Okay, bluegills don’t tear up my pretty little wet flies very fast, but trout teeth do. My tinsel rib seems to come loose after 2 or 3 fish. Is there a better material to use that will still give me the same effect and be more durable?
UTC Ultra Wire. Comes in 5 diameters (x-small, small, brassie, medium, and large) and about 20 colors including your basic copper, silver, and gold.
Absolutely…wire is the way to go.
Is your tinsel mylar or real tinsel?
It’s mylar. I guess I will have to get some silver wire and try it out…
How about using the tinsel as before, and going over that with a clear plastic rib for protection? Or epoxy the whole body? You can get a plastic rib called Stretch Magic at a hobby/craft store. That may be too much trouble though. Wire or wire OVER the tinsel would work, and be easier.
I’d go with wire also. I rarely use tinsel anymore.
Kelly.
A dab of head cement or SHHN on the hook before and after wrapping the tinsel helps quite a bit.
Metal tinsel from the old days is not nearly as much fun to work with, but it is bulletproof when applied properly… For wet flies it also adds a bit of weight which is not a bad thing.
art
Head cement, eh? I hadn’t thought of simply gluing it at the tie-in/tie-off spots. Sometimes it might just be easier than expected…
I’m curious how you think that metal isn’t as much fun to work with. The downsides I see to it are cost, and the fact that it can tarnish over time. When wrapping a tinsel body, if you lose your grip on mylar, it comes completely unwrapped, and you have to start over. With metal, only the last wrap or two comes loose, and you usually don’t have to start all over. Plus, with mylar, I usually coat the “down” side with head cement before wrapping, and that’s one more step I don’t have to deal with when using metal.
You’re absolutely right about weight, to me it’s one of the main reasons to use tinsel in the first place (except, of course, on dry flies, where mylar has a real advantage.)