Organza Ribbon

The summer has been beyond busy for me.   Little in the way of fishing or golf yet a lot of time at work.  Even with the air conditioner going when I get home the house is still a little too warm to sit down to tie with the evening sun beating on the tying room window.  To even things out I've spent a lot of after work hours splashing around in the pool and enjoying adult beverages.

Today I was able to catch up a little on some much needed sleep.  Then I found myself with nothing to do.   So I decided to unpack the last of my boxes containing fly tying materials. (That's only took 2/12 years!)  Inside one of the boxes were a couple of large patches of beautiful white Australian sheep (from seat covers), various fox tails and 8-rolls of organza ribbon.  I had plum forgot all about the ribbon, but grabbing the first roll immediately made me think of quite a few patterns that I use to tie with this sparkling material.  

It should come at no surprise that Organza is an awesome winging material for various patterns.  One of favorite uses was cutting a small patch and utilizing wing burners to create caddis wings.  I still use it quite a bit for wings and gills on midge patterns

While organza is still a viable tying option I don't see it used very often these days.  I imagine with a whole host of new materials Organza gets lost in the shuffle of the "latest and greatest" that catches the tier's eye.

In addition to winging material organza ribbon makes for an awesome effect when used as a ribbing on caddis, stonefly, damsel and dragon patterns.  I sat down and decided to toy with adding organza to one of my euro patterns.   It looks pretty darn good.  If I was a fish...

You can purchase organza ribbon at any notions/craft store.  More than likely it will not be marked "organza," but look for the bright sheen/sheer and you'll be in business.  If you have a little patience to wait on overseas shipping from China, where organza originates, I recommend Amazon.  You find a ton of different colors and widths to utilize.

Materials

Hook:  Fulling Mill Czech Nymph, Sizes 10-14 (size 10 pictured)

Bead:  Tungsten, Fl Orange, size appropriate to hook (3.5MM pictured)

Thread:  6/0 UTC, Dark Brown, or color to match body materials

Underbody:  Uni-stretch, white, to build up taper.

Ribbing:  Organza, Lt Brown, cut in a taper.

Body:  Perdigone tinsel, #223 Dark Brown

Collar:  Hends Spectra Dubbing #335 Dark Brown