You can use the extra on your underwear

Singlebarbed reader “TwoRod” has pointed us all towards saving a few bucks. His comment about 1/4” clear elastic as a substitute for the commercial “Super Shrimp Foil / Scud Back” products is the best replacement I’ve seen yet.

I went to eBay to see whether it can be purchased cheaper than the retail link Tworod included – and there’s a couple of truckloads available from a vendor (eBay store link) in New York.

Six bucks for 50 yards (auction link) with a satin finish. It appears tougher and much longer lived than the commercial products I’ve tried – and may last multiple seasons. The satin finish takes permanent felt pen quite well, allowing you to fiddle with colors and patterns with minimal fuss.

I picked up a 100 yards of the material hoping I wouldn’t have to purchase it every season like the finer tippets.

Even that may have been a little ambitious as the resulting pile is about the size of half a loaf of bread.

I’ll string a hank on a tree limb to gauge its resistance to sunlight degradation, then hope I can impart some of that zeal to some fishing buddies to relieve me of a goodly chunk.

50 yards is plenty, and if prone to significant oxidation you’ll wish you bought half that. The eBay flavor is closer to 3/8” or 1/2” in width – slice it down the middle and it’ll make two strips of the appropriate width.

Tags: Czech nymphs, Scud Back, Super Shrimp Foil, fly tying materials, fly fishing, oxidation, clear elastic strip, eBay