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
you know I’m your defected goods whipping boy depot. pass it along
Careful Rough; you may want to dip whatever you get in Nyquil before handling it. The better part of valor might be to leave the diseases of California in California.
Good find! I go through this stuff like crazy.
Assuming I wear underwear…
Thanks for the link. I love this blog, you do all the hard work (thinking) for me.
Gracias amigo.
years ago i was told its the same stuff.
good source
ha ha Igneous! I’ve gotten enough schwag from Cali that I should be pretty well immunized by now.
KB, that sore throat you passed along with that Angelina was fucking brilliant. I could hardly swallow for damn near a week. It’s still sore. Thank you Master!