Very nice--I'm afraid my wife's "door prize" sample from the quilt show didn't have these colors...the "Sparkle Silk Tan/Gold" looks outstanding, especially.

Joe-- I'm afraid I've not used the YLI solid colored silk; I was thinking mainly how the variegated variety seemed to be woven a little "looser" than Pearsall's. I doubt it matters much when you're using you're using it as a sub for buttonwhole twist, but pretty tacky wax might be in order...

Joe-- I managed to abscond with the "three-pack" that my wife brought home from a quilt show this summer...definitely has potential, but a bit slippery for this newbie to work with.

Excellent, I think Cookshill was out of plover the last time I looked--definitely want to order at least an English grouse skin from them, as well.

Ruard-- thanks for elaborating...the search for plover begins!

Ruard-- A question for you: are you wrapping the wire brush back toward the eye in open spirals over a thread-base, or do you wrap the brush from the eye toward the hook bend in "touching turns" (as Davey McPhail would say ) and only then come back up toward the eye?

Wow, that might be the "Excalibur" of softhackled flies right there, though it must be funny feeling, feeding Chadwick's yarn into a coffee grinder! :) At any rate, I doubt either 477 or plover will be on my shopping list in the near future, unfortunately, but you really have me convinced ...

Very cool--to my eye, the copper core doesn't darken the thorax much; did you happen to notice anything in natural light? (Though no doubt the weight will be beneficial for getting the fly where it needs to be.) At any rate, it seems like one of those flies that you really need an excuse not to fish...

Ray-- Excellent, thanks for elaborating: that sounds like a great technique, especially for a "slow" tyer like myself. Otherwise, I'm very intriqued by the idea of that "internal" wire providing a bit of depth/segmentation to the proceedings--I have to admit that now that I'm pla...