Craven's Guide to Hair Selection for Fly Tiers

I’ll never forget the first time I wrapped thread around a bunch of deer hair and spun it around a hook shank. I can still see the hair as it flared into a tightly packed ball that just begged to be trimmed into shape. Of course hair is useful for much more than just bass bugs and water-moving saltwater flies. It’s used by expert tiers of caddisflies, stimulators, hoppers, and even comparaduns and small mayfly patterns.
This week on MidCurrent, Charlie Craven lends his experience as a professional fly tier of thirty years to the smart selection of hair. As Craven says, “All hair is good for something, but it may or may not be just right for what you have in mind.”