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Z-Lon, I guess, is the most popular now but I have never thought it looked all that great. Pheasant tail fibers are popular, Antron, cut off hackle barbs, biots, La Fontaine liked marabou, and I've seen a lot of tiers use CDC. Shane Stalcup marketed his "Trailing Shucks", which were small thin strips of plastic in various colors, but they really never became popular.
What is your favorite? I'm still looking for my mine.
Joe
I use Congo Hair on a lot of mayfly emergers and as egg sacs on caddis; fish seem to tolerate it. Maribou (and ostrich at times) work pretty well, too.
Regards,
Scott
All of the above...expect Stalcup's stuff. Just depends on the pattern.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Billingsley
I have a couple of old spools of Gordon Griffiths Micro Antron. That's usually what I reach for first.
Cheers,
C.
I have a fair amount of zlon so that what i use
I like Zlon, EP fibers and Widdow's Web. On certain patterns, like Harrop's, where there is just a hint beneath tail fibers, I just "roll" a few fibers of sparkly dubbing between my fingers and tie beneath the tail fibers.
Most of the time I use dubbing as the shuck - the fibers of most dubbing now are a multitude of colors with one predominant color. I also trim them at an angle rather than square, since bugs don't have square butts. I've been promoting angled shucks for years and just saw Craig Matthews of Blue Ribbon Flies trim one of his fly's shucks at an angle.
Here are a few examples:
Amber shuck for a BWO:
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/v...pse7b80ca9.jpg
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps1ac38d9d.jpg
Amber or gray for midges:
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps250f5c3f.jpg
Rust for PMD's:
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/v...psa0b93fb1.jpg
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/v...psdeb3eb4d.jpg
I'm in the beginning fly swap and recently used Anton. Not sure of the overall effect though.Attachment 12893
The problem with Antron is that it absorbs water and mats which can sort of pull the fly down from the rear...if the shuck is on a fly meant to lay on the surface like a sparkle dun, for example.