Fly Fishing In Wisconsin
By: Jerry Kiesow
Editor’s note: Jerry enjoys all aspects of the outdoors. He will be conducting a “Tying With Synthetics & Other Good (new) Things” class at Riveredge Nature Center, Newburg, on February 24. To keep track of what he is doing and where, to see his photos and read some of his other writings, including his book, “Tales of The Peshtigo Putzer,” check out his website: www.jerrykiesowoc.com.
Tying with synthetics. Do you use them?
History tells us the first flies were tied with natural materials: wool and chicken feathers. Tyers have followed that lead for centuries. We still use natural materials to tie our frauds. However, for several decades now, make-believe synthetic materials have snuck into our “avocation.” We have adapted; we mix and match—mostly without thinking.
Do you use counterfeit materials? Do you use them deliberately, consciously?
Synthetics offer a variety of options: dubbing, hair, fur, beads, to name a few.
Maybe I should begin by defining what materials I consider synthetic.
Obviously, any fly tying product that does not originally come from some living flora or fauna: hair, feathers, fur—material that is manufactured—is a form of synthetic.
Does that include thread? It could. If the thread is made from cotton, which comes from a naturally grown plant, it would be natural material. What about beadheads or dumbbell eyes? Well, if the beads are glass and the eyes lead, then they both originated from the earth. Earth is nature.
Do we really want to go into all this? No! I only mention these items to help you understand where I am coming from.
To me, synthetics are fake feathers, hair and fur, and other stuff available to be used for wings, legs et cetera. In the paragraphs ahead I will be telling you how I use these and a few other materials, which may or may not be considered unnatural materials.
I began using synthetics many years ago when Flashabou and Krystal Flash came on the market. At the time, I did not consider them as anything other than a more versatile form of tinsel. That is still how I think of them. Both products work great in Woolly Bugger tails or adding a bit of flash to streamer wings. They give me a larger variety of colors with which to rib bodies instead of just silver and gold, and they are flexible.
My first popper heads were made of cork, which comes from a tree. For years now, I have to look hard and long to find cork heads. Preformed hard foam heads are all you can find in local fly shops. Sometimes, if I need a popper quickly, I will take closed-cell packing foam, approximately 1/8 of an inch thick, cut it to the size required for the hook I want to use, fold it over, stick the hook eye through the center of the fold, tie down the loose ends, add a tail and a few wraps of hackle, and voila!—I have a popper. If the color is not right, I simply “paint” it with a permanent marker.
Is it as pretty? Will it pop when I work it? Will it catch fish? No, no, and, most of the time.
My favorite manmade material is dubbing. I have never been a great dubber. Yes, I can cut fur into small pieces. Yes, I can mix and blend those pieces to get a color I am trying to match. But when it comes to putting those little scraps of fur on the thread, even when using dubbing wax—and I do not mean that commercial sticky stuff , which is awful—or placing the fibers into a dubbing loop prior to wrapping them onto the hook, I am worthless. I can, however, dub bodies and thoraxes very nicely with strands of the phony stuff. It picks out well and blending colors is not a problem. I use synthetic dubbing almost exclusively. I have a friend who frowns on me for that, but he is a perfectionist.
Legs? I use rubber legs, but not as much as I have in the past. They just don’t last long, especially once they age a bit.
Wings. Artificial wings are still coming into their own. Materials have been around for some time, but they are being refined into some very delicate, realistic-looking elements. If you are a big dry fly tier, I suggest you give the newest products a look. My only question is how they affect the floating qualities of the fly. I know that elk and deer hair are hollow and float. I know that calf hair when tied in conjunction with good quality hackle will float and represent hatching critters. I am not sure about a set of plastic wings.
Speaking of hackle, the nonnatural kind is one product I use only for specific patterns that call for it. I have just tied a few new patterns using it, but January/February is not the time to try them out. Maybe March.
Hair? Yes, I have used bogus hair. There are times when I want really long streamers and natural hair just won’t make it.
A variety of flies. Most are tied with a blend of natural and synthetics. However, a few are all synthetic. Can you find those?
You now have a sampling of what is out there in the synthetic line and how I use some of them. I also use pieces from a granola bar wrapper or baggies for wing cases.
So am I recommending everyone rush out to your nearest fly shop and drop a small bundle on these new products? No. What I am recommending is that you check out the products at your local emporium and on the Web. Look at them closely and make a note of what is available. Then check out what is compatible in your local craft shop—or some of the wrappings on the packages in your kitchen. You will be surprised what is available, especially once you become accustomed to using permanent markers.
Are synthetics superior to natural materials? Depending on the pattern, sometimes, but they do have their place in our boxes and drawers of stuff.
Remember, if you have any questions, go to our website: www.onwisconsinoutdoors.com, scroll down and click on fly fishing. You can email your questions to me from there. Now go to your tying bench so when the time comes, you will be ready to wet a line and enjoy. See you on or in the water.
Keep a good thought!