How do you use a rabbit / hare to get to hare's ear dubbing?

[Kevin James]

Hey Neil,

Not sure if you learned what you wanted from previous posts?

The comments regarding hares ears, you only use the mask / face for this purpose is correct.
Another thing, it's usually the darker colouring you want mixed with the tan guard fur.

IMG_3243Small.jpg
You can see in this picture I have used a scalpel blade to remove the good bits from around the face.
These are the spiky guard hairs that are dubbed for the thorax.

The tail section I like to use a few tufts (not too many) from the ears as they are a little longer and easier to work with.
I usually spend an hour just scraping off all the good bits and save it in a bag and give it a good mix. I don't re blend it as the hairs are short enough and I don't want them chopped to dust.

IMG_3241Small.jpg

You can see from this picture the body hair is a totally different type of hair from the mask.
This can be blitzed in the blender and other material added to it if you wish. It makes great dubbing, but not for the hare's ear fly.

The hare's masks differ quite markedly in colour during the summer and winter, so that's something to consider.
I get mine from NZ mostly during trips over. They can simply be skinned and left to cure in the very dry air of the high country.
Salt solution definitely works too as has been suggested if humidity is high.

Hope this helps.

Edit: Add photo
FlashbackGRHENymphcopy.jpg

This is a GRHE Nymph with a flashback.
The little tag end near the eye is left longer as a trigger and also as a guard for the little knot on light leaders.
Neat trick I picked up along the way.....

Cut it short or leave long - makes no difference to fish.

[Korrie]

Take the long hair/fur from the body and insert into a split thread or a dubbing loop.
Wrap along hook shank, great for certain types of bodies.
You can also trim the body shape

[Niel Malan]

Hi Dogtooth and Korrie,
Thanks for this very useful info and great photos. Looks like I have some work to do tonite! Also spoke to Philip Meyer yesterday, he also indicated squirrel makes great dubbing. Next time I see one on the road I will take the whole squirrel instead of just the tail! Drove on one of the back roads from Stellenbosch to Cape Town this morning and saw a dead Cape clawless otter - what a shame. And no, I did not stop as it was peak traffic and bucketing down.
Thanks again
Regards
Niel

[ddd]

Hi Niel

FWIW here's a link to a very old article by Davy Wotton on the different regions of the hare's mask. http://www.flyfield.com/hare.htm The links to illustrations on that page are broken, but i have an old printout of it somewhere which i can scan if you're interested. Davy's very technical but the idea i took from that piece years ago was to shave the different areas into different batches, keep them separate and mix from different types as you need or like, if at all. Don't mix everything together! Note for instance the hair on outside of the ears is the classic hare's ear but the ones on the inside are quite long, light coloured and stiff-ish.

All the best,
Dirk

[Niel Malan]

Thanks a lot Dirk, I will tr that! I also thought it might be good to keep some different colours together.
Regards
Niel