Difference in materials?

[MrDucky]

I'm new to tying, and just found a great recipe, that calls for vernille. How different is that from chenille? Will it make a large difference in action, or can I get away with using chenille? I'm curious how much difference it makes if I substitute one item for something else in ANY recipe. I suppose if it works, I'm a hero, and if not, I'm just another silly fly tyer who got lazy!

(By the way, is "tyer" a word? It doesn't look right, but neither does "tier"!)

[Danoinark]

Ducky

Vernile is micro chenille. So its smaller than Chenille. Using chenille instead could make your fly larger than is supposed to be.

Dano

[Okieflyfisher53]

Vernille is also more plush

than regular chennile. Look for a product called "Ultra Chenille". It is the same thing as vernille. It is the stuff that is used to tie San Juan Worms, and for that application, regular chenille just doesn't work as well.

Steve

[Terry Beeson]

MrDucky,

What Dano and Steve said...

As for substituting materials, I do a lot of that when tying. For instance, I'll have a recipe that calls for mallard flank and all I have is wood duck flank. I'll tie it and many times it is acceptable or even BETTER to my eyes. Fly tying, you'll find, has two schools of thought... the strictly by the book school and the very inovative and experimental school. I suppose I belong to the experimental group.

Keep in mind that you are tying a fly to entice a fish first and to imitate a food source second. Chenille vs. Vernille is a matter of size and "plush"-ness. Chenille comes in several "sizes" and the use depends on the "fatness" of the fly you are tying. But the main thing is when it is tied, will it look like dinner to the fish?

In my opinion, many flies hook many more fishermen than they do fish. I've been in fly shops with a multitude of flies on display for sale. One shop in particular the main tyer came up to me and pointed out a fly. I told him it looked like it would not catch anything. He told me he had trouble GIVING them away much less selling them, but that it was one of his most productive flies. He gave me one and I took it to the river that afternoon. Sure enough, I had a really good afternoon of fishing that fly.

So, my advice (for what it's worth and that ain't much) is to experiment with different materials. Keep in mind that just because YOU think it looks good doesn't mean the fish will think so. As well, I've had flies that I tied and thought "that will scare the fish off" and then decided to try it with good results.

[Danoinark]

Also Ducky, next time in a craft or hobby store, ie: Hobby Lobby or Joann's etc don't forget to check out all of the "fly tying" supplies. You can find an abudnance of "experimental" tying materials for the frugal fly tyer.

Dano

[jjtroutbum]

Well Terry beat me to this one. Im in the belief that flys are designed primarly for fishermen rather than fish and that exparaments that have positive results are even better than a replica of someone elses artistic reprodution (which I also belive is rewarding)

[jOrOb]

One of my favorite things to do is to tie using ABM (available bench materials). It I don't have the specific material called for, I just try to substitute whatever I have on hand and see if I can make it work. I also enjoy using hobby lobby tying materials.

I say just try it. If you don't like how the fly looks, cut it off and start again.

I would however add that I do enjoy reproducing some of the classic patterns exactly from time to time.