FLYMPH FORUM

I was wondering if silk for rod building is the same for fly tying? I'm not too familiar with silk yet and I'm trying to learn more.

Ever since Pearsall's has gone out of business I have been looking for other brands and thanks to this forum I have found some. I came upon a brand just today that I don't think I have seen mentioned on this forum. It's FishHawk silk. Are any of you familiar with it? And if so, is it good to tie with?

I ask because they seem to have a great color selection.

The rod building thread is about twice the size of the Gossamer usually used on the flies. i have seen it compared to about 4/0 or3/0. Still not bad if your are tying big flies where bulk is useful or not an issue.

The Fishhawk silk that I found on Google search is also 3/0. If your tying big flies it would be okay, if bulk is not a problem.

I still have a pretty good stash of Pearsall's, but for those colors I'm running short of I use the color chart done by Carl and buy Kimono thread. About the size of Peasall's Gossamer and readily available at most sewing centers. It's also a real bargain when compared to silk sold for fly tying.

I’ve used YLI 100 silk threads on most of the 30+ bamboo fly rods that I’ve assembled in the past 20+ years. On only a few, have I used Pearsall Naples or another silk. With the demise of Gossamer, most of my flies are now done with YLI 100 silks.

Bob