Devil’s Advocate and Morus Silk

[Theroe]

Morus Silk is only a re-branded Langley Silk at a huge cost increase. However, when you consider the extortionate prices some are charging for a spool of modern Pearsall's it brings Morus back into focus. There are lots of suitable silk threads out there, and half of the fun in flytying is separating the wheat from the chaff. As well as finding some hidden jems

Nice find, Rob -

Is there any chance that you could unwind a piece of silk from each of those spools and post a close-up picture so we could see the actual colors and texture?

Dana

[redietz]

Old Hat’s comment reminded me of a story that I read. In the past; Irish fishermen would rough up the silk bodies on their flies for greater fish appeal.

I find that the fish rough up the bodies soon enough without any extra effort on my part.

[NedZeppelin]

Reading the above, the issue with Morus seems to be primarily cost. If you drop that (momentarily) as a consideration is there any consensus that Morus is pretty close to Pearsall’s, or is there disagreement in whether even that is true? The “Cult of Pearsall’s” as the sole E&L decreed silk of choice still seems an enduring “requirement” for true North Country flies (at least until Rob Smith’s new book comes out and declares the cult over and finished.) ;^ ) If Morus is not an authentic descendant of and therefore “the same as” Pearsall’s then the requirement is not fulfilled and that’s where the other perfectly usable brands step in to fill the void. I arrived at the soft hackle epiphany relatively recently, with Pearsall’s costing the same as or more than Morus, if you could find it, and had already concluded the chapter on Pearsall’s is closed, and that other silk threads would have to do. For me, marginal cost differences are not relevant, I just want to use the best. I am pretty sure the trout do not care.

[driftless]

Even Pearsall's did not stick with their "original colors". Subtle changes were made over the years. The silks available from YLI & Kimono are close enough to Pearsall's colors to not make any difference at all.

Close enough is good enough in horseshoes, hand grenades ...and Pearsall's colors. The trout will not care, and are they not the final judge?

[daringduffer]

To put things into perspective, how much money do you spend on silk, fur and feather on an average fishing trip and how much on petrol? And what does your trout want? Probably not your car.

How many flies can you tie from a spool of silk and how many do you lose in a season? I fish a lot less than I need to and I don't lose many flies. I tie a lot more flies than I need, partly because I fish too seldom. It's not the price of fly tying materials that worry me.

dd

[letumgo]

I fish a lot less than I need to...

dd

Same here, my friend...

[redietz]

To put things into perspective, how much money do you spend on silk, fur and feather on an average fishing trip and how much on petrol? And what does your trout want? Probably not your car.

How many flies can you tie from a spool of silk and how many do you lose in a season? I fish a lot less than I need to and I don't lose many flies. I tie a lot more flies than I need, partly because I fish too seldom. It's not the price of fly tying materials that worry me.

I completely agree. The price of thread, even "expensive" thread is in the noise when it comes to what I spend on angling.

I've probably spent more on leaders and tippet material the last year than I have on silk thread in the last twenty, and I tie with silk a lot. I don't want to even think about what I spend on transportation, lodging, meals on the road, etc.