FLY TYING CHENILLE, Mylar, SWISS STRAW, & YARN

 


                                             
                               Chenille                                        Mylar Tube 

                                            
                           Swiss Straw                                  Fly Tying Yarn

As the hot sun comes up across the high canyon wall, scorching the fast water at your feet, you know it’s time to change rigs. You tie on a Zonker Minnow and an intermediate sink tip. Hearing the bunny strip and Mylar tubing zip and zap past your ear with each false cast is a good sound, a comforting sound. Such is another afternoon on your favorite stretch of fly water.

 

Creating structure and movement in an artificial fly is extremely important. When tying all kinds of flies, constructing a convincing body profile can often be achieved by employing chenille, Mylar braid, Swiss straw, or yarn.


Chenille
This tying material has the look and feel of a limp pipe cleaner – and it’s available in just about all the same colors! It is most often used in the construction of bodies of many nymph patterns. Chenille can create many different effects a tyer may want to achieve. It is available in many colors, textures, diameters, and degrees of “flash” or “sparkle.”



Mylar Tube 
A by product of the development of Dacron in the early 1950s, Mylar is extremely durable, heat resistant, and a great insulator. It is used in a range of industrial applications today and is also a great fly tying material. Use this flexible and durable Mylar tubing for realistic minnow bodies. It’s also a necessary material for tying Zonker fly patterns.



Swiss Straw 
Many fly tying recipes call for a natural material called raffia, a material traditionally harvested from a species of palm tree found in Africa, Madagascar, or Central and South America. When you either don’t want to use raffia or don’t have any on hand at your fly tying bench, Swiss straw will do the trick. This synthetic product simulates the look and feel of natural raffia, and has become a standard material for Caddis Emergers, Sowbugs and scuds, or constructing wing cases.


Fly Tying Yarn
Yarn is most commonly used in tying winter steelhead food: brightly colored small egg patterns and glo-bugs. But there are other useful and productive fly tying and fishing applications for this material, including nymph bodies with loads of realistic movement and yarn strike indicators. Fly tying yarn is available in a wide variety of colors and can even be used to create long, fishy tails and is great in the construction of leech patterns.