inds, the red fox fur i have has about 3 to 4 shades of under fur i use for dubbing. the traditional dry patterns that use fox fur are
1. march browns, #12 (i usually mix some light brown seal fur in with the fur belly fur for mine),
2. gray fox dry #14 (i tie these, and some with a light ginger hackle stem for the body) both of these patterns are my killer flies during the hatch on kettle creek.
3. female hendricksons, use the pinkish urine-burned fur from the belly of the fox. another killer dry #14-#12
4. light cahills. down by the tail and some mid fur has a very light yellowish color for these bodies. #16-#14 oil creek
wet flies; light cahills, light hendricksons
i use natural furs as much as possible over synthetics. i got into fly fishing for the mystique of tying flies using natural materials. i feel more satisfied catching a fish on something i tied with natural materials than pre made or formed plastic appendages or wings. but than that's just me.
as luvinbluegills said. all furs are good for tying something. and don't pass up that dead bird on the side of the road without first checking out its feathers.
~dt
post edited by doubletaper - 2008/02/19 18:16:21