Articulated Streamer Question

Hey Everyone

I have begun tying some articulated streamers in the past few months. I bought some intruder wire and that works fine. It also is a bit rough on some of the thinner threads I use on some patterns at times. I have seen a few folks using what appears to be heavy mono for connecting the hooks together.

Can some of you please share what you use? For the record, I am mostly fishing for trout and not steelhead at this point. Really big trout sure, but still not steelhead. I would rather use mono and buy it in bulk as well. If you use mono please be specific with brand and lb. test etc... If you have good/bad experiences or other reasons for your choice of line/wire, I would love to hear those as well.

Thanks for your help.

Fish ON

Ty

If you're not already aware, there're several techniques available to make connections. The one I've been using involves Tyger Wire on my patterns. The wire's tied entirely on the front hook as a loop in the manner that Kelley Galloup ties his streamers. You can see this technique in a video on youtube, check out Kelley Galoups, Bottom's Up streamer.

I chose Tyger Wire instead of mono or single strand wire as each has a tendency to curl/kink and is difficult to straighten. Mono will deteriorate over time where Tyger Wire has a soft coating that provides some level of protection and doesn't appear to permanently kink/curl.

There are lots of materials you can use ,if you were connecting a rabbit strip to the stinger I like to use fire wire it's more supple material and it will move and let the fly swim more naturally rather than stiff wire! It is a braided spectra line . It really just depends on what fly you were going to tie ,some people use backing material as well . If you were not tying anything to the stinger, wire is fine but if you are use us a more supple material.

Momo IMO is not durable enough to use on a fly that takes more than 10 minutes to tie. As for the specific wire, I use beadalon 7 strand. It's literally the same thing you buy at he fly shop for 1/50th of the price. Usually like $5 for 30m

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Originally Posted by TaylerW

Momo IMO is not durable enough to use on a fly that takes more than 10 minutes to tie. As for the specific wire, I use beadalon 7 strand. It's literally the same thing you buy at he fly shop for 1/50th of the price. Usually like $5 for 30m

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Thank you all! This has already been super helpful in thinking about possibilities to try and see what I like, movement, tying ease, long term wear and tear etc... I think I will get some of each and play with them. Time to go shopping...again lol.

Tayler, what width and color do you prefer on the Beadalon 7 Strand? I see .010 up through .024 and several sizes in between.

That kinda comes down to personal preference and the breaking strength you want. I shoot for 24lb. Clear is the only thing I have gotten....

Beadalon is supposed to be the same as AFW leader material, so 1x7 strand in .024" should be around 20# test. Kelly Galloup, on youtube.com anyway, supposedly likes 1x19 strand .37mm which is about 17# test. You can find the specs on the AFW web site and make your own choice. Best of luck.

Thank you all! Really very helpful and greatly appreciated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mark Kranhold

There are lots of materials you can use ,if you were connecting a rabbit strip to the stinger I like to use fire wire it's more supple material and it will move and let the fly swim more naturally rather than stiff wire! It is a braided spectra line . It really just depends on what fly you were going to tie ,some people use backing material as well . If you were not tying anything to the stinger, wire is fine but if you are use us a more supple material.

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Mark...your PM box is full. Thanks for the help. Hope your shoulder heals up quickly.

Thanks Ty! I cleaned out inbox.