Punch Yarn

Yesterday I went fishing with some wet flies that had punch yarn for the body. On one of my flies after about a dozen small trout the yarn was becoming unraveled. I believe that if the tier does not insure the yarn is real tight or uses a rib this could be a problem for them as well.

Not a problem for me since I would have lost the fly in a tree or bush long before I caught dozen fish with it!

12 trout on a fly isn't bad, really. One of the advantages of tying your own is that you can tailor the pattern to your needs. Personally, I don't like yarn for tying. I would far prefer a dubbed body, both for appearance and longevity. Trout are toothy little creatures, however, and most flies are at least somewhat fragile, so they don't last forever.

I think punch yarn is great. The two ply acrylic that you can split for your smallest flies almost makes tight dubbing obsolete.

I think if you've hooked 12 trout on a fly you've been served well. The fact that it's unraveled after that use is just, shall we say, the cost of doing 'businss'. How long do you think a fly should last given that use? Of course there are fly fishers who will complain when they don't get any strikes and then of course, the fly lasts forever or eventually rusts out.

Allan: If I tie the fly correctly I can get 30 plus fish on it. These are small brooks & bows 6 - 9 inches. And I was not complaining. Just trying to be helpful.

Tim

I'll agree with the others. A fly that lasts a dozen fish doesn't owe anybody anything.

I am with time. Tightly wrapped punch yarn lasts longer than loosely tied punch yarn.
I am approaching 200 fish on one yellow boa yarn fly.
Usxually loose them before that.

Rick

I would not remove a fly from the end of my line as long as the fish were still biting no matter how it looks! Its what the fish likes that counts in the number of hook ups.
My suggestion because of the fraying of the leader would be to retie the fly onto the leader or replace the leader and retie the fly to the leader.

Fishin'Jimmy