Sorry, It is Uni-Stretch…
I am using more and more of the Uni-Stretch thread for ribbing. You can completely control the “size” of it by tightening/loosening/twisting the material and adjusting tension on it.
I used it this morning on this Western Green Drake pattern.
I use it for underbodies to shape the taper and for color. As you said, by stretching it you can make the shape of the fly pretty much exactly the way you want it.
Joe
I’ve been using it for the body’s on Carrie Stevens style flies, cheaper and easier than floss.
i use it as a substitute for floss on soft hackle bodies
I like Uni-stretch a lot. The stretchieness is useful because it allows some give to hold softer materials without too much tension.
I use it for ribbing and bodies. I also use it to tie in soft materials like squirmy plastic or when I want a wide thread to control flare. I even use it for a super fast, simple but durable tail/shuck.
I originally bought it in the late 90’s to use in forming bodies for one pattern…the Crackleback.
ditto for me, but I add a wire ribbing for durability because I find it shreds easily after a few fish,
A Crackleback using the Uni-Stretch in yellow
Speaking of the Crackleback…in the mid-90’s my buddy and I flew into Denver and drove all over Colorado fly fishing. One place we went was Steamboat Springs. We fished the stream right on the edge of town. Nothing was happening for us. In sort of desperation, I tied on a crackle back. Normally, I fish them as dries. This day, after the swing, I started stripping the fly back in quite quickly. Boom!! Nice trout. It kept up for quite a while. It got to the point where I would see the wake of the trout chasing the fly being stripped back in. That is an exciting feeling…seeing the wake chasing your fly as it is stripped in…
That fly saved my day that day.
I have a big spool in white that I color with markers and use for ribbing on dry flies
Been using the red on Royal Coachman…works great…size 18 to 14…
Good idea. I have spools in a few colors.
I use it mostly for woven flies.
Alberto
Nice ties Byron. That Crackleback, I have a bunch of them I tied a few yrs. back. Never taken a fish on one yet. I’ve tried.
Maybe it’s me but I know how to handle a line on the drift. A friend on another forum swears by them, so, I gave them a good try. Nada!!
You give me a tad more curiosity to try again this spring. If not then they go in the garbage…
Jeremy,
I would keep a few handy. I think when Caddis are hatching, or around the water, they may work. The stripping retrieve, as I mentioned, has worked in the past anyway…for me.
I used to fish Bennett Spring in Missouri, and a lady I know who has/had a shop there swears by them!!
When I saw her fishing, I would ask what she was using. Almost always was a crackleback in late afternoon/early evening.