American Racoon Fur for Tying Flies

[Knot Sure]

I cannot seem to find any recipes for flies that use American Racoon fur.   Finn  Racoon, which appears to be from Finland or synthetic.( And, I thought Racoons were a uniquely New World animal) is widely available.  Is there a downside to using racoon fur for jigs or flies?

[kjackson]

The only real downside I see is that it's possible to avoid a trip or two to your local fly shop. I've had good luck using the underfur for dubbing. The guard hair from the hide I have is a bit too short to work on larger jigs and flies, but I have a tail 'curing' in the freezer right now that is destined to be used for jigs...

[Gavin]

It is not a common material. Fly shop suppliers like Wapsi Fly Company don't sell it. I'm sure you can find a use for it if you get your own hide..

[fishinwrench]

I think the reason it isn't "offered" or "sought after" is because there is nothing that coon fur can do, that rabbit fur can't.   Pretty much the same shade of tan, same texture, and guard hairs aren't any different.

I scalped a possum years ago and tyed a variety of nymphs with it.....they just didn't produce for me, for whatever reason. 🤷‍♂️

[tjm]

Finn Raccoon isn't anything but a marketing term, the animal is the Asian raccoon dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_raccoon_dog

Neither a raccoon nor a dog, but a fox like wild animal that like mink is farmed in Finland.  Some years ago the stuff was being sold under the name "Temple Dog"  or something like that, there was a deal of bad press about China killing dogs for fur and some more about them marketing the raccoon dog fur as "faux fur". The fur industry changed the fur name then from raccoon dog to finn raccoon.

Raccoon can be substituted for about any other fur or craft fur or used as dubbing, the guard hair could be used in a dubbing loop as a collar/hackle.  You might find the yellowish 'coon more useful than the gray blue pelts.  But the flip side of that is that those other things are more readily available in ready to use form, already tanned, dyed, cut in strips or what ever.

A few patterns by Jack Gartside using the tail  for inspiration- Coondog  - Coony Jack  - Coony Cockroach

On a fly tying  forum that I used to visit regularly one tyer from Fl. used raccoon almost exclusively tying bass and panfish flies.

 

[jdmidwest]

Coons laying all over the roadside dead, plenty of materials available.

Hides are not worth skinning last I heard.  $3 to $5 each dried premium.  I used to get $35 to $40 for frozen raw ones back in the late 70's at the buyer.

[BilletHead]

5 minutes ago, jdmidwest said:

Coons laying all over the roadside dead, plenty of materials available.

Hides are not worth skinning last I heard.  $3 to $5 each dried premium.  I used to get $35 to $40 for frozen raw ones back in the late 70's at the buyer.

             Me too. 

[tjm]

I don't think there is even a fur buyer within driving distance to me. I'd set traps if I thought I could get $5  a pelt, not doing much else with my time. . Not  coyotes though, them stinkin  things is worth $100 to skin and board.

[jdmidwest]

11 minutes ago, tjm said:

I don't think there is even a fur buyer within driving distance to me. I'd set traps if I thought I could get $5  a pelt, not doing much else with my time. . Not  coyotes though, them stinkin  things is worth $100 to skin and board.

Coyotes back up that high?  I knew they dropped out a few years back when the Chinards blew the market.  Most around here quit the trapping.

Gonna blast some this weekend at the farm, hopefully.  But, one is only furred around the head, mange has him stripped bald.  Looks like a spotted dog with white skin and black blotches.  Possum tail.  I am gunning for the alpha with a white strip on its shoulders.  Bigun.  Got a pig and a few big bobcats to deal with too.

Can't wait till retirement and can put the restraint training to real use.  Setting them for a couple of nites and dropping them until next week out is not very productive.  Back when Dad was able to get out and run them, I could catch the coyotes about one a week setting them up on the weekends.  Game camera network tracks their movements pretty good now.

[tjm]

20 minutes ago, jdmidwest said:

Coyotes back up that high? 

No but they are  that much work. The southern coyotes that I'd get aren't very good fur  at the best. If I was buying them it'd at some place close to 'possum prices.  They are worth a lot more to the running pens than they are skint. if there are any pens left?

I haven't trapped since '18-'19 season because of no market. A lot of people will tell you the ranch mink farmers is what killed the wild fur market, and they may be right , there was lot of over production just before the prices fell.