Thread bodies?

[vicrider 0]

I use thread bodies on most of the soft hackles. That's MOST. I also use wire bodies and glass beads and other things that strike my fancy. Right now I'm tying some midges for the midge swap. Did a bunch of #20 classic tail, dubbing and hackle. The easy ones.

 

Now I'm working on some #22 parachute black thread midges. These are not a hard tie but a lot more time consuming. I use a 90 denier silk for body, two tiny flashes at tail, then tie if off and Flexament both ends. Then I switch to 17/0 uni-thread for parachute stem. Superglue the hackle and base after tying in hackle, then wind hackle and use the whip finish with head cement on thread trick to finish it off. Cute little buggers that a friend of mine swears by for stubborn tailwater midge feeders. The hook is a fine wire #22 Caddis short shank because when I ordered my hooks they were out of #24.

[Crackaig 0]

Sounds like a good midge pattern, I suspect the short shank #22 will fish better than the #24s. Gap is everything in small flies. I try to tie them with as much of the dressing on top of the hook shank as possible to keep what little gap you have open. also the wider gap puts the hook point further from the hook shank meaning the fly is more likely to present correctly sitting on its parachute.

 

One thing I have found helps the presentation of small flies like this is to tie them on with a fixed loop. It lets the fly swing when buffeted by the current. A knot that clinches tight tends to give a stiffness to the presentation.

 

When I'm out on the water thinking of flies as disposable gives me a freedom to cast to fish in difficult locations. If the fish is under a tree, for example, I'm not concerned about loosing a fly to the branches. That is one reason most of my fishing flies are simple. Thread bodies are about as simple as these things get. If the body is trashed by a fish so what, I've caught a fish. Tie on another fly, and catch another. I really don't consider trying to make my flies indestructible. I'd rather go for simple and easy to replace.

 

Cheers,

C.

[Alpine4x4 0]

I tie all my chironomids with thread bodies that get wrapped with flash and wire.

[gr8outdoorz 0]

I tie LOTS of thread body flies. There are lots of different threads at crafts stores that create different body styles/sizes. As said before, I find it better to coat with Sally Hansen before wrapping the thread. IMHO it tends to darken the color too much if applied after.

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi 1hook,

 

We used tying thread for the bodies on all of our smaller flies. It is just as durable as floss, etc. We've found Danville tying thread will really lay nice and flat but other thread are good options as well. To improve the durability you can use a fine wire rib or some type of coating as already mentioned earlier in this thread. Take care & ...