Mink

[Phil Lilley]

I just bought 14 mink pelts off ebay and have started to mix mink with antron. Rolan Duffield shared a mixture with me he uses when tying scuds that's one of the deadliest flies on the lake next to "peppy".

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

I just bought 14 mink pelts off ebay and have started to mix mink with antron. Rolan Duffield shared a mixture with me he uses when tying scuds that's one of the deadliest flies on the lake next to "peppy".

I need to come in and see this mixture. I've never mixed my own dubbing. I'd enjoy a good cup of coffee and some pointers about this. I have started looking at my cat a little differently now. Also the frayed ends of our carpet have a new meaning. I'm looking forward to reading more posts in this section. Thanks for all the ideas.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

Phil -

I have tied with the minky dub from SLF.. but your special blends do sound good.. knowing they were derived from a guy who has spent a lot of time mixing and mastering blends. (rolan)

To everyone : Have you ever read the backs of the Wapsi dubbings ? They just about giveaway the recipe for the blend right there.. but you gotta know how much of what to go with what.

I have a few " select blends " of Trilobal antron mix in stock.. let me dig them out and give them a look.

happy tying - Brian

[Oldschoolcane]

Ok Phil, don't let the cat outa the, or I mean the mink outa the bag and not tell us how the mink dubbing works as tied as a scud? How is the mink dubbing working? Isn't the mink a little dark? What color Antron?

Tim

[Phil Lilley]

Light brown antron. Mink and gray (Peppy) are the #1 and #2 dub colors in my box. Peppy is a mix of mostly gray with a little bit of black and then light gray dubbing.

Ratios-

Mink - 85% mink, 15% lt. brown antron

Peppy - 80% medium gray Sow Scud, 15% lt. gray antron, 5% black rabbit.

[Oldschoolcane]

Really, I would never have thought of a scud pattern that dark.Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Tim

[Phil Lilley]

It's really not that dark. The black fibers just enhance the light fur- not meant to darken the fly. 5% may be too much. One trick is to cut the fibers to about 3/8 inch before blending.

[Danoinark]

It's really not that dark. The black fibers just enhance the light fur- not meant to darken the fly. 5% may be too much. One trick is to cut the fibers to about 3/8 inch before blending.

Do you mix your dubbing by hand or in a blender?

[Rolan Duffield]

Several years ago, we had a dog. It was a small, fuzzy , gray Cockapoo. His name was "Peppy". Every spring my wife, Ellen, gave him a close haircut to remove most of his matted hair.

One day, I saw this hair in the trash and wondered if this could be used in fly tying. I cut up some of it, mixed it in a blender and tied it as a nymph. Looked promising though it seemed almost too dark for my liking. I tried blending it with other materials though wasn't satisfied with the color until I added some gray Antron to the Peppy fur and blended until I achieved a medium gray color. The Antron provided some sheen to the mix and lightened the resulting gray color.

This blend was made into a scud pattern that has been a very effective pattern for Trout. Peppy lives on. I still have a good supply that I guard very closely. Ellen still remarks about Peppy's friendly ways and habits. So now you know.

[Phil Lilley]

Blender...

I put dogs and mink in my blender.