The Maltese Dry Emerger

Part of the fun of fly tying is experimenting – sometimes doing things that might seem ridiculous – but who knows, right?

I purchased a Maltese puppy a few months back.  For those that don’t know what a Maltese breed is like, it’s considered a “toy” breed, growing to a maximum of 6 lbs. generally, and has very silky, mostly white hair.  It does not shed like other breeds and therefore is a good choice of dog for those who suffer from dog allergies.

My pup’s hair is starting to really grow, so while he was sleeping, I decided to do some chopping. Although it doesn’t look so, when on the dog, the fur is very very fine and quite silky.  So I got a silly idea to use some for dubbing on a white dry emerger fly. The second fly I tied up, I even tried to use it to form the tail – but I’m not sure yet that this will work.

I used white hackle for the wing – and tested it out in a bowl of water – the fly has no problem floating.  How durable it will be on the water, I’m not sure. I did find that using sticky dubbing wax helped a little more.  Anyhow, I have an abundance of Maltese puppy dog hair available to me, so I’ll do some further experimenting, I’m sure.  Maybe try some larger clumps to tie up some streamers… who knows?!?

How about you?  Do you have a pet that you use as a source for fly tying materials?  I’d love to hear about it! Use the comments section if you’d like.