Doug Swisher markets rubber legs that are run through small vinyl tubes, so that they stand out from the body. Haven’t tried them, but it sounds like a good idea. Even better, I bought a foam PMX that had the tubes for support, but each one had 2 legs coming out of it. Anybody know what this could be called? Or seen them somewhere?
Have only seen them on his web site, but I’m puzzled about the niche this supposedly fills. If you look at rubber legs in the water, they pretty much stick out they way the are tied in, with very little movement, or at least this is the behavior I have observed on patterns such as the Girdle Bug. This is one of the reasons so many tiers have replaced the traditional rubber legs with Super Floss, Sili Legs, or the like which offer greater action. Swisher states the purpose is to minimize fouling, but I just do not see the appeal.
Back to the original question, however, looks like the product is called “Incredible Legs” and you can get them from Swisher’s site at least. I could not find anyone else who carries them.
Using ordinary rubber legs that come in a “ribbon” stuck together, you can accomplish something similar by tying in 2 strips at each leg; tie a knot to the point where you want the extra support and then clip off one leg below the knot. I do that with hopper patterns on the rear legs and tye off the front two legs separately. The local fish are picky and will not bit a fly with too many legs.
The incredible legs look to me as though they are single legs, not double.
They are single with a sheath over the part closest to the fly body, as far as I can tell. I was saying you can accomplish the same type support, to some degree, by using a knotted double leg and clipping the end.
his legs are fine diameter and very flexible hence the need for support. i have seen a video some time back. i can not comment one way or the other on their effectiveness
So, will incorporating these ‘legs’ into whatever pattern you had been using ‘other’ leg material result in a different outcome?