Punch yarn

[Ray Kunz]

Being inspired by some of Al Campbell's fly recipes on FAOL, I pursued obtaining some Punch yarn. Local shops;fly tying,handcraft and sewing, never heard of it but there is a distributor in Michigan who has a great variety of this fine,strong,slightly fuzzy two ply acrylic yarn at very modest prices.(200 yard spool for $1.80) I just received my order and it's like discovering sliced bread. I tried using it as a regular body material. I piled on 3 and 4 layers to build up larger streamer bodies. I split the plies to make a very fine body wrap that, to me, looked right for size 16 hooks. Then I chopped it into little pieces and hand-teased and blended some into dubbing finer than Flyrite. In an FAOL site it even shows Al Campbell winding it on using a bobbin and doing whip finishes.
Am I missing something? Why has this old material been neglected for so long?

[This message has been edited by Ray Kunz (edited 24 December 2005).]

[dixieangler]

I don't think it has really been neglected. There is a category name for yarn flies, as far as I know they are called "Aztec flies." I would guess that most tyers like me using yarn use the full range of 4-ply acrylic, 2-ply nylon, polypropylene yarns, and so on. Yarns of various kinds from manufacturers and fly tying suppliers come in a variety of names like Punch, Antron, etc. Cheaper and quicker for me to get a skein at the local knitting/craft shop. Some tyers rob the supply of the little lady of the house .


------------------
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

"Flip a fly"

[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 24 December 2005).]

[McManus]

So what defines "punch yarn"? Is that a brand name? Is it a type of yarn?

------------------
Swing hard, in case they throw the ball where you're swinging. Duke Snider

[G-man]

The smarter half said its acrylic yarn for punch embroidery,She has around 50 skeins of the stuff,So...I'm guessing She would know
G

[Jim Hatch]

Hi Ray,

I'm not sure punch yarn was overlooked.
As you mentioned Al had posted several
patterns in recent years calling for it.
As I recall, there were queries at the time
as to what it was and where to obtain it.
I talked with Al on chat about it and though
enthused at the prospects of using it, never
was able to locate a local source. It just
looks and sounds as if one might use it to
quickly and effortlessly build up bodies
that are very similar to dubbed bodies.
While I can and do dub bodies, "dubbing on a
rope", to coin a phrase, sounds intriguing.
I looked up the source you mentioned ordering from in the earlier thread, and
plan to place an order right after the
holiday. I'm wondering if you ordered one
of their assortments. I see they offer a
bright, pastel, and neon variety pack at
attractive prices. Can you comment on the
your material choices? Thanks for keeping
the subject going Ray. I agree, it sure
does seem like a promising material. Warm
regards, Jim

[dixieangler]

Now G-man, you wouldn't be one of those "some tyers" now would you ? I mean with 50 skeins laying around, that might be a little too tempting .



------------------
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

"Flip a fly"

[billknepp]

Don't know what Ray might have ordered, But I saw all those same choices while placing my order. I went with buying single spools of colors that sounded or looked as to be of a more tying friendly...Like Brown ,Black,cream,golden yellow. Maybe if I spend the money on one of their color charts then I might by a kit .
I just don't like kit buying without knowing things such as colors being right for tying, I'm hopeing that I got close in my selections..

------------------
"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

Everyone wants to excel in this sport but at the same time we let traditionalists place restrictions on our tactics, methods, and ideas. I always assumed that fly fishing was a sport that allowed imagination, creation, adaptation, investigation, dedication, education, revelation? : Fox Statler, On Spinners (Not the dainty Dry Fly kind) "Spinner'd Minner Fly"

"Wish ya great fishing"

Bill

[Ray Kunz]

You guys have me spotted right. It is a yarn of very fine denier fibers. It seemed they were finer than Fly-rite. This was the first thing I noted as I blended colors. Second, each strand was very small and the complete yarn was only two strands. The colors I bought were the tans,brown,yellows and grays. I have to call back to see if they have anything that is close to a tan/olive as I didn't see any on the wabsite color chart. At the price they charge it's seems the best buy of all tying materials.

[Scruffy Bearded Varmint]

Am I missing something? Why has this old material been neglected for so long?

The reason it has been neglected so long is because it is so hard to find in local shops.

I live in an area with a large Russian population. The first generation immigrants use a lot of embroidery on their clothing. One local Russian-owned company developed and marketed punch embroidery tools. Even with all that, you can't find punch yarn anywhere locally.

I got lucky. I found four large bags full of the stuff in a local Goodwill thrift shop. Well over four hundred spools and only about twenty were duplicate colors. Each spool has a color number on it that relates to the color. It appears that the material was originally bought under at least three different brand names.

I now have a broad selection of colors to work with. Some of them are even the metallic colors. And I have enough white to create colored versions using Prismacolor markers. I also have a bunch of colors that I would never use, although some look like they may work on steelhead and salmon flies.

------------------
Fish wise, cast flies, tell no lies...

P.S. If you really want to get into tieing with yarns, find a store that specializes in needlecraft supplies. The range of textures and types of yarns available will amaze you. And some that you will see were the obvious inspirations for some of the new tieing materials in the local fly shops. I live near Salem, OR and a little shop on Market Street and Hawthorn has an amazing array of yarns and embroidary threads. They also have the Krenic blending threads, flat floss, and even some cards of material that look like erstaz.



[This message has been edited by Scruffy Bearded Varmint (edited 24 December 2005).]

[Jim Hatch]

Thanks Ray,

You've kept my interest peaked as you've
provided considerably more info about the
punch yarn and it's properties. Not only do
I know where to buy it now and the prices,
but I also have a better idea what it will
be best suited for. My order goes in
tomorrow. Thanks! Warm regards, Jim