur or some of the yarns.

TL
MC

[Rabmax]

I have a glass of water sitting behind me with a few different winged flies in it.The only one sitting on the bottom is one with a calf tail wing.Cheers

[Traditionalist]

I have a glass of water sitting behind me with a few different winged flies in it.The only one sitting on the bottom is one with a calf tail wing.Cheers

It's no good at all unless you pre-treat it.  I have found that "rain-x" works well for this.  Just spray it and allow it to dry.

http://www.rainx.com/Products/Windshield_Treatment/Original.aspx

But you can also use watershed.  I have not been impressed with most oils, pastes, and similar stuff like Gink.  It does work quite well on some things but not on others. On hare fur it tends to clog the fibres.

TL
MC

[Rabmax]

I have tried Rain-X found it works but not as good as watershed.The bigest problem i found with Rain-X was it can change the colour of certain materials.

[Traditionalist]

I have tried Rain-X found it works but not as good as watershed.The bigest problem i found with Rain-X was it can change the colour of certain materials.

Yes, that has always been a problem. The first dry fly anglers who used paraffin to float their flies had the same problem.  ( See here for paraffin information, this is NOT synonymous with the paraffin normally used as fuel in the UK);

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin

All one can do is try out various things until one finds something suitable.  One of the best floatants is coconut oil ( White solid, often sold in divided blocks like chocolate bars, in most supermarkets for cooking purposes). With a suitable solvent, ( Pure lighter fluid works well), this is a really good floatant, but it won't work for everything, as like most such floatants it deposits a layer of oil on the material and thus waterproofs it at least temporarily.  You can also use the solid material, rub a little between your fingers and apply this to the fly.

Various silicones and other stuff also work.

The best I have found is fumed silica with a silicone additive. ( There is a fairly recent thread about this on here). This dries and treats the fly in one, and works on anything. It is also less messy to use than various pastes, oils, etc.

TL
MC

EDIT: Forgot link!