Pearl ribbing

[maharg]

When I have been tying hoppers and such I have used a medium pearl tinsel doubled up and twisted. It is still pretty delicate and was wondering if anybody could offer something better.
Cheers in advance,
Graham

[arkle]

Have you tried twisting it around some mono-fil tied in at the same spot ?

[Scotty Mitchell]

Graham, i too go through hoppers like bog roll!, iv got myself round to just accepting that they dont last long and i tie more, might be bad tying! I only usually put pearl tinsel ribs on bibio and blacks and i use small tinsel counterwound with very fine mono/flouro. I find this also helps the body "sit in" when th legs are lightly ginked. hope to have helped a wee bit.
Scotty

Arkle kinda beat me to it!

[maharg]

Originally Posted by arkle

Have you tried twisting it around some mono-fil tied in at the same spot ?

Not tried that, good shout

Thought there might have been some type of oval out there somewhere in the depths of the fly dressing cupboard.

p.s. Thanks Scotty

[Chelsea123]

I always used to use stretched pearl mylar as a ribbing,counter wound with fine mono

Neil

[Wee Jimmy]

Originally Posted by maharg

Thought there might have been some type of oval out there somewhere in the depths of the fly dressing cupboard.

Pearl oval is obtainable Graham but it appears white rather than pearl,no substitute at all.

[oakham orange]

If you have any pearl mylar tubing. Take the inside out of it and pull the criss cross pearl material apart. Each one is a great replacement for a medium pearl rib. Maybe its just me but I find it stronger than the stuff that comes on the spool.

Ive used it on a wee dry fly that has been working well this week. Ive caught over 25 trout over the last 3 evenings on this wee fly and no sign whatsoever of the rib coming off.

And i'll be up fishing it again tonite.

[maharg]

Cheers guys, plenty of info' to work with now.

[g1zmo]

I've been using the cheap twisted Pearl krystal flash you can get on ebay something like 130496953294, I find it much stronger than my spool of pearl ribbing. You can also leave it twisted or apply a bit more pressure (and it is really quite tough) and apply it flat.

[Cap'n Fishy]

Aye, it's a pain in the @rse when you spend valuable time tying up a bunch with pearl tinsel ribs and every time you tie one on the first brownie on the mark buggers it.

I've tried all manner of twisting things, but you always seem to end up losing the effect you were after... it's all a bit self-defeating and I end up thinking I'd be as well just using oval gold or silver...

One thing that lasts a wee bit longer is a single strand of certain types of pearl flashabou. In the type I am talking about, each strand has 2 support threads - very fine, but of good strength and resilience - criss-crossing the strand along its length. If you use this stuff, it doesn't stop the fish's teeth @rsing the pearl, but the criss-cross support strands stop it from immediately unravelling. It will keep you going. Each subsequent fish does a bit more damage, and it does gradually get truly frottered, but by the time you decide it has had it, it doesn't owe you anything and you don't mind bringing out a fresh one.

Unfortunately the pack of stuff I have is many years old and the only label on it says '£1.95' - sorry

Col