FLYMPH FORUM

Good evening folks,
Does anyone know why W.C. Stewart would have used dark brown tying silk on his famous black spiders? Was there not such a thing at that moment in angling history? Or was it to enhance some features of the natural insect that he was immitating? I have been tying some of his spider patterns lately and I went back to the orig. receipe (or so I think) and low and behold, it lists dark brown as the tying thread and underbody to the hackle itself.
Any thoughts or comments?
Curious George

As a dyer I can offer this: until fairly recently the very best black for silk was logwood with an iron mordant. Sometimes enough iron was used, such as for a silk scarf, that it added considerable weight so the garment draped solidly. The downside to iron is that it is corrosive (think rust). So maybe in those days black thread broke too easily. Bill

Thanks fellows!
This is interesting stuff! And it makes perfect sense. While I was tying these patterns, I did wax lightly almost the entire length of tying thread and it did darken it considerably almost but not quite to a black tone. The tying thread was Benecchi 12/0 in dark brown. I was trying to be true to the orig. receipe and I was pleasantly surprised at the results of waxing the dark brown thread. Gosh, you learn a little something everyday on this venue! Thanks guys for the interesting and informative responses. Truly world class!
Always learning D.

I did tie a few with black tying thread (again the Benecchi brand in 12/0) and unless each one is held up to the sunlight, one cannot tell much of a difference in tone.

And maybe Stewart merely wanted some contrasting color to show in the body much as we use a different color silk to show through the body of our Flymphs. After all the color of the hackles name the different Stewart spiders not the body color.

Is there any thread dyeing reason for the Red Spider to be tied with yellow silk? Stewart doesn't even name the color of silk for the Dun Spider, I often use tan, olive, or yellow.

Dang good questions Roadkill. I Don't know!
Uninformed but would like to know more,
Doug

Roadkill wrote:
Is there any thread dyeing reason for the Red Spider to be tied with yellow silk? Stewart doesn't even name the color of silk for the Dun Spider, I often use tan, olive, or yellow.

Stewart did not name it and that is why we use yellow or primrose ( no 3 pearsalls) because that was in his time the most used colour.

Greeting


Ruard

Ruard wrote:

Roadkill wrote: ...that was in his time the most used colour.

Good point.

We know from Ronalds' The Fly-Fisher's Entomology (and others at the time) many colors (and shades of color) including browns, yellows, reds, greens, orange and even purple were used for trout not to mention Salmon flies. As Blacker said in The Art of Fly-Making "There is a very beautiful silk of all colours to be had on spools, which ribbons are made of, that works very finely on the hook..."

I think many anglers used what was available in the lady of the house sewing basket and most weren't concerned about thread color unless the silk was to show as part of the body. Some of the earlier tyers like Younger seemed more concerned about the shade of the dubbing mix than tying thread color. I think that is why many old patterns don't list a tying thread color. I vary my thread color for it's intended insect to mimic. Dun hackles lend themselves to many mayflies.