Working with floss

[fflutterffly]

I tied a Hungarian Partridge and Orange this evening. The body looked good on the Tmc 100bl 14 hook, wrapped hackle only twice... looked good and than came the head. Not so good. The Floss I used is 1 ply. and looked to bulky at the head. Are there smaller ply flosses?

[letumgo]

Have you tried Pearsall's Marabou floss? It can be split down into very fine strands, which will easily tye down to a size 20 hook without much bulk.

[fflutterffly]

Ahhh! Now I see my problem. I've been tying with uni-floss. Without thinking I should have changed over to my Pearsall's Gossamer silk. That would make a difference. I hadn't seen the Pearsall's marabou thread, but I'll look for it. So once you split, so you spool it? Again... Dumb Ass twice in one day. Well at least I'm entertaining.
Thanks. I hope I'll have a few photo's to contribute in the next week.
A

[narcodog]

Just split off what you need. Once you tie it in just hook a hackle pliers to it to keep it under tension.

Joe at http://www.detteflies.com has what you need in Pearsall's

[fflutterffly]

Just found the thread for $3.00 at http://www.edgeangling.com/Pearsalls-Ma ... low-5.html
I'll check joe out as well.

[hankaye]

fflutterffly, Howdy;

So once you split, so you spool it? Again... Dumb Ass twice in one day. Well at least I'm entertaining.
Thanks. I hope I'll have a few photo's to contribute in the next week.
A

No such thing as a dumb a** question on this sight... inquiring minds NEED to know.
You asked a question I haven't asked yet (is that possiable???).
I haven't advanced that far yet

hank

[willowhead]

Thankx for the link flutter.....

[fflutterffly]

Just tied a yellow and Partridge with Gossamer and it turned out very well. Body slim and light, hackles spun twice and the head ... three 1/2 hitches. Very quiet and clean head. But why would the silk make any difference to tie than, lets say, 8/0 Uni-thread. Is there really much difference other than tradition?

[michaelgmcgraw]

I use silk thread For tradition as well as the translucent effect when wet.

[William Anderson]

You can get brilliant bodies with prewaxed Uni Threads, or any of the other threads available, especially combined with synthetic materials etc. Pearl flash is awesome. Tinsel serves a purpose and antron has something that only antron can offer. So tradition plays a part in it for me. I'm not sappy nostalgic, but I do admire the simplicity of these. And if you're going to tie a fly with only two materials, it's interesting to explore just those two in some detail. I like the color shifts and transluscent effect silk has when wet. And I know my pics don't do it justice but you can see some of the difference. It's brilliant in the hand on the stream though. Probably makes very little difference, but they are fun to tie and I think the silk is pretty. These are Pearsall's Gossamer Silk.

#3 Primrose dry


#3 Primrose wet


#12 Cardinal dry


#12 Cardinal wet


#9A Silver Grey dry


#9A Silver Grey wet


#15 Dark Claret dry


#15 Dark Claret wet


The difference between wet and dry would be exaggerated if I didn't spin the silk so tight to get the corded effect for the body and rib. You would see a lot more of the hook shine and color come through. Although, I would be tying the silk flat down and back and might get about the same effect. I'll have to test that to compare pics. I especially like the Claret and Dark Claret when wet in the sunshine. They seem quite dark in the pics and they are on the stream but can still see right through them.

w