Misadventures with wire on the fly

As I wrote about in my last weekly update, I’m learning how to tie flies. Tonight I wanted to try tying some nymphs in order to practice my whip finishing and work with wire, which I hadn’t tried yet.

I decided to try tying The Shetland Killer.

The Shetland Killer

Unfortunately I didn’t have the right size wire, so I went rummaging through every drawer in the house to see what I could possibly use. Here is what I found:

Some very fine wire for fly tying that came with a cheap kit I bought

Florist wire

Old Radioshack solder

Bead stringing wire, nylon coated

Okay, maybe I can work with something here. I gave each one a try and see how it does.

I tried the ultra fine wire from Colorado Angler Supply (seems like this isn’t a real manufacturer, just a repackager/reseller with multiple websites under different names with the same cheap stuff, not recommended) first. I had to wrap it a lot to get any kind of bulk, and even then the nymph came out pretty skinny. Not terrible, but not worth the effort of all that wrapping.

Second I tried the solder. This was the thickest and easier to work with, but I think it came out too fat. At .050, the solder is twice the thickness of the wire fly tiers typically use for these nymphs.

Next, the florist wire. This stuff was a great thickness, but way too rigid and difficult to work with. I had to wrap it with pliers and use wire cutters. If I tried to tie a bunch of these it would take 3x as long as it should.

Last I tried the bead stringing wire, which was probably the worst of the bunch overall. It is covered in nylon so it is slick and wouldn’t stick to the hook, and it is really hard to cut. I had to wrap a lot of thread around it to bind it down and keep it in place, all while struggling to keep it from unwrapping. Definitely not using that again.

I wanted to tie 5 overall tonight, so I tied a second one with the florist wire, the best middle ground option I have tonight of size and pliability. I think those two came out the best.

In-progress shot with the florist wire:

The five I tied tonight using the four different kinds of wire and Shetland Spindrift 423 Burnt Ochre yarn.

From L to R: Ultra thin wire, .050 solder, florist wire, florist wire, bead stringing wire.

I’m happy to report that I’m getting better with the whip finisher. It is starting to click for me.

The main lesson I learned tonight: They make specialized wire for fly tying for a reason. The size and pliability matter. I definitely want to keep doing this and tie some more nymphs in different colors, so I ordered some proper lead wire in .020, .030, and .040 sizes.

I’m also starting to see the limitations of sewing thread. It frays easily and doesn’t lay very smoothly. So I ordered some proper fly tying thread, too. Thankfully these materials are fairly inexpensive, and a single spool can tie hundreds of flies.

On these photos: Instead of my phone, I might need to get out my SLR again. I think the 50mm prime lens would do a nice job with showing the detail on these flies. More to come.

The wire and thread should be here in a couple days, so I’ll try again soon!