SYNTHETICS

[steelie 0]

Good Day,

 

Oh just blame Global warming - after all it responsible for everything wrong int he world right now...

 

I have been tying flies for nearly twenty years. I use both synthetic and natural materials. To me each material has it's own unique properties. There are some things natural materials do that synthetics can not and vice versa. For example, nothing moves in the water quite the way marbou does, and nothing sparkles in the water like synthetics. Both have their place in the realm of tying IMHO.

 

Steelie

[flykid 0]

Steelie, did you see the guy selling alpaca fur at Mason? He had a fly with a tail of alpaca in a bowl of water. He shook the fly a little and that stuff came to life! Pretty cool.

 

 

p.s If you don't remember I'm the kid that came over to your table with my dad at about noon on Saturday.

[Linesides 0]

Let me just add that I can't stop using synthetics EP 3d LOOKS TOO DAMN REAL IN SALTWATER, espicially baitfish belly and menhaden.

[JSzymczyk 0]

I've been convinced by this thread. From now on I'm only using hooks which I make from snake bones, and I'm only using nightcrawlers. Totally biodegradable. I feel better already.

[Olórin 0]

Don't forget to use your horse hair fly line on your bamboo rod! :devil:

 

- Olórin

[Kenneth K 0]

if you're going to worry about dudes losing a few estaz flies here and there, think about all the rapalas and rubber worms snagged on the bottom of lakes from the bass fisherman. what about all the lead head jigs with curly tails snagged in the trees by the crappie guys.

 

as john stossel would say, "give me a break"

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

well all out of synthetic seal dubbing guess I better go kill a seal so I can get some biodegradable dubbing

[oatka 0]

well all out of synthetic seal dubbing guess I better go kill a seal so I can get some biodegradable dubbing

 

can you kill 2? i need some too!

[purolohi kalastaja 0]

well all out of synthetic seal dubbing guess I better go kill a seal so I can get some biodegradable dubbing

 

can you kill 2? i need some too!

 

Ohh No! Duck, here comes PETA.... :help:

 

I mentioned to a co-worker that I had bought some seal fur from FeathersMC and she went off on a rant about clubbing baby seals, etc. Even when I told her that the seal fur probably came from some long-dead source like Russian Army coats or something (not sure, really) she still flipped out!

 

After considering her position, maybe we should all switch to sythetics because of all the animals we are killing by using their fur, feathers, hides, etc. :hyst:

[steelie 0]

Good Day,

 

Flykid - you bet I remember! Haha... I love alpaca too! Great stuff indeed!

 

Kenneth K - Indeed - there are a lot more bass fishermen out there than fly fishers.

 

One more thing I was thinking of - when fishing for certain "toothy" species of fish (bluefish, pike, spanish makeral, and so on) a fly made of natural materials wil be shredded quite quickly. Sometimes not even making it through one fishing battle. Where as a fly built with synthetic material will last far longer.

 

Steelie

[dontheo 0]

Ok, I just want to understand everyone. Even though there are a lot of plastic sandwich bags made there are only a limited number of fly fishing people and only a few who take a sandwich in a plastic bag, so it's ok to toss the bag in the water when done. It's just a little bag and there is so much other pollutants in the water that it does not make sense. Plus most bags are used away from the water.

 

That's your logic. Every pike fly is like a plastic bag in terms of content.

[day5 0]

I have no idea how I missed this post....... BUT I once lost a WHOLE BOX OF FLIES! IN A RIVER!!!!!!!! and the fish seem to be rebounding ok from the disaster. Not only was I concerned with the craft fur mylar and ribbing but some of them had LEAD in them. yes LEAD!!!!!

 

Is there a "shakin you head in amazement" smiley?

 

Hey Oatka if you put your recyclables in the big dumpster they would not blow around and make litter in your hood!

[Dale 0]

Well, I've held my tongue through a bunch of these types of threads. Lets look at the big picture; all of us play a part in keeping the environment clean. We do the best we can and apply the three 'Rs' to make this a better world. This is how I do it; I take my recycleables out to the curb in a large PLASTIC bin. Then I take my gargage out in a large PLASTIC bag that contains a bunch of PLASTIC that is not recycleable. The garbage truck (that is made with lots of PLASTIC parts) picks up my stuff using diesel fuel and takes my stuff to a landfill where it is buried, so my grandchildren can clean that up in 100 years. I then turn off my lights (made from tungsten elements if they're incandesent or mercury coatings if they're the new 'environmentally friendly' compact flouresents) to save electricity. Then I drive my truck (that's full of plastic parts) to the local river (using fuel that pollutes the environment) so I can enjoy some fly fishing. While there, I pick up crap left by others so I can take it home to recycle it and the whole cycle starts again. . . . .

BUT, I feel better about it because I removed the crap from the stream!

[purolohi kalastaja 0]

Ok, I just want to understand everyone. Even though there are a lot of plastic sandwich bags made there are only a limited number of fly fishing people and only a few who take a sandwich in a plastic bag, so it's ok to toss the bag in the water when done. It's just a little bag and there is so much other pollutants in the water that it does not make sense. Plus most bags are used away from the water.

 

That's your logic. Every pike fly is like a plastic bag in terms of content.

 

Ok, here is my non-smart-@$$ comment for the day:

 

1) I, and I am sure most of us here, don't like pollution any more than the next guy. I would assume that most if not all of us are for protecting the resources we have so that our kids' kids will be able to fish. However, I think that those of us posting realize that there are realistic limitations we should consider. No matter what we do we will never ELIMINATE our human footprint on the environment. I pack out more than I take in when I hike, fish, hunt, camp, etc. Back in the day Berkey Breathed's Bloom County comic had a strip that said it all: the characters were trying to be more "humane" until one of them said "Stop! Quit breathing. We're killing millions of germs with every breath!" (or something to that effect.)

 

2) no one here is advocating throwing the bag in the water and leaving it there on purpose, but the reality is that we cannot eliminate every synthetic aspect of our sport. Not every pike fly that hits the water stays there when we're done fishing.

 

3) As stated in my seal fur post, no matter WHAT material we use, some one will object.

 

While I applaud your intent, I just can't see it being realistic to expect every flyfisherperson to stop using ANY type of synthetic material in fishing. Where do we draw the line? (no pun intended).

 

IMHO, this expectation is akin to those who expect that every trout fisherperson release every single fish caught. 100 fish days in 80 degree weather probably kill more fish even if every fish is released, than one poor guy who keeps his limit to feed his family on a cool spring day.

 

Thanks for the debate, though.

 

-pk

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

synthetic silk gut?