Stupid chenille question

[MOturkE]

Does anyone use pipe cleaners in place of chenille in any of their patterns? I noticed some which were labled "craft chenille" and they have wire in them.
I've only been tying for a few months but am a professional cheapskate. These would be cheap to use on hoppers.

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There's almost nothin' wrong with the first lie, it's the weight of all the others holdin' it up that gets ya'! - Tim

[This message has been edited by MOturkE (edited 13 August 2005).]

[dixieangler]

Does this fit your bill? Not a hopper but you can use a pipe cleaner. I use a lot of colors (some fluorescent) besides the standard black/white . I also like the fact that it adds a little weight to the subsurface fly that strung chenille doesn't, so I don't have to add a weighted underbody. Because of the wire weight, I don't think I would use pipe cleaners on surface flies though.

[url=http://virtualflybox.com/patterns/pattern.php?id=934:49f14]http://virtualflybox.com/patterns/pattern.php?id=934[/url:49f14]


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Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

"Flip a fly"

[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 13 August 2005).]

[DG]

Yeah I would avoid wire centers on hoppers or other surface flies. Besides, chenille is CHEAP, especially if you buy it by the skein instead of by the little cards. If youa re going to tie flies for the rest of your life, consider that a skein of each of your most used chenille colors add up to less than a new neck.

D

[MOturkE]

Didn't consider my neck, DG... lol
...or the added weight on a surface fly, duh!

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There's almost nothin' wrong with the first lie, it's the weight of all the others holdin' it up that gets ya'! - Tim

[This message has been edited by MOturkE (edited 13 August 2005).]

Wire Chenille is also great for cleaning out the inside of your thread bobbins, of dubbing wax build up.

~ Parnelli
Chartered Member of "Friends of FAOL"!

Down in the meadow in a little bitty pool
Swam three little fishies and a mama fishie too
"Swim" said the mama fishie, "Swim if you can"
And they swam and they swam all over the dam





[This message has been edited by Steven H. McGarthwaite (edited 13 August 2005).]

[William Fitzgerald]

If you want lots of body wrapping to replace chenille use Aunt Lydia's craft and rug yarn--you cant beat the price and comes in many colors--67 cents for 60 yards. I use lots of it tying with the scout ffishing merit babge.

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Bill

[Rick Z]

Make sure you dry the piep cleaner flies very well. The wire will rust out fairly fast, at least in some that I have done.
It can also discolor the fly.

Rick

[billknepp]

Rick,

You beat me to that one.....

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"I've often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before" A.K.Best

"Wish ya great fishing"

Bill

[Flytyer37]

If I'm using "pipe cleaners," I try to find the kind with copper wire. They don't rust out, just corrode, but at a much slower rate.
Frank Reid

[MOturkE]

Well, after all this, it sounds like pipe cleaners won't be an ingredient for the flies I'm tying.
Thanks all for the input!

Great idea for the bobbin cleaning, too. Thanks Parnelli

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There's almost nothin' wrong with the first lie, it's the weight of all the others holdin' it up that gets ya'! - Tim