January 4, 2009

Vote for Pedro

I've been monkeying around with some glimmer chenille lately; It's brilliant stuff. I'm having a devil of a time trying to identify it's trade name, and the manufacturer of the product. I've found a couple of sources that look close the the product, but I'm not positive if it's the real thing or not. They sell the product at Sportsman's Warehouse, but $1.50 for two yards of material doesn't cut it for me. I almost used an entire card last week. I need a skein of this stuff like a fat guy needs his BBQ.

Glimmer chenille is very similar to estaz, crystal chenille, and polar chenille. It's wrapped on the string a bit sparser than most chenilles, and composes the right amount of mylar/flash and nylon fibers. The width of the fibers is smaller than cactus chenille. The fibers tend to lay flat when wrapped on a card, so it makes for great pseudo hackle when palmered on a hook. I love the look of peacock herl, but herl fibers are so fragile. The glimmer chenille is quite durable and hardy, and makes beautifully full thorax sections and collars.

The sparse fibers on this chenille reminds me of a scraggly mustache. Picture Pedro Sanchez. I tied a up a few dozen Copper Johns with the glimmer chenille in place of the peacock herl for the thorax. Somehow, the moniker Copper Juan, just seemed to fit. Here's a few photos of the pattern, utilizing a light tent that I'm experimenting with.

copper juan
black copper juan
green copper juan
I also like the look of the glimmer chenille for thorax sections on caddis pupa patterns. Here's a couple versions of Fox's Poopah caddis nymph pattern.

Fox's Poopah
alt Fox's Poopah
purple Fox's Poopah
These patterns should fish well. Cheers!


- the roughfisher


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4 comments:

  1. lookin good. The light box tests are coming along well.

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  2. Got-damn man. Those look great. I'd like to have a few of those.

    Are those #14? How thick is the "cord" to which the glimmer is attached? I'm wondering about winding some on a 16-18 and trimming it a bit with scissors.

    Really though, I do like peacock herl. I agree that it is fragile... However, at the rate I lose nymphs, I rarely even see a herl-break-emergency situation. I don't even use head cement on trout nymphs, as I assume they'll have a very short life.

    Nice hook gap, BTW.

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  3. Those are all on size 10s. The scud hooks are Tiemco 2457s and the nymph hooks are the Mustad Signature R90 4X heavy nymph hooks. I've got some of these tied on size 12 TMC 2457s and I picked up a pack of size 14s yesterday to tide me over until I get my hook order placed here soon.

    The cord on the chenille is fairly small, about the same diameter as the medium ultra wire shown (28 guage), but of course it will compress. I'd be more concerned with the length of the fibers on smaller flies, but it shouldn't be an issue if you are going to trim them up a bit. Next time you go to the Cities, stop by Sportsmans Warehouse in Woodbury or Coon Rapids. Hopefully they should still have some glimmer chenille left. The Fargo branch is completely out, as I cleaned them out of their stock a few weeks ago. Bummer.

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  4. Lucky!

    Ever take them on any sweet water?

    I like these, I bet they are as effective as copper johns, but quicker to tie.

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