…They really do my head in! Tying a Czech Nymph in my eyes is very time consuming, when you consider the fact that you will probably loose it to a tree or a hefty boulder. The work that goes into such flies for it to be left behind after a few casts seems unnecessary when you could tie 3x pheasant tails, or a couple of grubby glistery things which look relatively czech nymphy.

Last night I was sitting at the vice looking at some of the old wools and flosses we used to use for weaving when I came across a piece of material which looked lovely for thorax covers. It was a sort of braid type material, a mixture of pink, pearl and a nylon type material. I remember picking it up in a bargain bucket somewhere for less than 50p! I sat and scoured the web for all of five minutes when I came across something more or less identical , UTC Midge Sparkle Braid.

What I like about this material is the speed in which it creates the body. Being braid it stretches to an extent, so at the thinner point of the body all you need to do is pull tight and release as you want the body to gradually get thicker. I preferred leaving a tiny gap between each turn of braid as it let the rib lay between each turn, giving a brilliant segmented look, just like the real thing! In seconds, it creates the perfect buggy profile.

Needless to say I’ve just ordered a few spools of this in a couple of different colours. If I was you, I’d try it out too if you think czech nymphs are time consuming or it breaks your heart loosing such a masterpiece.