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Do you cut the barbs off the shaft of the marabou or do you just use the tip of the marabou to tie with? I watched a Youtube video where a guy just used the tip of the marabou feather to tie with, so he used one feather per jig. I cut the barbs off so I make 3-5 jigs from one feather. That's what takes me the longest. Cutting that off and getting it wadded up ready to tie.
Doing what your doing will make a better looking and moving jig. If you use the whole feather and just tie it down it is faster to tie but stiffer and doesn’t move as well in water. They make some smaller marabou feathers which I think you could use to tie directly on. Skip should chime in here as he has a wealth of knowledge on this. I have done both ways and depending on my feather is how I tie. I hate wasting them......lol.
I use arctic fox body fur in place of marabou. The action is great, there's no waste and it's way more durable. You can buy it at fly shops, but I get mine on eBay. There's some kind of fashion trend in Asia for women to clip fur balls or charms to their purses. You can get them in just about any color you want for under $10 shipped from China.
I tie doing both things you talk about, Size of jig and size of marabou shanks dictate what I will do.
I do about the same as Grumpy. Going to start exploring alternative tail materials more durable than marabou.
Real men use hackle.......:Rofl
I would say most of my time tying is with bucktail for walleye or feathers of all sorts for panfish, I.E. crappie. Me and marabou just never hooked up to catching success unless I'm in really clear water which is almost non-existent in my neck of the woods.
Rabbit is good....
I hardly use the tip of my blood quills, but I to tear the barbules off the stem, but not everyone does. You get a more free action without a stem. Guys tying for a price may not wan to do that because it takes a lot longer, but also a better ty!
The exception for me is I have tried a little using the mini marabou and that was a little different so I just tied it in and wrapped it up the the head and tied it off using the while farther except the biggest part of the stem.
Here below is a Roadrunner tied with a mini marabou feather. Then some of my favorite colors in Roadrunners.
I do also love me some rabbit!
Skip
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Skip....Love that wrap...looks great.Quote:
Originally Posted by skiptomylu
Wraping with marabou is a wonderful effect. So much better than jusy tying it on the tail. You...are a master
Some fox hair jigs I've tied recently.
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That monkey milk and the blue/gray ones are money! Very nice.
Those look great. I've been cutting the barbs off the feathers. It makes such a mess. I saw a video of a guy tearing them off. I'm gonna try that.Quote:
Originally Posted by skiptomylu
Shoemoo, those look really nice. How stiff is the fox hair? Does it "flow" like marabou in the water?
I usually just rip them off too. Either way it’s sort of messy but it’s easier and faster than cutting them I think.
Is that arctic fox hair or is it arctic fox tail hair? I use the arctic fox tail a lot. Never tries the hair.Sent from my SM-G960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile appQuote:
Originally Posted by Shoemoo
Great looking ty’ s Skip,, love the details.....
It is very soft and fine. Flows much like marabou in the water and comes to a natural tapered point. It is shorter than the tail fur. If you have a fly shop nearby they probably have some in stock so you can see what the material is like. It is sold on a small patch of hide or cut into zonkers like rabbit. If you get a good patch with a lot of fur on it you can tie a ridiculous amount of jigs. A 1" square patch will easily tie 50+. The density of the fur on the hide can vary though. I've seen some patches without a whole lot of hair on them. Zonkers are usually better, but expensive. Never gotten a thin one from eBay though. I guess the standards are higher for fashion accessories.Quote:
Originally Posted by FurFlyin
Here's an example.
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It is body fur. If you get a pompom from eBay or AliExpress you just cut the stitches and pull the stuffing out and you are left with a patch of hide anywhere from 2-4" square depending on the size. The color shade can vary though. Camera, lighting, monitor all make a difference so you may not get exactly the color you expect. But for basic colors like black, white, hot pink, orange, ect. it's been close enough. Brown and olive have been more problematic since I'm looking for particular shades to match chenille and there's about a million shades of each. I tend to buy those colors from Hareline so I know what I'm getting.Quote:
Originally Posted by z520tom
The Arctic Fox is very soft and will be close to marabou, but don't over look Rabbit either and it is like marabou except both Fox and Rabbit is hair and will outlast marabou. However I find you can catch fish up to about 125 of them on a marabou jig before you need to retire it, lol!Quote:
Originally Posted by FurFlyin
Here a some Rabbit I already had uploaded and posted here before.
Skip
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Thanks for the suggestions to tear the barbs off the quill. That speeds up the tying process and also cuts down on the mess.
Skip,,,that light blue jig head looks like an Eagle face
LOL, I never noticed that before you said that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Takeum
Skip