Most of you swore next season would see you with fly boxes bulging – and absolutely nothing has been accomplished despite the mighty oaths to the contrary.

I’ve always used the Exorcist model of offseason restock – wherein book or article induced “possessions” fight over my immortal soul, and the result is one less agonizing chore.

The last two were induced by Reed Curry and the Czech Nymphing tome. Reed’s stimulus I’ve not yet shown as I’m in no mood to be laughed at – and while some of Czech patterns have been revealed, it’s some of the materials that caused my jaw to grow stern …

Scud Back or Magic Shrimp Skin is a material that costs ungodly coin, and simply needs to have its source identified before I can sleep nights. Small packs costing $5 or $10 are the bane of fly tying – and while I substitute vinyl sandwich bags freely – I’m still tormented by the search.

The material is a 2 mil vinyl tape (or sheet) that is quite stretchy, semi transparent, and possesses a gloss finish on one side and dull on the other.

Permanent felt pens and a Glad sandwich bag are my favorite substitute – just sneak into the mail room and use their paper cutter to make all the strips you need for less than penny…

Sandwich bags are about 2 mil thick, and the larger Zip Loc flavors are about 3 mil, either works wonderfully.

Teflon tape (for wrapping plumbing pipe threads) works elegantly, but it’s a might slippery and comes only in white.

Construction flagging tape is 2 mil and has all the florescent colors. It’s the tape tied to the surveyor stakes – and depending on roll size and width it’s about $2 for a couple hundred feet. It also has no adhesive backing – which is a plus…

Vinyl tape is mostly solid colors (link is to 6 mil to show colors) – but transparent solids are available. Sold in many thicknesses it’s available in 2 mil and used to mark electrical wires, adorn hula hoops, and a wide variety of other uses. The adhesive can be removed with toluene or alcohol (depends on the type of adhesive used) and yields shiny on one side and dull on the reverse.

Available in sizes from 1/16” to 3” wide. It may be best suited as the strips only need to be about two inches long for a completed fly. A wide tape would allow you to cut each strip across the tape rather than lengthwise and

Electrician’s tape comes in a dozen colors besides black, and while mostly sold in 7 mil, other sizes are available. It works admirably as a Czech nymph carapace, as will the transparent Kapton tape – used to insulate circuit boards from solder.

Most of these tapes are made for outdoor use and are UV treated to resist the effects of sunlight. Magic Shrimp Foil and their ilk strike me as having the same issue as latex, a one season fly. Open your box the following winter to find the material cracked and in little pieces.

Above is florescent pink surveyor’s tape tied as a large caddis pupa. You’ll be giggling no doubt – but once Shad season starts in earnest it may dawn on you that the Czech style may be used for something other than trout …

… it’s all part of the Exorcist method, get possessed then tie everything that way including dry flies …

I may run this through the American to see what them steelhead think …

Tags: flagging tape, Czech nymph, cheapskate, magic shrimp skin, scud back, vinyl tape, fly tying materials, glad sandwich bags,