Hey, thought you guys would find this funny....I haven't tied in awhile, and the Hexagenia's should be hatching soon on Lake Padden, so I decided to dust off the vise and tie up a few and checked it out tonight. I was lacking any yellow Elk Hair, so I dug into my stash(bought a huge fly tying "station" at an estate sale years ago from a guy that used to supply Patrick's flyshop with stuff back in the 60's(?)....Anyway, there's 58 identical cigar boxes stuffed with stuff on top, and about 20 drawers below....I think he killed everything in this cabinet, and smoked all those cigars. There's an entire drawer labled "calftail" and is stuffed...He dyed his own stuff. Found his can of Walter Raleigh in the lower drawer, along with an empty pint of Scotch, and his "Stay Hard" pills(cayene) that he ordered from the back of some mag back then......So I found some bright yellow Polar Bear thinking it would work, and tied up a few.....Sunk like a rock. Now I know why it was good for Coho fly's....I'm going to put some foam heads on them, and they will float vertically as a perfect emerger (size 6 dry fly hooks).....Tom

Oh, and if anyone's wondering, the Hex hatch hasn't happened yet. Since there's no dedicated flyshop in town anymore, I couldn't get a report from anyone. Next week/few weeks....I haven't hit it in 10 years or so, but used to do it every year.....Tom

Polar bear hair is deadly as bucktail for silvers.

i'm agree with it.

I was in Barrow recently and was offered a large brown bag of polar bear trimmings. I was interested but she wanted $300 for the bag and I thought it was a bit much - plus it's illegal to bring it into the U.S.

We used it all the time when i was a young man and loved it, but I'm not at all certain it's any better than some of the synthetics available today.

Whether or not it is any "better" than any of the synthetics, I have yet to find any synthetic material (or any other natural material, for that matter) that even begins to approach the light gathering and holding qualities of polar bear hair.

I agree, it is difficult to match the qualities of Polar Bear.
As an alternative, UV bucktails are now available. I plan on giving coho a workout with it next summer.

Dave, you talking about the "Stay Hard" ?


c/22

Speyguy, I'm curious how the fishing was out there?

I used to day that 10+ years ago too. It could be an insane hour-ish of fishing. Between the trout and the swallows, those poor Hexagenia's are in for a rough go!

Skunk is the closest natural that I have found. It has similar structure, and some "crystalline" light interaction at the tip. While not all of the PB light affecting character is there, the "fuzzy/flexible bottom, stiff tip" structure is very similar.

So does anybody know what the status of using polar bear hair? Is it legal to possess and to use it for tying flies? I have an opportunity to get some in the future but am not sure if it is legal any more?

Pre-embargo polar bear, '72 or 73, is legal to possess and use. Shops occasionally have some, at steep prices. Sometimes a good deal can be had in the form of a pre-embargo rug from estate sales, etc.

What hurts is that polar bear legally taken in AK or CA (Churchill, Hudson's Bay area is still killing them) is contraband if you bring it into the lower 48.