[domantas]

Trying to get back into the tying game and "upgrade" some of my materials. One of them is floss. I would like to hear what you guys are using today. It surely would be nice to know a supply where I can acquire a wide array of colors in one shot. I been using unifloss but I dont like the way it lays down. Anyone utilizes their fine tying thread to serve the purpose?

Another question. I been using fine white or black thread to build underbody tapers. Am I missing out something. I know Lagartun offers underbody floss but wasnt sure if its necessary and if I should just keep it simple and use tying thread?

Lots of great tyiers here that gave me insparation to start tying more elegant flies as of late, thank you all.

 

[Back Eddy]

Nylon Stretch

For underbodies for me

 

[whiskeyjin]

I'm using Danville 4 stand ...that's good enough for me...I don't tie fancy flies for wall and UTC 140 thread you can built for under body .





Jin

 

[MZilliox]

use any floss you can find. ao feathers imported floss has great colors. Unithread is fine. I use thread for underbodies, trick is just to take your time. For the silk, in the strand there are multi strands... separate them. tags i use a tiny bit, bodies a couple strands.

 

[kevin200100]

i use french silk or danville on fishing flies and japan silk on display. it more about the underbody being smooth then the silk u use. i usw utc 70 and 140 for under bodies on fishing flies i use the gutt and tag end lf materials to form taper

 

[s fontinalis]

I generally use the fly components tied the fully length of the shank to build up under bodies.

For floss bodies themselves I use Japanese silk almost exclusively now, formerly I used Danville 4 stand

 

[flytyer]

The best floss is the Japanese silk floss. The next best floss I've found is the French silk from Lagartun. In my opinion, the least favorable flosses are the Pearsells from the UK, there are a bit too coarse.

I even use Japanese silk it on classic featherwing (married wings too) that I'm going to fish.

Floss than can be used in a bobbin is a good thing to use when tying things such as Ally's Shrimps, Cascades, Glasso speys, etc. My favorite is Uni-Stretch because is comes in great colors and its florescent colors are superb. Danville Stretch is pretty good, but I don't like it as well as the Uni-Stretch and it doesn't have the same great colors Uni-Stretch comes in. I also use Uni-Floss, especially black, which is used for the front body section of Ally's Shrimp that have a black front section for one simple reason, it is thicker than most so it only requires a single layer of floss instead of two. Danville fl. single-strand nylon is nice to work with, it lays nice and flat and has come colors, such as its fl. yellow chartreuse, fl. flame, and fl. blue that aren't available in Uni-Stretch, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Danville Stretch Nylon comes in the same colors as its single-strand nylon and it is nicer to work with. You absolutely must either paint the shank white with white correction fluid, or put down a layer of flat silver tinsel and then tie the Danville Fl. Single-strand Nylon over it or it will darken very badly and lose its "glow".

Danville Flat-waxed Nylon (and other 210 denier flat nylon threads) are great for spinning deer body hair, but have much to be desired for forming floss bodies. Not the least of the problems with using it as a body is it is waxed, which is great for a tying thread, but darkens and picks up dust and lint when used as a floss. It also doesn't lay quite right because the wax keeps it from having a nice, clean overlap. And since it is only 210 denier, it takes a lot of it to form a floss body when compared to other flosses.

I only use thread for underbodies.

 

[kova1385]

the lagartun silk is my favorite.

danvilles 4 strand rayon 300 is great if you dont care about it being real silk, just use a single strand of it for extra smooth bodys

 

[failtospey]

Dont forget to burnish the under body and floss if you're not happy with the wavy or bumpy body.

 

[Hardyreels]

Another vote for Lagartun silk from me

 

[fredaevans]

Great thread going here. Loving it!

The fellows above have forgotten more than I know but the one thing I'd like to add is use an under lay of flat silver tinsel under the floss. The shine of floss will go 'blah' when wet; over silver it will 'glow in the dark' when wet.

:smokin:

 

[24-7]

Domantas:

Here's a comparison I did some time ago. Maybe it will help

dg

 

[domantas]

You guys are great! Thank you all for participation.

After a bit of research I came down to japanese silk made by JAC. Offered in +250 colors and is favored by many classic atlantic salmon fly tiers. Im thinking about picking up their sample palet with all 250 examples and hopefully tie a few to see if it really is that good.

I would jump on Lagartun floss but I feel that the color availability and selection is hard to source. I cant find brown Lagartun, and even black is hard to come by.

Does Lagartun have a full online catalog to view? What colors of Lagartun French silk is offered?

Nevermind... just opened above attached file. Unbelievable!

 

[GR8LAKES FLYER]

I bounce between Danville and UNI-floss . UNI-Stretch is very nice as well , but my stock is very limited .
My flies are for fishing and as long as I like the colour is all that matters .

Thank you for the document Dave


Mike

 

[fish0n4evr]

Keep it simple for sure. I like the tinsel underbodies because it will reflect light through silk in a way that thread will never do. Lagartun multi-stand French silk is just ok - lots of vibrant colors, but it is best to unwind the strands before using otherwise it tends to bulk-up quickly and it is not nearly as strong as the JEC. Danville Nylon floss is very good - strong and binds down tighter than a 4 strand silk. JEC is awesome - single strand and strong.

 

[ramcatt]

Surprised to see no mention of the Alec Jackson floss
I really like it

 

[fish0n4evr]

Japanese Embroidery silk is essentially the same item/product as Alec Jackson - top shelf!

 

[gt05254]

Adding to Dave's (24-7) excellent info, here's a floss comparison I did sometime ago. I use Gordon Griffiths floss almost exclusively for red, orange, chartreuse, green and yellow.
http://theriverscourse.blogspot.com/2011/08/floss-flavors.html

and I did a little experiment aimed at showing, for fishing flies, the differences various "under the floss" materials create:
http://theriverscourse.blogspot.com/2011/06/whats-under-your-floss.html

and a little trick for keeping a floss butt in place:
http://theriverscourse.blogspot.com/2011/04/locking-down-your-butt.html

I love the way Gordon Griffiths floss lights up a salmon fly's butt:


Gary

 

[domantas]

http://jecstore.com/index.php/threads/sample-card-set-silk-threads.html#.VJZ7c8l8A

Im strongly considering this palet. I emailed them asking if small quantaties can be used from it.

 

[s fontinalis]

http://jecstore.com/index.php/threads/sample-card-set-silk-threads.html#.VJZ7c8l8A

Im strongly considering this palet. I emailed them asking if small quantaties can be used from it.

Look on amazon for flat japanese silk.you can get 60 different color spools with about 30 yards of floss per spool. Works about about $3.50 per spool....shipped from Japan too, so authentic stuff