Wayne's introduction to trailing shucks came in the early 1990s with a synthetic yarn that was introduced into the fly-tying market by John Betts that he called Z-lon. He showed the material along with some fly-tying applications to John Juracek and Craig Mathews, then co-owners of Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, Montana. They shared its use as a trailing shuck along with additional tying applications to several people, including Wayne. Since then, a myriad of fly patterns have been developed that use this yarn in a variety of ways designed to fool an array of fish species. The material has been dyed, wrapped, twisted, torqued, burned, bent, dubbed, and bruised into numerous fly designs.
The article will describe some applications dealing primarily with trailing shucks for caddis, mayfly and midge flies using the yarn brought to our attention by Betts as well as a variety of other materials for you to consider.
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