Hi Gang, triying to tie up some gummy
minnows. Having trouble with pulling the backing off the sili skin without stretching
the material alot. Anyone ever used Sili Skin and had sucsess?
Bruce
TO AUTUMN SUN,
TO GOLDEN ALE,
TO ROD and GUN,
TO WILY QUAIL,
Hi Brew. Try emailing Blane Chocklett at [url=http://www.blueridgeflyfishers.com:ec206]www.blueridgeflyfishers.com[/url:ec206] He is one of the inventors of sili skin, I’ll bet he’d have some tips for you. he’s a really nice guy, I buy alot of my tying materials in his shop. I’ll never forget the day I was in his shop and asked about how to tie a particular pattern, but I didn’t have a certain material for the pattern. He was out of it, but walked over to this really BIG roll top desk that is his tying station, and fished out a small handfull of the material I needed and gave it to me, no charge. He’s always very helpful.
“There’s a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot”
Thanks HareBear I’ll email Blane and see if he has any tips.
“Anyone ever used Sili Skin and had sucsess?”
I purchased several packages from Blane at the Somerset, NJ show two years ago after watching him demonstrate the tying of his gummi minnow. He certainly knows how to “handle” that SiliSkin, that’s for sure! What’s also for sure is that most of the rest of us flytiers (based on my conversations with flytying friends) can’t handle that SiliSkin. I’ve had lots of frustrating problems managing the material and even returned what I hadn’t used for a refund because of its sticking to everything but the area I wanted it to stick to. It’s just impossible to work with and, since there are so many other flies which produce for me, I gave up on SiliSkin. Just FYI, I wouldn’t fret too much about this “hot” fly tying material. I’d bypass it and stick to other proven tying materials. Just my .02 worth, that is!
I have used Sili-Skin to tie a few Gummi-type minnows. I’m not sure if it could be called ‘successfully’. They don’t look too bad, but the same colors and patterns move much better in the water tied ‘Puglisi’, or High-Tie style, with Angel Hair, and Sea Fibers. Polar Fleece is great, as well. The Gummis just move like a jig, with no life.
[This message has been edited by Gigmaster (edited 26 April 2006).]
I use often, though I steer clear of tying gummi minnows with it. I haven’t had problems peeling the backing. In fact, some times the ends curl away on their own. I’ve had some problem when I wrapping it around the underbody. I just have to take my time so that it doesn’t stick together on the bottom before I want it too. The other secret is to try not to stretch it when you’re covering the underbody. I’ve had decent success with the minnow patterns I tie, but again they’re not gummi-minnows. I’ll have to wait a bit to see how the poppers work.
Sili skin is tough to use but not impossible. I haven’t tried making any gummy minnows for some of the reasons stated, (Basically, lifeless material, kind of pricey too). But, if you have a paper cutter with a disc type blade you can have all kinds of fun with the material. Cut into thin strips it makes great body wrap. (my first attempt I used a razor blade, bad idea since the material doesn’t cut with sliding pressure too well and the backing was tough too.) And too bad the colors suck for buggy patterns, another complaint of mine but I used the pris. gold and it’s not bad, except I can’t find it anywhere now, 3 separate companies all back ordered… Anyone know if they’re having manufacturing problems or something??
Also, oddly enough when I cut it into thin strips it was fairly easy to work with, didn’t stick to itself so much but a couple if times it did and yeah, good luck with that.
I will post a pick of an ammonite nymph I tied using sili skin for the body tonight.
Any tips on posting a pic? I’ve never down it on this site.
Thanks,
Jeff
Jeff:
Try getting hold of some MOP sili skin. It’s translucent, so you can use thread to give you color, or you can add your own with a permanent marker. I came across some interesting colors that Orvis was unloading for $1 a pack this summer. The best was prismatic silver, but there was “belly white”, pink and silver MOP pattern. Another good color for bugs is Oil Slick/Black MOP.
Hi Philly,
Thanks for the suggestions. I have MOP and most of the standard colors, oil slick etc… I don’t think I’ve seen the black MOP or silver MOP but I’ll look around. I think I have the pris silver. I liked the gold, stretched out it was really transluscent but yet still “goldy” just like a caddis pupa/schuck. (hmm. did I spell that right…) I will post a pic ASAP but been working 100hr/week so not much time lately…