Vladi worm

troutpoop

troutpoop

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Joined
Jun 23, 2010
Messages
697
OK, tried to tie this today and became frustrated. First I had to run 5 miles to a store to get condoms, that's been a thing of the past for me for at least 20 years.

My problem is the condom material slips all over the hook, down into the bend or towards the eye too far. There is a hump of sorts built up towards the back of the hook with lead and thread. I can't keep the material on the hump. Anyone else have this problem or a solution?
 
http://www.flyguysoutfitting.com/tutorials/nymphs/vladi-worm
 
So the condom keeps comming off. Sounds like a personal problem. Maybe a pill like extenze will do the trick. haha
 
I knew this was gonna get tough:) Maybe a non-lubricated condom would work better. I didn't even think about it till now.
 
Ya. It's a pain. Don't know what else to tell ya. Ribbing it is a pain too. Try to get as much of the lube off the condom as possible with a paper towel. It's just patience and practice.
 
Following the method I posted, I've had little problem simply keeping it in place with my fingers as I wrap.
 
You shouldn't use them first.
 
That's a nice site Jay, lots of great looking patterns.
 
Practice is the biggest thing. They are tough to tie at first but after awhile you can crank em out.

I dont know what hooks you are using, or how you bend them but I bend my hooks so that the bend is not so steep at first if that helps at all.

Edit: You can also use pantyhose as an alternative.
 
The key to not getting them to slip is all in the tension. It's almost counter-intuitive; less pressure generally give you more control. Also, make you spin the condom *very* tight when you're suppose to, and make sure it's flat when it's suppose to.

The link Jay posted is the one. Just do it a bunch, practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to condoms.
 
It would be wise to coat the finished fly with softex because sunlight and fishing will break down the laytex and the fly will fall apart. Softex will prolong the life of the fly and prevent the breakdown.
 
Thanks for the tip. I have some softex I've never used. If I can figure out this rubber wrapping mystery maybe I'll use some.
 
Strange ZI never had a problem with mine slipping
 
so who makes pink condoms?
 
There is a certain kind of condom you need to buy from online, they are pink and not lubed. That should fix some of the problems.
 
www.wflies.com has pink condoms. I love those flies, they really work. One of favorite flies
 
This is the "official" condom used for the Vladi worm.

Crown Skin Less Skin

It is lubricated, and this helps keep them from drying out. It helps prolong the life of the fly if you keep them in a small ziplock bag, like the ones that you get with a 25 pk of hooks.

Of course, you could use any condom, but this is the original one that you see being used in Loren Williams' tutorial, and the Trout Predator youtube tutorial. Loren learned to tie this fly from Vladi himself.
 
Heritage-Angler wrote:
This is the "official" condom used for the Vladi worm.

Crown Skin Less Skin

It is lubricated, and this helps keep them from drying out. It helps prolong the life of the fly if you keep them in a small ziplock bag, like the ones that you get with a 25 pk of hooks.

Of course, you could use any condom, but this is the original one that you see being used in Loren Williams' tutorial, and the Trout Predator youtube tutorial. Loren learned to tie this fly from Vladi himself.
Click to expand...

Welllll sort of. Crown is it. It is the standard in many industries including silly things like fly tying. Now, lubrication keeping them from drying out I have to disagree. The lube will help rot the "unit" over time (trying to keep this clean!). All instructions I have seen suggest getting as much as possible off the condom before using it. Having said that, it's completely silly that people are sticking to Crowns as the end all be all when you see how these are made. There is a tremendous amount of material that will work perfectly fine in these types of flies. Experiment. That's how this noise was created.
 
jdaddy wrote:
Now, lubrication keeping them from drying out I have to disagree. The lube will help rot the "unit" over time (trying to keep this clean!). All instructions I have seen suggest getting as much as possible off the condom before using it.
Click to expand...

You can disagree, but you'd be wrong. Here's three videos that show how to tie the Vladi Worm, and none say a word about removing the lubricant. Someone asks Loren about it in his video, and the answer is no. If it rotted the condom, you sure as hell wouldn't want to trust it for its originallly intended use. I've read somewhere on Troutlegend or Troutpredator about using a "recreational" ;-) lubricant to re-lube the worm (trying to keep this family friendly). I've also included links to Troutlegend threads about the Vladi worm. The comp guys have been using these flies longer than anyone else, and that's fact. Loren's video and instructions are my favorites, and true to the original Vladi design. Anything different isn't original - not that there's anything wrong with that.







http://troutlegend.com/forum/general-fly-tying/help-with-vladi-worm/

http://troutlegend.com/forum/river-patterns-and-discussion/vladi-worm/

 
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