Pearsall and Langley Gone, But Others?

[Fish Finder 0]

Pearsall Gossamer and Langley disappeared from the market.  I purchased Ephemera (made in France) and Morus (made in UK) as a replacement for silk thread suitable for fly tying.  Are there other silk threads available?

[chugbug27 0]

The bamboo rod making guys seem happy with YLI, but they use a ton of thread. Here's a review from a soft hackle guy

https://wiflyfisher.com/YLI-Silk-Thread-Review.asp

Haven't tried it. 

You can also still find Pearsall's around

https://reelseats.com/collections/pearsall-gossamer-6-0-thread

 

[samsonboi 0]

Morus is essentially Pearsalls. It’s made on the same equipment and dye recipes.

[flykid 0]

I have recently been using YLI for tying classic salmon flies off the recommendation of another classic tyer. I have been enjoying it so far and it's nice to buy a large spool compared to gossamer (looks like Morus is the comparable now). Looks like you get 200m with YLI and 45 with Morus, so I'm happy with the price. I haven't looked into the color selection of YLI since I only use White and Black for my purposes, but on first glance there appears to be a good selection.

[DFoster 0]

At the Fly Fishing show there were several vendors selling Pearsall in almost every color.  Not inexpensive though, I believe I paid about $6 per spool.

[cphubert 0]

I use YLI for classics, wets, spiders, & soft hackles. very happy great color selections and +1 on the large spools.

[Old Hat 0]

Most of the substitutes are listed here.  There are subtle differences between all of them which I'm sure the fish won't notice.  Color matching can be an issue with some of the brands as well as cost.  Morus is going to be the closest substitute available for Pearsall's but you are going to pay for that.  The Ephemera brand is a nice silk thread but is thicker and has a rough texture to it which causes it to change color quite a bit when wet.  It  is a nice effect actually, but not really a good Pearsall's substitute, plus its color matching is not really there.  If you are waxing your silk, the Ephemera almost gets a matted appearance.  YLI 100 is the most common substitute for tying silk bodied flies at the moment.  Some of the colors match well, there are some colors of Pearsall that YLI just doesn't have.  Thickness is a good match, maybe just a slight thicker.  YLI is easy to source which is nice.  The other silk thread you don't hear about much is Kimono 100.  I really like this silk thread.  It has some great color matches to Pearsall's, especially some of the harder to find colors like ash and orange 6B.  It is the thinnest of all the silk threads but very strong and it has that Pearsall's sheen and feel to it when you are tying.  The Kimono 100 is the most economical of all the silks and is also easy to source like the YLI.  The Kimono 100's biggest issue is it comes on a slightly large spool and is difficult to fit into all but the biggest bobbin holders for tying.  I use the Kimono for almost all my silk tying now. 

Here is a wet comparison photo of the substitutes mentioned with the exception of Moru$.

From left to right in Primose shade....Kimono 100.  YLI 100.  Ephemera.  Pearsall. 

[Old Hat 0]

This is the YLI color comparison chart to date.  YLI on the left with its best match Pearsall.  This comparison was compiled by Robert Smith a historical  authority on Pearsall's silks and North Country spiders.

 

YLI Silk Vintage Silks from Edmonds & Lee Deluxe Edition

216 = Hot Orange (19)

231 = Gold (6A)

261 = Primrose (3)

214 = Yellow (4)

244 = Purple (8)

213 = Straw (2)

258 = Claret (14)

? = 6B

241 = Golden Olive (11)

201 = Scarlet(11a)

208 = Blue (7)

232 = Grey(9A)

? = Dk Claret(15)

? = Olive (16)

BLK = Black (9)

WHT6 = White (1)

[Old Hat 0]

Here is my color match for Kimono 100 and Pearsall's.

[chugbug27 0]

29 minutes ago, Old Hat said:

From left to right in Primose shade....Kimono 100.  YLI 100.  Ephemera.  Pearsall. 

@Old Hat are these wet? Thanks for posting.

[Moshup 0]

Thanks for the info Old Hat !  Helpful.

[Old Hat 0]

4 hours ago, chugbug27 said:

@Old Hat are these wet? Thanks for posting.

Sorry, meant to post that.  Yes these are the threads wet.

 

[chugbug27 0]

Thanks. I asked because you captured the glow of the silk on the hook in the light, really well. I've always heard that's why people like pearsall's for soft hackles (color and glow). Now I get it. 

[pstock 0]

Has anyone tried Semperfli's "Pure Silk" (https://www.semperfli.net/pure-silk.html)? The color range seems limited....

Cheers,

David

[terp 0]

I bought 54 Dean Street's Ephemera and I find that it breaks too easily when tying (even when changing bobbins).  Plus the flies are shredded after 1-2 fish.  Adding resin changes the color and probably stymies the translucency when the fly is wet.  It also seaps backwards into the entire body when applied to head in any volume.  I may need to switch to old fashioned lacquer.

Pearsall's almost never broke, and even after 10 fish there's just a little fuzz on the silk.  Pearsall's is a bit thicker, but I also I suspect it may have been manfucatured/twisted in a manner creating more durability.  To test this I'm going to twist the Ephemera and see if this changes matters, and whether it still lays flat enough.

I'm curious if anyone else has had this experience with Ephemera, and whether YLI, Morus or Semperfli are any better in this regard.  Bob Smith, soft hackle guru, suggests YLI to match the Persall's shades, but re: Semperfli Pure Silk says he "wouldn't touch it with a barge pole."  There's an interesting discussion here: https://www.flyfishing.co.uk/threads/robert-smith-what-thread.389379/

This guy compares YLI to Pearsall's shades, and says they have a thicker diameter (which may help with strength? -- but Bob Smith says YLI #100 Silk Threads are the same diameter as Pearsalls): https://wiflyfisher.com/YLI-Silk-Thread-Review.asp#:~:text=Although YLI silk thread is,see in my photos below.  Ephemera 

Morus can be bought here (listed as their only US "stockist" -- https://morus-silk.com/stockists/?v=79cba1185463😞https://www.gunpowdercustomtackle.com/product-page/morus-silk-superfine .  Most colors are sold out and it's $8.25/spool for what looks like the small Pearsall's sized spool.

Semperfli has a good story here, but I'm nervous about Bob's comment above: https://semperfli.us/shades-of-silk-semperfli-pure-silks-released/

Then there's Kimono.

So happy I've found a new OCD object with silk threads.  In the back of my head I know "the fish don't care" but I guess I care more than they do.  I know real silk is semi-translucent when wet, so that's what I'm hanging my hat on to propel my newfound silk thread obsession.  Otherwise I realize I could just use any thread.