Fly tying – a better nymph for smart fish

For those who like to fish with nymphs here is one nymph that I use on rivers with high pressure of fishing. I like to use and test new materials because in time the fish will know all flies used by fishermen (of course if C&R is used) and will be difficult to catch.
So here where I am, in Lombardia – Italy, I like to go on river Adda, a famous river here in Italy. All the time I met fishermen and all the time I fish in places where others tried to catch a few trout with 10min or a half hour before. This is the reason that I modified a little bit my nymphs.
One of them is described bellow:
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Super Nymph dubbing – a fly tying dubbing in test – Part 1

On the market you’ll find a lot of dubbing made of natural materials, synthetics materials or a mix between them.
Everybody assure us that the dubbing that they sell is excellent and can be use for almost everything. Unfortunately nobody make tests and comparative tests and nobody will tell you exactly if is good for your needs.
So according with a fly tier needs I intend to make a small series with photos of dubbing to see how they look on the threads.
First dubbing that I decided to put in test is Super Nymph Dubbing – a dubbing that I use especially for nymphs and scuds.
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How to use the Vosseler Tool

A few friends asked me how can be used the Vosseler Clip Tool.
Unfortunately Ralf Vosseler , my friend, the guy who make those fantastic German fly Reels don’t have a video and, in my opinion don’t make a promo and make videos “how to use” his tool.
So I decided to make myself 2 videos. Those video are not pro, but enough to have an idea how to use this tying tool


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Emerger Dubbing

A new dubbing that I use for a few days is made by Trout Line and the name is Emerger Dubbing. I developed in a few years and I tested the mix proportion until I was pleased with the results. It is a mix of different hairs from hare, squirrel, opossum in different quantities. Right now only a few colors are available but in a short period of time the rest will be in troutline fly tying shop.:
super-emerger-dubbing-facebook
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Tying a simple emerger with CDC

Nothing complicated, only a bunch of CDC and dubbing. Any beginner can make this fly and seems that the trout love this fly especially on lakes.
The common mistakes made by others is: cutting the CDC, the wing is not long enough, not enough CDC feathers.
These flies are tied on size #12 Daiichi B155
I used for every fly 5 feathers – natural black Ultra Selected CDC
For hot spot I used red thread
For dubbing – I used emerger dubbing
For ribbing I used: UV ribbing quill
emerger1
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Fishing in Italy on river Serio

Because I’l living in Italy from more than half year I had to make a fishing licence like other fishermen from Italy. The bureaucracy is like in all countries, nobody know exactly what you have to do to obtain a regular licence but in the end with the help from a very nice fishing shop owner I obtain one. Costs 102eur/year – first year and will cost in the future no more than 60eur/year so is not expensive at all.
I decided to go out for my first day of fishing in the 2014 season on river Serio from North Italy. It is a nice river, unfortunately with a lot of small dams on it but with nice wild fish in it.
I arrived very early at 7.30 in the morning after a hour of driving from Monza. A lot of fishermen like me very excited to go in water and catch some fish. The river was low and the water was very clear, too clear compared with my types of rivers.
fiume-Serio-in-Ponte-Nossa-No-Kill
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A simple tying thread test

Hi guys,
I’m a tier and I decided to test all my range of threads that I use frequently. After me is not an easy job because all producers don’t use the standard charts: Denier(grams per 9000m) or Decitex(grams per 10000m). They use the diameter of the thread and this is very difficult to measure. Also all producers claim their thread is stronger compared with others. Depeding of the material, if is a multi fibers threads or mono fiber threads, depending is is twisted or not, all this particularities and characteristics modify the strength of the thread and of course modify the look of the thread on the hook shank.

I had a few days off from my family for tying so I decided to make a small article about fly tying threads that I use for my flies.
I tested Uni Threads, Gordon Griffith’s threads,Veevus, UTC and Textreme
I tested the thread from this point of view: how looks these threads on the hook shank compared with the diameter described by the producer.
I used a 5/0 Daiichi Pike hook and 6 turns of each type of thread.

I started with Caenis and Trico from Uni:
Caenis is a mono type of fiber ( white and black) 20DEN,
Trico is a multi type o transparent fibers non twisted, 40DEN:

fly tying threads trico and caenis

Bellow you can see how looks on the hook shank.
From the left to the right: caenis and trico. Caenis is fragile and I use it for small flies tied under #22. I find this mono cord type of thread difficult to use and apply dubb on it. But hey !, for small and delicate flies you don’t have to work so much :)
caenis and trico on the hook shank

The next is is Gordon Griffith’s Sheer.
The GG Sheer looks very similar with Trico and I noticed that is more resistant to the pressure. I buy this thread from Funky Fly Tying – Tobby Merigan – and I like it. One note – this thread is twisted.
caenis and trico and gg sher tying threads on the hook shank

The next threads tested on the hook shank are Sheer, Veevus 10/0 and Wisp 8/0. An observation : sheer and wisp from Gordon Griffith’s are twisted and Veevus is medium twisted.
I noticed that these threads that I use have the same colors:
gg sheer and veevus and gg wisp fly tying threads

For me these fly tying threads seems to be identical on the hook shank:
gg sheer and veevus and gg wisp on the hook shank

gg sheer and veevus and gg wisp fly tying threads

So 10/0 from Veevus looks like 8/0 from Gordon Griffith’s. To check the size for these thin threads is not easy, but I have a friend who is professor at University of Physics and I will try to make a measurement in the lab.
In my opinion the correct way to classify the threads is to use the standard Denier or Decitex chart.
Anyway lets go further:
The next tying thread is a white Uni 8/0 of 72DEN and seems to be thinner than Veevus and GG Wisp. 8/0 Uni is twisted and not waxed. This is another interesting surprise from the diameter point of view declared by the producers. Anyway it is difficult to check exactly but I will ask my friends from University if he can make a RMN test.

The fluo orange UTC 70 thread is very flat on the hook shank. very shinny and semi transparent with a nice translucent effect. I like this tread because has parallel fibers in composition. The colors are very nice and you can make bodies for beautiful flies. One note, due the fact that the fibbers are not twisted is not easy to work with and some tiers hate this thread. In the end is a matter of taste . This thread is the next “tested”
sheer and veevus and wisp and uni and utc threads on the hook shank

The following threads are Uni 6/0 with 136 DEN and the italian thread 6/0 from Textreme.
Wow, another surprise!. Uni 6/0 seems to be more thinner than UTC 70 and Textreme 6/0 seems to be more thinner compared with Uni 6/0
sheer and veevus and wisp and uni and utc and uni and textreme fly tying thread

And bellow you can see all these threads that I’ve tested

tying threads ready for test

I invite you guys to tell me your opinions and share your experience from these threads and of course with other brands .
cheers and all the best,
Lucian

PS
for those who are looking for these fly tying threads you can by them also from troutline fly tying shop . The prices are competitive !

Anyway will prepare soon another article where I will measure the diameter of each thread from this small article and the breaking strength also.

cheers and happy tying :)
Lucian