Viking Lars | Saturday, 23 March 2024
I don’t know how many materials on the pegs in the fly tying departments are really made for fly tying. Obviously all the natural materials aren’t, but how many of the synthetics are? Probably a lot less than we think. If one takes a look around, some of the materials are clearly not and often available at much, much lower prices elsewhere. Take a look around the craft stores. Foam for instance can be had by the square mile for the same price as 5 six-by-four inch sheets in the fly shops.
Some materials are even cheaper - bordering to free. When buying electronics, they are often packed in thin sheets of foam, some denser than others, but most are perfectly well suited for fly tying (some not so much). I recently bought new cupboards for our bedroom and the large pieces of melamine were separated by sheets of thin, transparent foam.
Good for many things fly tying, but being fairly thin and pliable, I immediately thought of wing cases for emergers. It’s thin enough to work well on sizes as small as 18s and 20s. I kept some of it and tied a handful of small emergers the other day.
I must say - really good stuff. The cells are fairly large and the plastic material it self very, very thin. So it must be handled with a little care not to pop too many of the air cells. But it ties in beautifully, is quite easy to manipulate and takes up close to no space when tied in.
It’s transparent, not entirely white, but a very light grey - much like the wing on an emerging may fly. If you find it too bright, it takes a waterproof marker well.
It might not be the most durable material, but time will tell. I look forward to testing it.
Since it comes with things you’ve bought, it’s technically not free, but damned close as it’s something you’d otherwise dispose of. Take advantage and think about it when you’re in craft stores and other places. Organza fabric is another material worth taking a look at. It’s highly fluorescent, transparent, comes in both ribbons and sheets/as textile and in many colours. In the craft stores it costs a fraction of what it does in fly shops.
Have a great weekend!
Lars
For those interested - here's the pattern:
Thread: UNI 8/0, tan.
Hook: Ahrex 520 Emerger, size to match, here an 18.
Tail: Z-Lon or hackle fibres.
Abdomen: Thoft & Kjaer Seal's Fur, olive.
Wing case: Free foam, tinted or not.
Thorax: Thoft & Kjaer Seal's Fur, brown.
Legs: Partridge.
Head: Thoft & Kjaer Seal's Fur, brown.
Change sizes and colours to match.