Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Thread oh how little we think of it!

Of all the things that we take for granted our fly tying thread just might be the one thing we never think about. I remember when I started tying flies some 60 years ago we had big hunks of bees wax next to us because we mostly used silk tying thread and it was slippery as snot. About the late 60's or early 70's Daville Co. introduced us to 6/0 Herb Howards Flymaster prewaxed tying thread (nylon) well the tying world changed for ever. About the same time Danville also introduced us to "Monocord" witch had a dam mind of it's own, you needed that hunk of bees wax to make it behave, if you left off the tension poof it would unwind. OK now fast forward to today- thank heavens for progress. Danville- 70 denier Flymaster 6/0 prewaxed (20 yard spool) is still the gold standard for tyers. Uni- 8/0 200 yard spool not waxed is the standard for tying anything size 18 and smaller. Danville- 140 denier (100 yard spool) waxed flymaster +PLUS+ is the thread to use if you need strength- think beetles and other foam flies Danville- 210 denier (100 yard spool) flat waxed nylon, about what monocord was but with the addition of wax- think intruders and streamers, also beetles Ultra thread- 140 denier (ok but NOT WAXED) good strength but keep wax close Veevus- 140 denier good strength BUT you need to wax or super glue the base or it will slip and nothing will piss you off when your tying beetles and have to entire body slip! Veevus- 240 denier greath strength BUT again you need wax or super glue to keep it from slipping. A great new thread just on the market that will help when you need to build an underbody on a fly. Uni- stretch (30 yards) 1x 270, I use it in white and it will build an underbody in no time then just start you main tying thread and wrap of this and cut it off, I super glue it at that point because it has a bit of memory. Caution it is a BITCH to thread in a bobbin, just go slow. My stonefly bodies take no time to complete and you and even tye up a bunch of them before hand. Try this on e out for sure. Just a not for anyone who is a hoarder like me your tying thread will get brittle so test it before you start tying a bunch of flies, remember thread is cheap but your time is not!

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