Ribbing on nymphs

[mike_richardson]

I find myself being partial to using vinyl rib on my larger hair/fur nymphs hair/fur instead of gold ribbing or wire. I think it gives it more of a natural look.

Has anyone seen more sucess with using wire for these as well. I typically like my nymphs to be "buggy" with guard hairs exposed. I fount when ribbing with wire, even larger diameter it gets lost in the fur.

 

[BradFromPotter]

mike_richardson wrote:
I find myself being partial to using vinyl rib on my larger hair/fur nymphs hair/fur instead of gold ribbing or wire. I think it gives it more of a natural look.

Has anyone seen more sucess with using wire for these as well. I typically like my nymphs to be "buggy" with guard hairs exposed. I fount when ribbing with wire, even larger diameter it gets lost in the fur.

If you're using wire or vinyl that's too large for the fly you're tying you're going to trap many of the guard hairs. I use wire all the time & never have trouble getting my larger nymphs buggy.

 

[mike_richardson]

my issue is not with them looking bugg it is with the wire rib sinking down into the hair and not being visible. On some patterns i wrap the vinyl over the dubbed body, then brush/pick out fibers if it covers them up.

 

[JackM]

Get it wet and see if the wire is visible. Wire was originally used for weight as well as segmentation.

 

[BradFromPotter]

mike_richardson wrote:
my issue is not with them looking bugg it is with the wire rib sinking down into the hair and not being visible. On some patterns i wrap the vinyl over the dubbed body, then brush/pick out fibers if it covers them up.

sorry, sometimes my eyes go faster then what I have for a brain

 

[mike_richardson]

Its cool brad. I contemplated upping the gage of wire. I am not a fan of wire ribbing but can see its benifits for what Jack had noted. I will dunk them in a cup and see what they look like. I was amazed at how many bubbles became trapped in one of the larva patterns I tie with muskrat dubbing. Also a few off my more "buggy" hares ear patterns.

 

[troutbert]

The original Hares Ear nymph used tinsel rib. That is wide enough that it is very visible even when the dubbing is very buggy.

I prefer using wire on the Hares Ear nymph, because it provides some subtle flash, but not too much. Whether the trout agree, I'm not sure.

Also, you can just use copper wire stripped from old electrical cord. The price is right.

I don't like the look of the vinyl rib. It's looks like plastic; because it is plastic.

If you want to use something that's non-flashy, you can just use heavy thread.

 

[mike_richardson]

i am on the other end of the spectrum on the vinyl ribbing. I like the translucent appearsance on it. I may go down fron nymph to small on the size from now on for my smaller patterns.

 

[troutbert]

mike_richardson wrote:
i am on the other end of the spectrum on the vinyl ribbing. I like the translucent appearsance on it. I may go down fron nymph to small on the size from now on for my smaller patterns.

Going to a smaller diameter vinyl ribbing is a good idea, and will be closer to the look of the segmentation of real nymphs, IMHO.

 

[nfrechet]

try reverse wrapping the ribbing so that it stays on top of the dubbing rather than being buried in the valley of the wraps

 

[dubthethorax]

Fly D&K body quill. They have natural colors as well as UV. You pay for it, but it looks awesome.

 

[lv2nymph]

mike_richardson wrote:
i am on the other end of the spectrum on the vinyl ribbing. I like the translucent appearsance on it. I may go down fron nymph to small on the size from now on for my smaller patterns.

I think this is a good idea.

 

[GenCon]

mike_ richardson, I like the vinyl rib as well. I agree it is translucent. I also like it on larger fly's. But I think your question was is it better or has anyone had more success with it. That being said I use both wire and vinyl rib. I can't really say which is better. But one thing I learned a long time ago use what you like and most likely it will work. But if someone feels one or the other is better I will listen and learn.

GenCon

 

[osprey]

By vinyl , do you mean strips cut from a sheet of vinyl , thin for ribbing or do you mean vinyl like mini swannundaze from a spool or a card? I only use wire in dubbing/ribbing for protection of a ribbing material that is fragile , if you wrap the wire over the fragile material it provides some protection from teeth and from forceps upon release. It also adds a little additional weight.

 

[nfrechet]

vinyl rib = v-rib = d-rib = swannundaze (mini) etc

 

[FrequentTyer]

Monofilament makes a nice ribbing material, and you probably already have spools in a variety of sizes. I've been using Polly Rosborough's dubbing method which gives a surprisingly good segmentation without additional ribbing. And as Dub pointed out above, quills make very nice segmented bodies.
Does wire work better? Nobody can answer that question. If I am ribbing a fly and want flash and weight I use wire, if I just want flash I use tinsel or very light wire, and if I'm going for a realistic look I use monofilament or tying thread. They all work sometimes.
Mike.

 

[outsider]

I dye monofilament in a variety of colors to use for ribbing, varying the mono diameter for different size flies.