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Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 5:09 pm
by Solitaryflyguy
Hi all,
New guy here to the forum, my name is Bob.
I’m in my 60’s and have been blessed/cursed with the tying affliction a bit over 50yrs. For those that remember their catalogue, I tied commercially for Kaufmann’s in Oregon back in the day. Having said all that, I consider myself a amateur at this game.
I’m wondering if anyone here has any experience with the above threads and may have any thoughts, observations, comments or made any comparisons of them to the old Pearsall silks. I welcome any comments.
Thanks for your time,
Bob

Here’s a size 14 “light” wet I came up with recently for trout swinging on the Deschutes

Image

Re: Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 7:52 pm
by Partsman
Welcome solitaryflyguy, that is a very nice tie. I can’t really comment on the two threads you have inquired about as I only have the empherea. But I’m really looking at other options such as yli, which may have a wider range of colors. If you do a search here I’m sure you will get a huge amount of info silk threads and subs for persalls.
Mike.

Re: Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 8:04 pm
by Roadkill
Welcome Bob!

Sorry I have never used those silks, but I love the fly. I have replaced my Persall's I have run out of with Kimono & YLI.

Back in the 80's as a born again flytyer, I cut up my Kaufman's catalogue and put the photos of flies I wanted to tie in 18 compartment Plano boxes. ;)

Re: Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:09 pm
by DOUGSDEN
Geeze Bob! Nothing "ammetuerish" about this pattern or your tying skills! It's beautiful!
Please show us more!
Dougsden

Re: Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:11 pm
by DOUGSDEN
Sorry about the mis-spelling above! Is there a spell check icon somewhere on this page? Obviously, I can use it!
D.

Re: Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:36 pm
by Solitaryflyguy
Thanks Partsman and Roadkill for the kind words. Partsman, how is the Ephemera working out for you ?
Roadkill, that’s an elegant solution to the age old problem of fly storage ;)
Curious if there is a YLI reference/color comparison chart numbers to Pearsalls hidy holed somewhere on the forum ?
Thanks again !

Re: Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:46 pm
by Solitaryflyguy
Dougsden,
Thank you so much for that ! and I will post more flies ;)
It appears that new members may need to wait until their replies and posts are viewed by a moderator for a while ? I understand the reasons why thanks to the keyboard commando’s of the world…… hopefully I can add something to the conversation and not detract from it

Re: Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2022 8:24 am
by Ron Eagle Elk
Hi Solitaryflyguy. Nice to see some younger folks, like yourself, joining in (just turned 76 myself). That's a good looking fly. Any chance of a materials list for someone to blatantly steal it.

I tried the ephemera silk and found it to be a bit to thick and didn't have the finish of Pearsall's. Seemed to be a bit rough. I wound up giving it all away to a young guy just starting to tie spiders and flymphs, along with a bit of cobblers wax.

Carl Sanders, AKA Old Hat, did a fine article on using Kimono 100 silk as a substitute for Pearsall's. I started using that and prefer it to any of the others I've tried. He also matched colors of Kimono to Pearsall's which is very helpful.

Here's a link to that post. viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8845

Welcome aboard. Pretty great bunch of tyers here, very friendly bunch. Fly swaps here are stellar, very well run and some outstanding flies are shared around. Hope to see more of your fine work.

Re: Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:28 am
by hankaye
Solitaryflyguy, Howdy;

Welcome aboard, Nice intro.

As mentioned by Ron, there are some threads about the different 'threads'.
Materials/SBS/video demos. & Reference Materials are 2 good places to
start looking for conversations. So, settle in and have a good time.

hank

Re: Ephemera and Semperfli silk threads

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2022 11:33 am
by ronr
Great fly Bob... I too have used both YLI and Kimono and the color charts supplied by Old Hat have been great. The Semperfli I tried wasn't great, My wife had some in her quilting supplies, but it seems to be a little rough and thick for my tastes. Never bought any after using the wife's supply for a test.

Hope you enjoy the forum as much as I have since discovering it a few years ago. I am much more of an amateur than are you, and learn a lot from the great folks who share their work here.