Hey Folks,
While messing around at the Tying Bench, I came up with a Poly Yarn Caddis, which is basically an Elk Hair Caddis, except with a touch of foam and poly yarn instead of elk hair. Two questions:
Has anyone tried something like this before?
I thought poly yarn was supposed to be unsinkable, but after a few casts, it got pretty absorbant and didn’t float worth a darn. Is that normal?
By the way, we caught a bluegill, a LMB, and a trout with it up at Horsethief Lake and Custer State Park.
Elliott W.
I tie flies to give the fish something to laugh about.
Polypropylene has a specific weight between 0.95-0.98. It would take the amount of poly dubbing to cover a #2/0 salmon hook to neutralize (aggregate specific weight 1.0) the weight of a #16 dry fly hook.
By all means use polypropylene dubbing because you like the color or the texture, but do not expect it to add any real buoyancy to a pattern
I love tying poly wings, so easy, quick, and they look great. No need to clean and stack, very low bulk. I don’t think they work so good, though.
Like LW said, a bundle of poly fibers will hold water like a wet t-shirt. A wet wing sticking up in the air is very heavy and will tend to sink your fly.
Try this. Drop a section of poly yarn in a glass of water. At first, it will float real high, above the film. All of a sudden, it will suck down into the water and rest just under the surface.
Fibers vary a lot. I had a Springer Spaniel with long fine fur. He’d be wet for hours after a swim. The lab across the street could shake off and be dry in a few minutes. The lab’s hair was much thicker.
Polypropylene twine floats (unlike the yarn) but is not very good for wings or tails. I use the twine as a substitute for yellow hopper bodies (instead of yellow yarn) like Dave’s Hopper and for blue and green extended body adult damselfly patterns (instead of the usual braid) .
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