Denier Discussion Paper

Click on paper's title below to read at its link.  Document is a PDF.

USING DENIER TO STANDARDIZE FLY TYING THREAD

By. Christopher Helm

I find articles like this one to be useful when choosing fly tying thread from various manufacturers.

The Original Disco Yarn

This is a pretty cool yarn, especially if you consider that it has woven-in flash that matches the yarn filament color. I began tying with this yarn nearly 9 years ago. My wife brought home a skein for me to figure out what to do with it and I'm glad she did. I practiced winding it around long hook shanks and, soon, ideas began to form.

The yarn's been discontinued for quite some time. Occasionally, it can be found on eBay. The bait pictured above is tied with two strands of Bernat Disco. The brown strand is called Mr. Brown, I believe. The green one is called Jungle Jive. I gripped the two together and furled them to create the tail. The remainder was palmered over the shank and combed back. Two pieces of boot lace comprise the legs.

Sparkletail

This is my latest tie. It uses Martha Stewart's eyelash yarn over gray chenille yarn and a 3/0 weedless hook. Its googly eyes are mounted on a 1/24-oz. dumbbell behind the hook eye.

Suede-Legged Leechy Kreature

A black and brown creature bait with light-colored rusty brown legs.  Its body length is about 4 to 4.5 inches long.

Materials:

• Eagle Claw Weedless Sproat Hook 249WA-3/0.
• Spirit River Real-Eyes 3/16" - nickel/pearl.
• UTC Ultra Thread 140 denier - rusty brown.
• Premier LashMax Yarn - Black Star and Caffeine.
• The Beadery Suede Lace 1/8" - brown.

LashMax Leech

Been wanting to furl LashMax eyelash yarn for a while. Makes for a somewhat fluffy critter (above water), but I bet it makes a good leech-like creature beneath the surface. Found a description of a tie similar to what I wanted to try here. I substituted LashMax for Disco yarn with mine. Furled colors are Black Star (black) and Electricity (purple). Its hook is an Eagle Claw 249WA-3/0.

Paradise Woolly Baitfish

A jig or a fly?  It's about 3-3.5 inches long.

Materials:

• Spirit River Real-Eyes Plus 7/32" Dumbbell Eyes - nickel/yellow.
• Eagle Claw Weedless Hook 249WA-1/0.
• Bernat Boa Yarn - Mocking Bird #81104.
• Lion Brand Suede Chenille - Ecru (discontinued).
• Danville Flymaster Plus Thread (140 denier) - fl. blue.

Back To Tying...

My latest bass tie is called the Boa Yarn Crawler.  Used a new-to-me technique to make its tail with an eyelash yarn.  It's called furling.

Furling is the process of twisting a section of yarn, attached to the hook shank, so that it will twist onto itself when its tag end is tied back to the shank.

Materials:

• Spirit River Real-Eyes Plus 7/32" Dumbbell Eyes - nickel/yellow.
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Embroidery Thread (40-wt.) - Chona Brown #51.
• Lion Brand Suede Chenille - Canyon (discontinued).
• Bernat Boa Yarn - Dark Mink #46913.
• Kiwi Boot Lace - brown.
• Eagle Claw Weedless Hook 249WA-1/0.

The tail is extremely limp and lightweight.  Total lure length is approximately 5 to 6 inches.