Lively Legz

[BREECHESANGLER]

I heard about these recently and researched them and they look pretty good. The videos of them being used look like they work pretty good. Wondering if anyone has any experience with these and what you think about them. Thanks, Breeches

 

[gfen]

Just another gimmick, match it with your insect-head-shape bead, a little glow in the dark material, and make sure you "articulate" it for maximum fish catcing ability.

 

[FrequentTyer]

You forgot the UV material!

Chauncy Lively (Absolutely no relation to the "legz") tied very realistic nymph patterns with legs he would make from tying thread and flexible cement. His flys were beautiful, but I don't think even he would have argued that realistic legs were necessary. I think legs on nymphs are important, but the movement of the legs trumps appearence. So I would rather use a bit of partridge or grouse and have it move than use a perfectly sculpted leg with limited movement.
The problem with new fly tying material is that it is hard to make a fly useless by introducing a new material. If you have confidence in your hare's ear nymph, you will probably catch fish with a squirrel nymph or even a synthetic dubbing nymph tied to the same profile, and you might even catch more if you belive you have a magic squirrel hide. My guess is that legz, uv material, glow in the dark et al. are magic squirrel hides.
Mike.

 

[gfen]

Where can I find magic squirrel hide? Does Cabela's carry it or should I just troll garage sales?

 

[FrequentTyer]

gfen wrote:

Where can I find magic squirrel hide? Does Cabela's carry it or should I just troll garage sales?

I've trade marked the name and will be the only source.

 

[JG63]

Millions of trout have been caught on a little ol' bug without legs called the Pheasant Tail - try em anyway "new" gimmicks are always fun and sometimes work too - in spite of the hype.

 

[nfrechet]

whatever you try and tie only matters to the fish anyway

go for it

 

[Leteras]

There really is nothing new fly wise out there just different materials. I think new or different materials are a good thing. It lets you use your imagination to put a twist on your favorite fly. It keeps the fly tyer interested and wanting to try new things. Gimick or not if it gives you confidence in a fly you are tying and fishing I say try it. Will I try lively legs? Maybe. Will it make a difference? It might or it might not but if it makes you want to hit the vise and get out on your favorite stream with something you created then I think it's worth it.

 

[dryflyguy]

Never used lively legs.
But have used something called silly legs for my cicada patterns.
They're just rubber band strings that come in different colors - and some even have sparkles on them.
They worked rather nicely for a big bulky fly like that

 

[Fishidiot]

Me neither.

I tend to like realistic flies and tie most of my patterns to imitate specific bugs or prey species. With that said, these lively legs don't appeal much to me (I'm assuming we're talking here about the pre-cut, template style materials that look like stonefly legs).
I can design cheaper, more durable, and more realistic substitutes when I want them and such substitutes appeal more to me in terms of how I think about the craft and what makes tying fun for me.

 

[mike_richardson]

I picked up 2 packs of these. I figure why not. I do have a magic squirrel hide, and plan on using it with these guys. I hammer trout on my squirrel nymph and would like to see if these make any difference. I can tie one in about 5 minutes and am very limited on time so I typically crank out 6 or so on my lunch break. The legs look simple enough to tie in but if this cuts my flies down to 3 on my lunch break I might wait until winter to start these guys.

I actually got a new magic squirrel hide that I need to tan. Hairline sells hides, but I like the ones I harvest myself. Typically they would have much more prime fur than purchased material. Not sure what time of year they are taking them, or how the heck they even get the hides. LOL

For me it may be a gimic, but I want to give it a while. My love for tying flies has sparked back up again and this is one more thing to try out and keep things interesting. I pretty much only use 5 or 6 nymphs and it gets boring tying the same thing all the time. BUt those 5-6 nymphs will catch trout on any stream out there so I don't dabble too much with matching a specific hatch.

I may try and tie their "Disco nymph" Looks like it would be pretty killer on stockies.

 

[Chaz]

I always liked legs that look good.