With little help forthcoming from you chaps, I took a chance with another double sawbuck to land Coverite Microlite, another model fabric that doubles as our favorite nymph skin.

Coverite stretches nicely unlike the prior mylar variant I tested. Reinforcing the notion that I’ve found the industry, but the exact material remains at large. Coverite Microlite is close enough to the original Magic Shrimp foil that outside of the lack of colors available, my search is over.

I took one look at the Transparent Green and had to own it.

Yank the cardboard tube out of the center, grab a pair of scissors and simply cut the end of the roll in slices. Two minutes later you’ve got a bagful of 72” strands of 1/4″ or 3/8″ wide Czech nymph material. The roll is 6 ft long, 27 inches wide, and runs about $12 retail.

With that last haul of ancient Mustad hooks, I’ve replaced the expensive foreign scud hooks with a 2X strong Mustad 234B.

It’s a Ring eye, Japanned black,  reversed point, and the extra strength is capable of handling a little bending without falling apart like standard wire hooks.

Bottom-bouncing with heavy nymphs means standard wire will be straightened (weakened) on snags – and the unforged extra strong can resist snags much better,  and I can straighten the hook back to original shape without fear of weakening it measurably.

I bend the last quarter of the shank downward to give it the familiar Czech profile.

It brings back those fond memories from the Eighties; if the right shape wasn’t available we made that too. Thirty years later we’re in the same boat only we lack even the sturdy hooks to bend and twist to our will.

Tags: czech nymphs, mustad hooks, extra strong hooks, magic shrimp foil, vinyl covering, model airplanes, Mustad 234B, reversed point, japanned black, ring eye, short shank, fly tying materials, fly tying blog