Our pick of the best tools and materials
Inner glow
Nymph-It by Tyer’s-Mate is now distributed by UpAvon Fly Fishing, which has reintroduced a range of key colours. What’s great about Nymph-It is that its strong, twisted thread with added flash can be used in a bobbin holder and wound like regular thread. It can be quickly and neatly applied over large areas, such as bodies. It’s thin enough (1/100in) to wind in touching turns on a Spider and can be built up in multiple layers. That’s why it’s popular for trout and grayling nymph bodies such as Perdigons and Czech nymphs, where the addition of coats of varnish or resin transforms its flash to give bodies a gorgeous inner glow. It can also be used as a tail (with or without other materials) or to form flashy (but not too flashy) ribs and can be built up into thoraxes or heads to create attractive hotspots.
UpAvon sells seven standard threads with a base flash of copper: Copper Tan, Copper Black, Copper Fl Orange, Copper Fl Pink, Copper Shrimp, Copper Yellow and Copper White; as well as five UV colours: UV Black, UV Blue, UV Fl Pink, UV Lavender and UV White. More colours are planned. 25m per spool.
Tyer’s Mate Copper Nymph-It, £3.40 Contact Upavon Fly Fishing Tel 01757 333001 Web upavonflyfishing.co.uk
Classic proportions
A thread with flash that forms attractive nymph bodies.
Hatch ready?
If you go down to the river today, you may see a hatch of pale watery duns, a few blue winged olives and, if you stick at it, the best evening spinner fishing of the season. You’ll therefore need to be ready with the correct patterns. The discerning trout hunter should consider trying these additions to Semperfli’s Classic Waxed thread range. Four new colours are Wood Duck, Burnt Orange, Rusty Brown and Watery Olive, all suitable for nymph, dry-fly, emerger and spinner phases of the hatches and falls mentioned. They are ideal for wispy Spider patterns, too, and available in three thicknesses: 12/0 (thicker), 8/0 and 6/0 (thin). We suggest 12/0 and 8/0 for novices and 6/0 when you have mastered their use and moved on to more refined patterns and techniques.
Each is waxed to better accept dubbings and splits when creating dubbing loops.
These are lovely synthetic threads for tying in the traditional sense. 220m
