yarn

[KOKOEK9 0]

Hi, I can get some black yarn for cheap, but is acrylic or orlon. my question is are acrylic yarns to buoyant for nymphs and steamers

[utyer 0]

No, not at all. When a single strand is used, it compresses quite a bit, and won't be very buoyant. You can always add a bit of lead. .

[hairwing 0]

One thing I personally do is to find the specific gravity of synthetic materials and use it to an advantage tying flies I want to float and flies I want to sink. An example would be Fly-Rite dubbing, advertised as having a Sp G lighter than water, a good thing for dry flies. I found that Nylon was a great sinker, and it's my favorite for Streamers. A steamer tied with nylon will go "ploop" right below the surface. That's an advantage when fishing streams. Floating streamers never worked really good for me as I had to give the fly several yanks to get it under the water to get it "fishing".

Values for Sp G are either side of 1 (the weight of water). So less than 1 makes a good floating material, more than 1 makes a good material for flies you want to sink.

If you google "the specific gravity of Acrylic" you will find it is between 1.14-1.19....heavier than water. That makes a sinker to me.

Fly tying/fly fishing is a puzzle. Keep workin' the puzzle !

[RCFetter 0]

Here's a web site /pdf that talks about Synthetic Tying Material. Not sure if it answers your question but it has some good info.

 

http://www.4hfishing.org/resources/tacklecrafting_pdfs/5a_synthetic_tying_materials.pdf

[phg 0]

Odd lengths of yarn, in assorted colors, were a standard material in many old timer's fly tying kits. On many flies, you can use yarn, of the appropriate color, as a substitute for dubbing.

 

I've never used acrylic yarn for nymphs, but I have used it on streamers many times. It works great! I usually separate it into separate strands (plies), and wrap the fly with only 1 or 2 of them. I have used unseparated yarn as a substitute for chenille on wooly buggers. It works well for that too.

[FlaFly 0]

phg

I wonder if you "dubbed" with acrylic yarn, and soaked it with floatant, or sealed it with a sealer, would it still sink? Somewhere I read about that but I can't remember where.

[caswilso 0]

Oh, now, this is a helpful discussion! Being a knitter, too, I have a ton of yarn stored up all over the place.

 

I have used some acrylic yarn on some flies, but they were meant to be wet flies. So, I'm wondering the same thing as FlaFly. Anyone know?

[phg 0]

If you work floatant into the yarn body, it will resist absorbing water, which should make it float. I can't recall ever using acrylic yarn on a dry fly, though. Still, I wouldn't be afraid to try it. A dry streamer usually floats on the first cast. You have to get the yarn soaked before it will sink.

[mikechell 0]

Anything can be made to float if you:

1) create a tub, to hold it on top of the water, or

2) Make it out of something lighter than water.

 

Most things are denser than water, thus creating a "tub" is the only way to float it. With small dry flies, you can do this by coating them with something that totally repels water. There are coatings that, if sprayed on cloth will make water bead up and run off. The cloth is 100% waterproof as long as the coating holds up. If you coat the acrylic yarn in that same stuff, the fly will float as you've effectively provided a "tub" for the fly to sit in. As long as the water repellent keeps the fibers from breaking the surface tension, you're good to go.

[COMike 0]

Here's a web site /pdf that talks about Synthetic Tying Material. Not sure if it answers your question but it has some good info.

 

http://www.4hfishing.org/resources/tacklecrafting_pdfs/5a_synthetic_tying_materials.pdf

 

RC!

 

Thanks a TON for the article...bookmarked and printed for my Fly Tying Binder!!!!