Organza

In a recent thread Longs For Cuts mentioned "Cascade Crest's Body Fur" and in checking it out I saw it compared to Organza...can't seem to find that reference back.

Anyway I've been playing around with Organza and find removing the vertical strands to be a real PITA....here's what I mean... from a 7/2011 post of James Smith.

"Go by your local Michaels or Hobby Lobby and look in the fancy ribbon section for Organza ribbon. This is shear ribbon that looks like untra-fine mesh. It comes in a wide variety of colors including several metallics. It also takes markers very well. It also comes in several widths ranging from 1/4 inch to almost 2 inches wide. I find that the 1/2 to 1 inch wide works best from me. When you get to your tying desk, cut of about 6 inches of the ribbon of your choice and then cut it up the middle so you have two pieces. You can also only cut off one edge if you want extra long body wraps. When you have it cut in two, now remove all the lateral pieces of thread, leaving only the cross members of the mesh. When you're done, you'll have a single bound edge with hundreds of thin spikes, almost like a hackle feather after you've stripped of the barbs on one side. This material makes fantastic looking bodies on a wide variety of fly patterns. The smaller ribbon makes great looking nymphs while the wider ribbon makes nice leeches or even small baitfish patterns. You'll have lots of fun experimenting with differnt patterns using this as either the body or collars of different patterns.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions of if I made this sound more difficult/confusing than it really is.

Jim Smith "

Anyone have suggestions on how to make the process easier?.....Jim???

If you go to Michaels, JoAnn or Hobby Lobby, go into the Material department and find the bolt (I think that's what it's called) of Organza. These stores generally have the price "by the yard", but you can get a much smaller amount. I bought 6" of sifferent colors years ago and still have a sh**load of it somewhere. Easy to pick out the verticle threads if you just take about 1/4 inch at a time. Doing it like that you can get a huge quantity of the bright sparkly threads in no time. Oh, I think the prce was about $5 / yard. so see if you can just get 6" of white, yellow, blue and black.

Allan

I went to JoAnn's last month and bought three colors for $6.00. More than I'll ever use. I told the clerk that I wanted to buy the least amount they would sell.

I use the organza for "fluoro fibre"

What is fluoro fibre?

BTW are you folks talking Organza ribbon or sheet material?

What I bought came off a bolt,sheet.

I've bought small sheets in white from Feather Craft. Didn't find it too much of a PITA just to pull fibers off.
I use organza for spinner wings and for posts on very small parachutes - like tricos. It reflects the sun pretty well, helping me to spot a small fly.

This is a caddis pupa pattern I tied some time ago using organza as a rib over nymph skin.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...Caddispupa.jpg
I found that the easiest way to strip out the long fibres is to cut the length you want from the edge of the ribbon then make a short 1/8 to 1/4 inch cut along and against the salve edge of the ribbon. Grip the trimmed piece and pull it free. It also gives you a stripped section to tie it in with. Here's the photo from a SbS I did for a similar fly (Partridge legs in place of the Veli Auti legs)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...addis/RC10.jpg
If there is interest I'll put the whole thing up.
Cheers,
A.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AlanB

I found that the easiest way to strip out the long fibres is to cut the length you want from the edge of the ribbon then make a short 1/8 to 1/4 inch cut along and against the salve edge of the ribbon. Grip the trimmed piece and pull it free. It also gives you a stripped section to tie it in with. Here's the photo from a SbS I did for a similar fly (Partridge legs in place of the Veli Auti legs)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...addis/RC10.jpg
If there is interest I'll put the whole thing up.
Cheers,
A.

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I am interested!

Me too......

I am also interested in seeing it.

Well with the comments on another thread in mind I will put the photos together, and perhaps take a few more, for a FOTW submission. In the mean time here's the set of photos in one album.

Cheers,
A.

Duckster,

I bought some of the Organza RIBBON to use as streamer material. I also found stripping out the lateral fibers to be a PITA. If all you need is short fibers, it's easier to do as AlanB advised. But for a couple of inches of it, I just pull out 1/4 inch chunks at a time. Takes some time, and they don't come willingly, but it can be done. Tried combs, brushes, picks, none of that went very well.....as I'm sure you've discovered.

Buddy

When I took a proper look at the old photos I wasn't happy with 'em, so I've re shot the whole thing. Written it up, and it is now in the in box of The Chronicler. Watch this space.

[update] Neil says he'll use it, but doesn't know when yet.

Cheers,
A.

The material is absolutely great for trico spinner wings on spring creeks. It lets light in and has a perfect density. The only problem which is synonymous with spring creeks is lack of vision--the material doesn’t float well. But not all is lost, fish love drowned trico spinners.

Some time ago a solution to the visibility problem was suggested for spinner patterns. Tie the wings as a hackle, over sized for a dry of that size would usually require then trip the hackle flat below the hook shank. It occurs to me that the same could be done with an over sized Compara Dun type wing. In a recent edition of Fly Fishing and Fly Tying this idea was resurrected but the hackle trimmed flat above the hook shank, The fly would then float with the hook up.

For the tiny Trico spinners you could try tying the wings in the form of an over sized Compara Dun using the organza in place of deer hair. With such a small hook a good floatant should enable you to get the fly to float, and the wing make it more visible.

Another thought that might just add a little. Philip White observed the trout of the River Wye in Derbyshire has a a preference for Mayfly spinners with just one wing stuck in the surface. He started to tie his imitations with the wings at 90 degrees rather than 180 degrees. One wing falls onto the surface the other sticks up where you can see it. This observation was for Mayflies, Ephemera family, the other end of the scale from Tricos.

I have no experience that any of what I have suggested will help. Its an insect we don't have here, and I've never fished a hatch or fall of them. I'm simply passing on generic fly tying ideas I have come across over the years. Hope something in there helps.

Cheers,
A.

For those who wanted to see the SbS for the Organsa Ribbon Caddis its up as the FOTW now.
Cheers,
A.

They make the ribbon now without the lateral threads.

I don't think this link has been posted yet. If it has, my apologies. Davie McPhail's Organza Emerger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9-EuNpNHJo

Joe

Had the name wrong. Found a few bags in my stash.
Pseudo hackle:
http://www.caddisflyshop.com/hapsha.html
no lateral fibers to pick out.
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