Modern Fly Tying Materials
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 17 November 2009 17:27
- Written by Patrick Dolan
Do you think the fly tying materials we use these days are any better than yesteryears?
I have tried all the modern tying stuff, every colour, every size, sometimes you think, “I can’t tie this as it looks very feminine, not very macho”. I have cast lures that have more pink marabou and hackle than Paris Hilton, and when the sun shines on them, they blind you. Don’t get me wrong pink rabbits are killers at times.
The fun with fishing rabbits is the fish nip at the tail and gives you that heart thumping feeling with the excitement of the chase. A good tip when using rabbits of different colours, they can tell you what colour the trout want and has worked very well for years.
The topic, though, is fly tying material. Look at the facts. What are the most common materials we have used for years that work well? Pheasant tails, hares mask, crow, jungle cock, marabou and for coloured beads, paint your own or spray them. My two young daughters, Brooke and Sian, find it funny when dad, who is six feet three and seventeen stone, is shouting, “Where’s my red nail varnish? Have you been using it?” Not so funny when the postman is laughing his head off at the door. There is a lot you can do to save money. If you’re tying lures, spray weighted beads bright fluorescent orange, pink or green. Doing this yourself, you can make more and it works out cheaper, just make sure if you’re spraying beads do it outside not indoors. Health and safety, or as she’s known Mrs D, her in doors ,will go of her head. I did it in the kitchen with newspaper, got up the next morning and all the room was covered in spats of bright orange.
Therefore, my conclusions on modern fly tying materials. Only about thirty percent of the stuff on the market works. It’s like that old saying about flies, they are there to attract anglers not fish. Are we getting a raw deal concerning promises that if we use this it will get you more fish? I think so. There’s a lot more to catching fish than the promise of the materials on your fly.
Thanks for your time, I am away to brush the dog so I can use his hair to make a Shipman’s buzzer.