Stillwater Solutions Fly Tieing Materials...

[chauchey]

Does anyone have a review on these? Whats the quality like on them? Has anyone used them and found them to catch more fish? I know they're Brian and Phils personal brand of fly materials that they designed for flies used in the BC interior.

[knotnot]

I received a pile of the Stillwater Solutions products for Christmas.
Wife got all one brand and went for this because I have a couple bags in my collection.

[johnk]

I don't know if their product line is superior but one thing I can tell you is that some of their shades of dye lots are spot on for what I tie. They have shades of olive and brown that are indispensible and I can't find anywhere else. Their product is a little pricey and I wouldn't use it for tying commercially but for my own patterns it is not an extreme hardship.

One complaint I do have is the quality of the materials has fallen off a bit since the line was first introduced. The dye lots seem to have stayed fairly consistent though and that is important as I'm sure we've all had a hot tying material where all of a sudden the dye lot changed and the product fell out of favour.

[knotnot]

Thanks for the info johnk.
My favorite seems to be the Sparkle Blend Dubbing.
The feathers all seem decent throughout a couple bags I have gone through.

[johnk]

Yes, that sparkle blend dubbing looks quite nice. Brian ties with it on his new DVD via the Turbo Dubbing Block and it looks a bit coarse though I haven't tried it firsthand. He recommends boiling water in a cup and putting the newly tied flies in and then put the cup in the microwave. This usually helps the flies hold a slender leechlike shape.

I still have a bunch of dark maroon el paca dubbing that I scooped up before Roots Flytying went belly up and I add my own flash to that. There is no finer or softer leech dubbing anywhere and I don't know what I'll do when I'm all out. I can get llama from Canadianllama.com but it doesn't compare to the el paca. That is the material I'll be using for the leech Fly Swap.

[knotnot]

I will have to experiment with that boiling water/microwave trick.
Even if it is just to see my wife's reaction when a mystery cup is in the microwave.
I have never used llama , sounds like it is really worth having.
Thanks for the canadianllama link.

[johnk]

Forgot to mention, Kent from Canadian Llama has llamas available to good homes. No charge, all you have to do is feed and groom!:doh:

[professori]

Unless the technology has radically changed, metal (i.e. hooks, beads etc.) doesn't mate very nicely with microwave ovens.

[knotnot]

Worth trying to get more info before having a small lightning storm in the kitchen.

[chauchey]

Unless the technology has radically changed, metal (i.e. hooks, beads etc.) doesn't mate very nicely with microwave ovens.

I had to wonder as well...so my question is...

"does it make a difference if its submerged in water?"