Hosiery Caddis Larva

[letumgo]

Same photo, just much lower f-stop (2.6). The narrower depth of field creates the blurring effect, giving the fly the appearance of motion.


Differnt fly - This one was tyed without the fluff at the base of the feather.


Hosiery Caddis Larva
Hook - Daiichi Model 1150 / Size 10
Thread - Pearsalls Gossamer Silk (Hot Orange)
Hackle/Thorax - Two Starling Back Hackles (Bleached Ginger) - tyed in by the stem at the eye of the hook
Abdomen - Small section of women's pantyhose/hosiery (trapezoid shape roughly two inches long - 1/2" on one end - 1/8" on the other - stretched and then twisted around the tying thread to help form the body taper)

[Roadkill]

A definite fish magnet!

[Old Hat]

Does your wife know?

Or maybe it was yours?

[hankaye]

Ray, Howdy;

Hopefully, the human was not in the hose before you attacked....

hank

[letumgo]

Carl - Yes my wife knows, and no the hosiery was not mine. Honest.

I was reorganizing my fly tying desk today, putting away all the materials from my tying demonstration. I found a long forgotten box of odds and ends (assorted textile materials), that I had never gotten around to using. A couple years ago, my wife was throwing out an pair of pantyhose and I got the bright idea that the material might be a useful tying material or could be used to make egg sacks for fishing. I snipped off one leg and stashed it away for later use. The material is very stretchy, glossy and semi-translucent. Characteristics the seemed like good fly tying material.

I clipped a small rectangle of the material and gave it a firm pull, expecting it to unravel. To my surprise, it stretched out to about three times as long, and formed a small round strand. Hmmm...this looks promising, I thought. I then cut another piece, into a tapered trapezoid, figuring that I could make the strand thicker on one end, augmenting the taper of a caddis pattern.

Then I started playing around at the vice, to see how it worked. These are my first attempts.

I decided to use two starling feathers and forego the thorax of the fly. The starling feathers are very light and fluffy, which should give this pattern a lot of life in the water.

All in all, I am quite happy with this fly. (plus I got to play with ladies hosiery...win-win )

[Mataura mayfly]

Very inovative looking Caddis tie Ray.
We have been using the same material over here for years, but in a different way. Here we use it as a net to hold a polystyrene ball to the top of a hook so it acts as a suspender for emerger or midge patterns.

[chase creek]

Interesting use of material (not joking ). Love trying to find uses for non-tying materials.



I've seen this done before, a long time ago. Of course, you could see the seam then. (now I am joking)

[tie2fish]

You're really getting a leg up in this tying business, Ray. Great use of a material not often seen in the literature.

[chase creek]

"You're really getting a leg up in this tying business, Ray."