The Cat’s Ear
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The Cat’s Ear
Hook: Mustad 9671 or TMC 200R, sizes 10 to 16
Thread: 6/0 Black, waxed
Tail: Longer guard hairs from a "Gray Tiger" cat
Abdomen: Dubbing from same cat
Wing case: Prepared section of natural gray mallard quill
Thorax: Same cat dubbing - picked out for a rough look
I really did a double-take when I saw this pattern name in a Gary LaFontaine book. Curious, I looked it up - with visions of big triangular shaped flies in my mind. But no, of course this pattern was talking about using natural cat fur for the dubbing on a standard Hare’s Ear- type fly. This got me to thinking; fly tyers use a lot of these "found materials" with good success. Another fly I have heard of is tied using the family’s friendly Chocolate Lab’s underfur for dubbing. Now we’re not talking about going after the faithful family pet with a pair of sharp scissors here, but after a brushing session, using the brushed out fur as a fly tying material. If the color and texture is what you are looking for - use it. Which brings up a point; how to take care of found materials.
Around my bench it is zip-lock city, everything in its own separate zipped shut bag. Be it store-bought or found material. Treat all found material in this manner - clean materials of any noticeable grunge then seal in a zipper bag, then put in your freezer (label it - you do not want any strange suprises around dinner time here) and freeze it for a week or two, this will kill any micro-bugs.
The material can then be filed in your tying bench, always keeping it in a sealed bag. This way if there is a problem, the individual bag can be tossed. I treat all tying materials in this manner, of course you should not have to freeze the fly-shop bought materials. When friends and family discover you are learning to tie flies, they are apt to start bringing you all sorts of stuff - large pieces of elk maybe, or whole pheasant skins - this is a great resource. If you use the zip-lock and freeze method, these materials will remain useable and more likely to be used. This really is a good fly.
To tie the cat’s ear;
*Start thread, sort out then tie in a bunch of longer guard hair for the tail
*Dub for the abdomen, keep fairly slim
*Prepare wing case by coating mallard quill with head cement before cutting section
*Tie in wingcase, at mid-point
*Dub for the thorax, larger diameter than the abdomen
*Bring wingcase forward, over the thorax, tie down, build head, whip finish
Julie