Since I can’t go fishing right now, tying flies is the next best thing. In the past few months, I’ve been playing around with some unorthodox body materials for tenkara flies but recently felt the urge to tie some with the more traditional thread bodies. I saw that Tenkara Bum was selling Pearsall’s silk thread, and it kind of jogged my memory. I ransacked a dark corner of my fly tying desk where I throw obscure materials only to confirm my suspicion that I did indeed have a few spools of the gossamer size! And, I even had some workable colors for tenkara flies. But I specifically wanted orange to tie up the classic combination of partridge and orange so I promptly ordered a spool of the truant color from Tenkara Bum.I hadn’t tied with the stuff in years. It’s just been sitting there in a box all this time. I think I originally bought it to tie midges but I can’t remember. At any rate, I never could have imagined I’d be pulling it out now to tie tenkara flies!
The thread is beautiful and produces a great body for sakasa kebari. The only problem is that the spools are significantly smaller than most western fly tying thread spools. For example, here are some Pearsall’s spools being dominated by a standard sized UNI-Thread spool:
In order to use the smaller spools with a standard bobbin, you have to bend the wires a bit to get some tension on the spool. Simply pinch the arms of the bobbin until they cross over each other to get a better fit. You might have to do this a few times to get it right. And don’t worry, you can always bend them back to fit standard spools:
Once you do that, you should be able to get the thread to fit on a typical bobbin and tie as normal.
If you like tying thread bodies, Pearsall’s Gossamer Silk Thread is a good option. One thing to keep in mind is that the thread will darken when wet so don’t assume the color you’re tying with dry is exactly how it will appear to the trout. The orange-bodied fly above turns a brownish color underwater. But still, you can create some nice looking flies with the elegant colors Pearsall’s offers.
What is your experience with silk thread?
I have a bunch of those little spools of silk and similar material but never tied with them (I got them as part of a grab bag on ebay way back when I started tying flies). I found other silk on big spools at my local fly shop in standard spool sizes and I have used those a lot lately, mostly in the flies for swaps. Love how silk looks on a fly but hate to tie with it. I have dry and rough hands and fingers which can fray the silk. Also, you have to be careful wrapping it around hook points not to fray it. But again, the end results usually just look like killer flies.
Karel,
I have the same problem with rough hands nicking the line. One trick (if you don’t mind looking like a weirdo) is to wear latex gloves when you tie (the kind surgeons use).
Lol, that could look funny if I walk into my man cave with latex gloves…
As Mr Skues once remarked, the important thing about using silk for bodies is to pay attention to how the silk looks when wet. When wet, silk becomes translucent and the colour is modified by what is underneath. This can make for some intersting effects. I tie my “Partridges and Oranges” with the conventional “orange” (more of an old gold yellow) silk over a hot orange tying thread. This gives the perfect glowing red spinner colour.
Alternatively you may preserve the colour by rubbing the silk with clear wax (this will also stop the rough hand problem…more on this later. If you use regular wax, you will darken the colour. This is put to good effect in the famous Greenwell’s Glory, where the lemon yellow silk is rubbed with natural brown beeswax to create a shiny opaque pale olive green.
As for the rough hand problem. Not sure why you are touching the thread if you have it in a bobbin. And if you are using a length of thread, why you are not using hackle pliers to hold the end of the thread. But I also recall that a famous American fly tier (can’t remember who) was known for rubbing a hand lotion into his hands before tying.
Love those flies, Jason. There is an elegance and grace about their simplicity.
Cheers
Thanks Losthackle, all great tips. Another one is that (as when using floss), a silver tinsel underbody will help the color stand out more. I skip this step in these thread body tenkara flies just to keep it simple.
Instead of gloves or hand lotion (which will discolor the silk if you put it on right before tying), try getting some emery boards from your corner drugstore. Use them to sand down your finger tips. It will eliminate the roughness that frays the silk, and will also prevent the skin around your fingertips from drying out and cracking in the winter.
Pearsall’s is great stuff! I tie as many flies as I can with it. As far as the bobbin goes, I usually devote one of them soley for using Pearsall’s threads so that I don’t have to bend the bobbin back and forth.