Tying Materials

[mickalo]

Is there any benefit of using Synthetics materials over Natural materials ? Are their disadvantages of using Synthetics ?

thx's
Mike

[Eric-WD]

It depends on the material and what you can buy, I haven't seen a natural tinsel for instance.


Synthetics are designed to meet standards, an example of this is dubbing. There is dubbing made for wets and dubbing made for dries both have properties to help them in there assigned roles. Then there is natural dubbing from animals, it works for both has for thousands of years. Some will tell you the wet and dry stuff is better, its up to you do decide.

Part of the fun of fly tying is using different materials and seeing how they work (and if they work for you) so my answer to your question is it depends on which product you are talking about.

Enjoy your tying

Eric

[modocdan]

Mike, Howdy!
The synthetics are very consistant in color and such and "repeatable" for exact match on something you used before...this can be a big advantage. Often the synthetics are cheaper, but not always. I feel there is no synthetic copy for real hackles, and that is true for many natural materials. I feel there is a place for both, and I'm happy for it.. 40 years ago, when I started tying, synthetics were virtually unheard of, and we did fine, but, the synthetics are very, very cool/ I'm glad that's not all we have.........ModocDan

[mickalo]

from the information and researching I've done, it seems that synthetics maybe a bit more durable for jig tying. Jigs tend to take a lot of abuse, especially in areas I fish, and natural materials may not quiet hold up as well, but I could be wrong.

Mike

[sperzonkers2]

Mike, I find some synthetics are to stiff and do not move as well as natural materials.

I also find that the color is sometimes to bright. An example of a synthetic I do not like is super hair. If you want materials to breathe or have better movement in the water I still like natural hair.

[modocdan]

Mike, I think you're right, synthetics are often more durable than naturals, I tie a lot of nymphs, for example, and use lots of peacock herl....It gets tore up pretty quick, so I take measures to make it more durable. I use three herls together, and twist them onto the tying thread before wrapping them, then, I usually put some flexament on the underbody, alog the top of the hook before wrapping the herl. then, I usually use a tinsel rib, or some other, over the herl body to add strength. If no rib, I will often use a tag of some tying thread like a rib, ane wrap it over the herl for strength. I use other similar techniques for dubbed bodies and such to add durability. Sperzonkers brings up a good point about how synthetics act in the water. Thing is, they often don't absorb water, so their action remains the same all while fishing them. Rubber legs, foam, mylar flash materials, tinsel, and scud and midge back materials in synthetics have characteristics we just don't find in naturals. I prefer naturals, though, when I can get them, I guess it might be an old guy thing. I really appreciate the synthetics though, and they have been a real boon to our sport. I think the short answer to your question is, neither is better, and we're happy to have the variety of both............Dan

[mickalo]

Hey thanks gang, a lot of "food for thought" and has been real helpful.

one other thing does come to mind, is storage of materials. I would think that synthetics don't pose the same issues as natural materials when storing for long periods of time and the possibility "little critters" found in natural materials.

Mike

[Skip48]

While in most cases Synthetics are more durable I have at least one customer that has caught over 300 crappie on the same jig. Not sure the Synthetics will out do that.

Saying that there is a place for both in jigs and flies IMHO. I mix it up with my personal jigs and use Ice Dub bodies on my jig at time because of the UV properties. Also use other synthetics as well, like UV Polar Chenille I use it for the tail on some jigs.

Skip

[psyfly11]

Yes synthetics are good and durable. they come in every collor imanginable and if you don't have the color you want you can easily mix a batch to meet your color needs. Storage is a breeze! No need for paradichlorobenzene with synthetics! However, many of the traditionalists will argue to their death bed the virtues of natural materials. I fall somewhere in between preferring natural materials over synthetics except for dry flies where the synthetics are an asset.

[fishyfranky_redux]

Basically, the only reason I use naturals is because I bought a bunch when I started tying and I'm slowly going through the pile. I may eventually give most of it away.

The problem people have with synthetics is that they are trying to use them the same way as naturals. This is understandable since most patterns were developed with naturals in mind. So yes, there isn't a suitable synthetic replica for hackle but so what? Why should there be?

The key to effectively using synthetics is to realize that we don't use synthetic horses to pull our buggies. And attaching a 454 ci blown big block engine to the harness also won't work. So, with hackle, you have to understand what purpose it serves and then realize its merely a means to an end. With that in mind, there are plenty of synthetics and plenty of ways to use them, that will do everything that hackle does.

So finally, nothing is as romantic as a ride in a horse drawn carriage but clearly, horses poo and poo is not romantic so there are more practical options. And likewise, I'd use naturals primarliy to tye pretty flies for show but fish with synthetic patterns.