Parachute Fly Posts

[steve98]

I tie all my parachute flys no matter what pattern with the same
post material and color. White calf tail. I am old so I do this for visibility reasons only. Given my lack of sight can I do better mostly for ease of tying?

Steve98

 

[Dcap240]

In my opinion a good polypropylene yarn is just as visible but 10x easier to work with. I mostly stick to white or a light dun but you can get any color you can think of including hi vis colors. I like the look of a good calf hair wing but don't like the bulk. Plus with poly there is no stacking involved and you just cut it to whatever size you want. The fish don't seem to care either way. My favorites are mcflylon and the spirit river poly yarn.

 

[FrequentTyer]

EP fibers have been getting a lot of attention lately as parachute posts. When I tied parachutes I used turkey flats which I learned from AK Best. They make fantastic posts and you can get hi vis colors.
Mike.

 

[MKern]

Para post material is my parachute post material of choice. It's basically poly yarn treated with a floatant.

It comes in a wide range of colors too: white, chartreuse, fl. Orange, and more natural colors namely the whole range of duns.

 

[Tiogadog]

Another vote for McFlyon...in fact I just ordered more today

 

[JackM]

Foam can be useful too.

 

[jeremymcon]

I really like using ep fibers, which are essentially hanks of bulk polypropylene yarn. I buy Congo hair from fly tyers dungeon because it's the same thing as ep fibers but a third of the price. Comes in lots of colors including bright ones, and there is a coarse and a fine variety - the fine stuff at fly tyers dungeon is called "water silk" or something like that, and is good for smaller parachutes and spinners.

Great thing about Congo hair is that the fibers are really long, and you get a ton in a package, so you can leave the post pretty long while you're tying, then trim it to your liking once the fly is finished.

 

[nfrechet]

steve98 wrote:

I tie all my parachute flys no matter what pattern with the same
post material and color. White calf tail. I am old so I do this for visibility reasons only. Given my lack of sight can I do better mostly for ease of tying?

Steve98

calf tail is a good choice

no need to change if that's your choice

try different colors: orange, yellow, pink, chartreuse etc. even black posts work in the right lighting conditions

 

[afishinado]

Another vote for poly yarn posts. They are very easy to tie, come in all colors and float well.

 

[GenCon]

afishinado wrote:
Another vote for poly yarn posts. They are very easy to tie, come in all colors and float well.

Yep ^

Although I do use other materials. Not that they are any better. Just makes it fun to change it up.

GenCon

 

[tctrout]

Ditto for the poly...I use an Antron one in fluorescent pink that I can see all over. I also have a Parachute Wing pack that I bought (from TCO, I believe) in a fluorescent chartreuse.

I believe that I have good eyes, but still have used those colors for years because they're great to see, especially in low-light situations.

TC