I want to try tying these two Al Troth patterns, the problem is finding the body material, plastic macrame cord, has proven to be almost impossible. I have been to all my local craft stores and Wal-Mart and so far no luck. In all the craft stores they told me the product is no longer carried. I searched online and found some, but in 100-yard spools, I only want to tie a few of each.
Does anybody on the board have some of this yellow (MacHopper) and orange (MacSalmon) macrame cord that they would be willing to trade/sell to me?
It still comes in 50yd spools, but at less than 4$ a spool you can splurge…Maybe a material swap among other member is in order…
I’m not familiar with the patterns you mentioned, I have tied a salmon fly pattern that used ‘macrame’ cord, but it was tied to the hook after it was combed out into a long fluffy strand. Any poly yarn can substitute…
Alberto…check out the thrift stores…they frequently have macram? hanging basket holders ,and other craft projects from long ago… that people have turned in…need to luck out on the colors though…so an alternative is the handles on those fancy sacks…check out the dollar stores for less expensive sacks…
I’ve done my share of fishing the big salmonfly hatch…[you can look up the official name if you want]…the MacSalmonfly imitates it…and there’s been something that has bothered me about most of the imitations of the salmonfly…they are almost always tied with orange bodies…
The actual insect has a brown slightly reddish [almost mahogany] body and the segments are orange.
I don’t suppose it matters much [to the fish] and the orange may be a key but I tie mine with brownish bodies and create the orange stripe with thread.
Ducksterman are you then still using the macrame yarn for the body then. I would love to see a photo or recipe for it to use tie up some for myself this winter. I have a whole deal of lt brown macrame I picked up at Value Village for $1.
I don’t think the color matters as much as the size and silhouette. Ive caught a lot of stonefly hatches and have caught good trout with black bodies, gray bodies, bright orange bodies and rust bodies. One of my favorite patterns is a twisted foam body. I can get the best of all worlds because the body will have orange, brown, and black twisted together. I could even add some gray if I wanted. It’s a sweet pattern when the fish are up on the stone adults. While the big name rivers get all the attention during stonefly time, I have been amazed at the number of smaller rivers and streams that have these huge bugs. It’s a blast to take the largest fish in these streams with a size 4 stone dry. It’s equally amazing to catch the eight inchers with a huge imitation sticking out of their lip! Great fun!
Go into the fly archives on this site and look for the Twisted Stonefly Adult. It will have the instructions.
I use closed-cell sheet foam from craft stores and cut it in thin strips. You can put two or three colors side by side and then start to twist them. They will double back on each other in the middle. Tie this onto the top of your hook shank and then build the rest of the fly around it. Great look; great floatability and easy!