i’m at work, shh don’t tell my boss, and I’m not a very good fly tyer, but the thought just hit me, can chenille work on a dry fly in stead of dubbing? i know it won’t look as good or match a hatch as well, but for warm water fish will it work? or will it be to heavy and sink? The thought just hit me and it’ll be a couple of weeks before I get a chance to go fishing to find out. So i thought I’d post it here.
to be honest though, in a couple of weeks I’ll probably forget to try it and see.
Micro chenille, or vernille, works, especially if you put floatant into it. The kind which is larger and more furry soaks up water and sinks. Most dries use either water resistant furs from creatures which live in streams, or water resistant synthetic materials.
That being said, I love the Amy’s Ant, which uses Estaz [sp?] type of synthetic sparkle chenille.
Question…
Which dry bug would you be wanting to mimic with a furry chenille body, instead of something sleeker?
I was really thinking about the FOTW, the foam butted caddis. Obviously it’ll float, but if you replaced the foam with chenille, and used it for a hopper pattern??? I was thinking that it would float for a while, and then maybe sink? just like a real dead terrestrial would, therefore giving it a more real quality. I’m probably just way overthinking it, but the Foam Butted Caddis seems like such a simple tie that I can probably manage it and its got me excited to try.
Your idea of a floater that sinks has some merit, but that would be only for the first cast. After the chenille absorbs water it would sink every time. That might still work, but wouldn’t be a floating fly anymore. FYI, I actually have experience with stunned hoppers in the water. A few years ago while helping to stock a stream, we wondered if the fish were acclimatizing. Some hoppers were streamside. One was caught and thrown in the water. Its struggles attracted a trout, which ate it. Another hopper was captured and thrown in the water too hard - it did not move and may have been dead. It did not struggle and sunk to the bottom - ignored.
If you use chenille, you should probably put on some rubber legs for movement, to ensure enough action to attract fish.
Greg,
I may be wrong, but I assume a few false casts will dry it out enough to work again? I’m not sure, rubber legs is a great idea though.
thanks for your help,
hNt
For bream, etc., I have added cactus chenille under hopper patterns, etc., but I recently tied a size 4 gurgler and added some eyelash yarn to the lower part, per James Smith’s suggestion. It is very fishing looking to his fisherman, it will probably get wet t his weekend, the Lord willing.
In todays world of fly tying, getting regular old chenile to stay afloat is not really an issue.
There are several waterproofing chemicals available that will waterproof any porous material. We are no longer restricted to the naturally water shedding materials from the past for surface presentations. Cotton thread, chenille, rabbit fur, wool dubbings and yarns, etc. can all be treated to keep them from absorbing water, thus making them suitable for surface patterns.
Just get some waterproofing liquid and dip the flies in it after they are tied. Let them cure. Go fish them.
