I've often said that all I really need to tie the flies I use most, besides thread and hooks, are a partridge skin, dubbing, and CDC. I can tie damn near anything with some soft bird feathers, a little dubbing, and the fly fisherman's miracle feather. The flies from those materials also happen to form the most effective mayfly, caddis, and midge illusions. Sparse, with movement, and time proven. But of course, I have a shitload of other feathers, furs, synthetics, and boxes full of materials purchased over 4 decades to "save me money on flies!"
This season I added Organza ribbon, which has quickly become one of my favorite body materials. It has a little shine to it, floats when I need it to, and still can hang down great for an emerger. It's little filaments that make it look "buggy" can be cut for length, making any abdomen from dun smooth to crawling-nymph fuzzy. It's a joy to tie with. I'm using it anywhere I'd use pheasant, hare, biots, or thread. I don't need to rib it. It has a segmented look to it when wrapped.
It lacks the tradition and "natural" look of a real feather, but makes up for it in durability and sheen. I can keep tying north country spiders with silk and game birds when I want to be traditional. Its easy to carry and store, just a small rolled up section of ribbon wraps dozens of hooks. I bought 425 yards of it in 17 different colors for $11.99 at Amazon. A few lifetimes worth at one penny per foot! The strip is cut from both sides of the ribbon, so one foot of ribbon equals two feet of body material.
I'm reaching for it often to replace dubbing, thread, and biot bodies on my Shuttlecocks (Moles), cripples, emergers, and soft hackles.
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| Trimmed close to wrap a smooth body. |
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| Just the ribbon with no filaments on this CDC version of the Missing Link. |
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| My favorite pre-wrap trim, Just fuzzy enough to be a perfect pheasant substitute. The marabou tail on this emerger moves much like the real nymph. |
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| A little fuzzier abdomen. |
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| Fibers stripped a little longer for a really fuzzy look. |
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| This ribbon has a little thicker fibers that make it more flashy. |
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| Set for life |
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| The working strips are cut from the sides of the ribbon. Choose your width and fiber length. |
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