"The material is called Nayat or Snow Runner"

 

BIG 10inch fly with a Nayat+flash front part.

The title is the answer to about 50% of fly tying material related questions I get online. Even though Nayat has been around for a while it's only now starting to get wide spread international interest and you can get a lot more useful information on how to properly use it. I'm hoping that this small article will be among the most useful ones.


So what is Nayat?



From what I know it's a specific goat or sheep breed. Unfortunately I don't know anything more about it's origins. 

The fur ranges from semi soft to semi coarse (overall its a pretty soft fur) and it retains water. The magic thing about Nayat however is that it sheds water substantially faster than other soft furs. It dries up at least three times quicker than icelandic sheep hair and nearly six times faster than fox hair etc. It is probably the fastest drying soft hair on the market. It also retains it shape significantly better in the water than many other soft furs.

Same same, but different.


Nayat is pretty translucent in water which is both beneficial and a bit problematic at times. Translucency is great on patterns like Surf Candies where we usually imitate bait that are very translucent. It can however be a bit of a problem when imitating big bait like roach or herring that are opaque. That's why on big patterns there's always a need to support Nayat with something a bit more opaque and rigid.


Nayat works amazingly well Surf candies. Takes a bit more effort to get them right but they fish very well because of it's natural movement and just right translucency.



Where and when to use Nayat?

Here's a typical mid sized H&H style clouser that has a Nayat tail.

Nayat can be used in a variety of fly patterns. You just have to be a bit selective on which parts of the fly, how much and how to use it. It can be used as a tail material on small to medium sized flies and as a body or front part material on any size fly. The reason I don't like to use it much on the tail of big flies is that it's a touch too translucent and limb for my liking for tails on big flies. So if there's other options available to use on my big fly tails I usually choose them over Nayat.

Here's a big fly that has a flash tail and some extra long nayat on the body and front part. So even though it looks like the tail is made from nayat, the nayat is actually on the second tie after the tail on top of some bucktail. 


Nayat is also a fantastic long material to use on top of bucktail on big (and super heavy) Lefty style dredging clousers and classic bendbacks or swimbait hook patterns as it retains its shape very well in the water and is easy to taper perfectly to make great profiles.

Pair of bendbacks with plenty of nayat.

Super heavy dredging fly with a bucktail underwing and nayat on top.

Nayat has also made the use of predator dubbing etc long fibered dubbing totally useless for me. Using softer parts of nayat and possibly trimming the head in to final shape works so much better. 

A short mix of nayat and flash was used in front of the bucktail on this fly. Just like you would use dubbing.

Nayat is also a great material to "cheat" your way in to a great non fouling taper on super small 3-4" Deceivers. Instead of using bucktail for your last tie, try reverse tying some nayat and then possibly cut to shape if you didn't get the taper perfect by tying it in. Nayat also makes some great translucent Surf Candies.

This tiny Deceiver uses a front reverse tie of nayat to get a super tight taper up front. Much easier way to achieve a perfect taper up front than using bucktail.


You can build beautiful translucent Surf Candies with nayat. Just be sure to straighten out the hair as it makes the job much easier.


How to use Nayat

Here are a few tips and tricks on how to make your tying with nayat better, easier and more enjoyable. 

First off you need to make sure that your nayat is nicely brushed and doesn't have any nasty kinks or lumps in it. Most high quality vendors like Big Streamers (which is my shop of choice when it comes to nayat) will have most of those things done already for you, but there's always a few kinks and lumps to clean out in most patches. Use a strong steel brush to clean the hair out. 

Perfect specimen from Big Streamers on the left and an unprocessed one on the right

Those strong pet store combs are the best. 



You can also use heat to fine tune the texture of your Nayat hair. Nayat responds very well to heat and straightening the hair out is a very easy and simple process. You can't really burn or overdo it so it's a very care free process. You can use an iron or a hand held hair straightener for this. I usually use a hair straightener as I don't want to straighten out a whole patch all at once.

A handheld hair straightener has been fantastic on nayat. Big thank you to my wife for letting me use it.


Depending on the pattern and the placement of the nayat tie, make sure to clean out some or most of the super short underfur. I clear more underfur out when tying my tail and body ties and less when I'm using it up front. When I mix it with flash I clear out most of the underhair as it makes the mixing process easier. You can use the underfur for dubbing. It works great for that.

Use a comb or just brush off the underfur by hand.

When I'm mixing in lots of flash in to my nayat I like to clear out most of the short under hair to make the mixing and tying a touch easier.

When going for that really big and fluffy head portion be sure to leave enough underfur on the tie. Clean out only the shortest ones.



There are a few things to keep in mind while tying with Nayat: 

1) Don't use too much of it. Even though it doesn't soak in nearly as much water as for example Icelandic sheep, it still absorbs more than for example bucktail or synthetics. So keep that in mind before you start tying with it.

 2) Nayat loves to be supported with something. Unless we are taking about surf candy or shrimp patterns, I always support nayat with materials like bucktail, yak hair, synthetics, etc etc at the core of the fly. That's how you get the very best out of it. Bucktail especially is a match made in heaven with nayat.

Nayat works extremely well on different shrimp patterns.


3) Hollow tying nayat from just one tie in can be a bit tricky so I suggest that you tie one clump of hair up top and one on the bottom side even if you are using the same color. You usually get a more even distribution of hair that way and a better overall result. Nayat loves the hollow or reverse tying techniques. Makes it very easy to make different profiles with it and to achieve a tight taper. 

Using two tie ins is always easier to manage when hollow tying nayat instead of just one.


4) Don't be afraid to mix in some flash with your nayat when need be or mix up the hair in hand to get the perfect length and taper. So even if your nayat hair is long, you can still use it to make small flies when you mix and taper it to the appropriate length in hand. 

Mixing in some H2O Frenzy fly fiber with the nayat.

This stuff is fantastic to mix in with nayat


5) Nayat is one of only a handful of natural fur products that can be trimmed in to shape without making it look stupid. So don't be afraid to pick up those scissors  to do some trimming if the shape and taper of the fly requires it.

Pro's and Con's

+ Decent price

+ Very durable against teeth

+ Can be used in a variety of patterns

+ Retains shape well and doesn't soak up too much water

+ Dries quickly

+ Can be mixed with flash or even other synthetics and can easily be trimmed in to shape if need be.

- You have to be a bit picky on how and where to use it. Might take you a while to find your own style of using this material. I know it sure did for me.

- As it's soft fur, the relative limpness and weight while wet can make it tricky to use. Again, you have to be a bit picky on how, where and how much to use it. 

- There can be substantial differences between batches, but that happens with all natural products. Use a reliable vendor like Big Streamers to sort out what kinda hair you are looking for. 

- It can tangle up a bit with fish if  you are unlucky. It does that much less than many synthetics though so not really a big concern in the long run. 

This fly has caught 60+ pike and it's still going strong. The front part is made from nayat which protects the more vulnerable bucktail tie under it very effectively. 


That's it for my little introduction to nayat/Snow Runner. It's by no means a full and complete guide on how to use nayat, but it should provide a few tips and tricks to make the nayat experience a bit more enjoyable. Feel free to drop me some questions about the subject. Make sure to also follow master fly tiers Giovanni De Pace, Paul Monaghan and Sander Zuidinga if you want to learn more about the use of nayat. 

Comments

  1. Great post.We use different   types of lures for saltwater fishing & freshwater fishing.It is sometimes tiring if you use same kind of lures everywhere.

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