Snowrunner (Nayat)

Snowrunner (Nayat)

Snowrunner (also known as Nayat) is the best hair wing material we have found for big flies. The hair originates from a fairly uncommon breed of farm animal that is domestically bred. The hair is slightly stiffer and more translucent than Icelandic Pony, or Arctic Runner, and does not mat in the water like Icelandic Sheep or Llama. Our hides are hand picked for quality and custom dyed in a wide range of colours.

Snowrunner (Nayat) was discovered as a fly tying material by a friend of ours who saw the potential of this material. He sent us some for testing at the time we were developing large flies for big tarpon in Tapam. The result was the development of  Snowrunner brush style baitfish flies like the Tapam Special, King's Candy, Baby Peacock and J-Bait. Ever since those early days we have been convinced of the potential of Snowrunner (Nayat) and this amazing material continues to gain popularity. Because of our close connection to the source of Snowrunner and our involvement since the discovery of this material, we have established a very high quality and the biggest range of colours in the world. When it comes to Snowrunner (Nayat), without a doubt, Skeena River Fly Supply is the best source.

Snowrunner (Nayat) is perfect for big Steelhead flies, Chinook salmon flies and saltwater baitfish patterns. Snowrunner is semi-translucent and has a slight crinkle to the hair so that the wing retains volume in the water. The under-fur and shorter guard hair has a texture that is somewhat between Polar Bear and Fox and is an excellent material for smaller flies, such as classic Atlantic hair wing patterns and Steelhead hair-wing flies. The under fur that is combed out makes for a very good dubbing.

One patch will suffice for many wings making it a very cost-effective material.

Snowrunner (Nayat) is also a perfect material for making your own brushes. Snowrunner Brushes  are great for making hollow baitfish bodies. The body retains its shape and volume in the water, yet slims down in the air, for easy casting. The use of Snowrunner brushes has changed limits of fly sizes that can be cast, making it a great choice for large baitfish designs.

Because Snowrunner (Nayat) is a natural hair, the length of hair varies quite a bit, from a minimum of 3" to a maximum of 10". The quality of the hair also varies, just like in humans the hair can be thick and long or thin and short and any variation thereof. This creates some challenges for patch selections. In most colours we have separated our supplies in "long" and "short". You can always let us know what length you need and we will make sure you'll get it.

Most people will gravitate to the long patches. However, the shorter hair is usually more dense and uniform and still around 4” long. So for many fly tying applications short length is a good choice.

Snowrunner should be brushed and ironed before use. You can watch our YouTube video on Snowrunner Preparation Here.