How painful is it to tie with mono?

[Jeff Clough]

I hear tell that a lot of people use monofilament for ribbing. From what I've seen, this is the same monofilament used for fishing line. I have a bunch of it in various diameters, but I'm wondering how much of a pain in the rear it is to work with and if there are any tips or tricks to making it work.

Every mono I've ever seen is very slippery and I can't imagine the thread grabbing it well or the mono itself grabbing materials with any real dedication. Am I just wrong about this and it will work fine? Is there anything special I'd want to do while tying with it, or tricks to using it?

More generally, what sorts of applications do you feel you've just gotta have mono over, say, some form of wire? As I've mentioned many times I'm completely new at this game and any pointers or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[kglissmeyer]

Its okay to tie with, but I limit my tying to using it for ribbing. No different than trying to control other types of slippery fly tying materials, but I always make sure to use cement whenever I use mono, just to make sure it stays put.

kelly.

[rookie]

Jeff,

I personally don't use it. One thing you could do if you decide to is to put the spool in warm water for about 1/2 an hour. It tends to make it more pliable.

[maodiver]

When I use mono, I pinch it with flat bladed pliers to flatten it slightly. it seems to grab better.

[Jeff Clough]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll see what I can do with it later. If things don't work out, I'll switch to using wire or oval tinsel.

I'm still curious, though, about when you'd really like to use mono over some other material.

[Cold]

Czech nymphs often call for a mono rib and, in my experience, look much nicer (more like a bug, less like a lure) with the mono as opposed to wire.

[Ray Kunz]

Another good use for mono in tying is to tie down marginally secure stick on eyes. After applying the eyes wrap over them with the mono as necessary and then coat with epoxy. The mono becomes invisible and the fly head is really durable.

[ScottP]

If you're talking about as a substitute for thread, I use it for a lot of my saltwater tying - flies like EP baitfish and synthetic Clousers are a lot easier to tie with mono than thread, and like Ray said, it becomes invisible when coated with cement/epoxy. It takes a little getting used to, but it's great stuff. For things like ribbing, can't say I've had any problems although I usually use Krystal Flash, Super Hair or Ultra Wire for what I need.

Regards,
Scott

[Jayatwork]

I've used it for ribs quite a bit and never had a problem with it. It can be used as the rib to secure the palmered hackle on an Elk Hair Caddis, without the weight of wire. (Not that the wire adds much weight)

[Fred H]

I use mono thread . It comes spooled in various sizes to fit most bobbins. When used over various sizes of monofliement it has a great translucent property.When colored with a permanent marker it has almost a flourescent quality. I discover new uses for it almost weekley.
Fred