Ron1697 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 Just came across vinyl ribbing this morning while placing an order for more tying materials. I tie a lot of warm water flies (mainly for bluegill) and one of my go-to's is a rubber band wax worm tied on a size 10 scud hook. Although they look nice enough to fool a common gill, I was wondering if anyone has used vinyl ribbing for a fly like this. I saw UTC makes a D-shaped ribbing material in various sizes and colors. Just wondering what size and color I should go with. Should I buy tan or just lay down a tan thread base and buy clear, any information will help! thanks in advance! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 Size and color of the bugs that are present in the waters you fish Olive red green black etc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron1697 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 I was thinking about the medium size in clear over tan thread. Reason for the clear being I don't want to buy many colors. Will the color of the thread come through well enough? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philly 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 Probably medium would do the trick for a size 10 hook. I don't use it that much. I have a ton of spinner bait skirts that I use for segmented bodies. You might also want to look at red, pink and chartreuse as possible colors. A lot of the aquatic worms are red or pink. One thing I did when I used ribbing was lay down a base of holographic silver tinsel. It adds a bit of flash to the fly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philly 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 The thread will show through the clear. You might want to check out your local craft stores. Somewhere I have a spool of clear medium size that I've used for ribbing. Picked it up in the jewelry making department. Also you can use permanent markers to color the clear. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron1697 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 Awesome! I will check out my local hobby lobby, but if I don't find anything there I will probably just go with UTC med vinyl rib in clear. Thanks everyone for the feedback! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 Just an observation ... maybe wrong. Kimo makes these wonderful UV resin scuds. Flytire and others have tied fantastic flies with D-rib or other clear materials. I use clear UV resin and clear D-rib with the thread colors showing through. So, if these materials are somewhat hard to see in the air, do they disappear in the water? I've looked at the minnows I've done, and I can't see the resin in the water. Of course, that doesn't mean much as, even with my glasses, my eye sight is less than "normal". I've also not caught a lot on those minnows. Is it possible they don't look ANYTHING like I think they do? I'm truly beginning to think that colored resin or D-rib might be better, since it's STILL colored in the water. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron1697 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 Interesting thought mikechell, That does actually make sense. Or, in the case of vinyl ribbing since it is relatively thin, act as a sort of "prism" in a way and "project" the color throughout the rib no matter which angle you look at it from.. I'm sure that colored ribbing in the color you want is the best way to go, but I want to make various colors and don't want to buy all the colors (because I'm stubborn) and want to just buy clear. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philly 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 I'd like to see those minnows of yours, Mike. Years ago, Tony Spezio showed an epoxy minnow that he tied up. He used pearl braid for the body which gave it a silhouette. I never had that much luck with them in fresh water. I did have better luck in salt water which is one reason I wrapped the hook in prismatic silver. I was trying to imitate this. Most fresh water minnows that I've seen aren't this translucent unless they're fry. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 They look like full bodies in the pictures. The UV is clear, and about 1/16 of an inch thick at the widest part of the body. So, in the water, they might actually look a lot "thinner". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2018 Here's a pic of one of the patterns I used to tie for shops.. The center photo in this group of bonefish bugs uses clear vinyl v-rib... Because I only used the clear rib it would allow whatever color was under it (thread, flash, whatever...) to show through... In this case I was using pink pearl Flashabou underneath... You'll find the middle sizes of V-rib most useful - and the stuff is a bit stretchy allowing you to get different effects... This particular pattern was part of the Clear Charlie series and I mostly used 4lb mono as my tying thread... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philly 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2018 Nice, Mike. A bit fancier than the ones I do. I don't see any issues maintaining the profile. Might look a bit thinner in the water. They'd make a good killiefish pattern up here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2018 use tubing for different effects Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2018 Tubing with wire in it, flytire? Looks great !!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DarrellP 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2018 Old timers used clear fishing line over color. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites