Thin Skin Fly Specks

Does it catch fishermen or fish?

One winter I got into a serious tungsten nymph phase and I was trying to think outside the box to create patterns that I fish a lot.  I had done stones, pupae, princes, PT's, copper juanitas, and about everything else.  I had tied EVERYTHING; so I thought.  I was using a lot of thin skin for my wing cases because it's one of my favorite materials to tie with.  I think that most everyone has tied with thin skin at one point or another, and it has been around for quite a while.  The reason I use it for wing cases on nymphs is that it has many advantages over other natural materials that are rather obvious.  It's more durable, you can cut it to any shape, it has a slight sheen, and it comes in a wide array of colors.  *DISCLAIMER...  I realize that I may have just offended many fly purists, so realize that this is just my pea brained opinion here*  I first saw thin skin fly specks in a materials catalog, and I immediately ordered it.  This material was on the borderline of one of those materials that might just catch fishermen, but maybe not be so hot in the water.  I tied up a bunch of stuff, but my favorite is a little stonefly that absolutely slayed on the river.  I used the thin skin for a shell on the abdomen and for the wing case.  

Recipe

Hook: Daiichi 1250 #12

Bead: Copper to match size

Thread: Red

Tail: Brown goose biots

Abdomen: Hare'E Ice dub - hare's ear

Shell and wing case: Thin Skin Fly Specks - tan

Rib: Coats & Clark thread.  Summer brown <--- such a dumb name for a color

Thorax: Hare'E Ice Dub- hare's ear

Legs: Tan round rubber marked with a brown marker.

I also tied a rock roller caddis that has been one of my go-to bugs to fish as of late.  I also used it to cover essentially half of the fly.  

Recipe

Hook: TMC 2488 #12 

Thread: For some reason I used brown???  Use black.

Bead: Black to match size

Abdomen: Senyo lazer dub - chartreuse

Under rib: Ostrich herl

Rib: UTC wire - SM chartreuse

Case: Thin Skin Fly Specks - olive

Thorax: Krystal dub - black

Legs: Fine round rubber - black

This fly also fishes extremely well and I'm pretty pleased with how the fly specks kind of break up the pattern a little bit.  My overall assessment of the fly specks thin skin is that it is a great product that fishes really well and makes your fly look cool too.

Cheech

Date	1/26/13	FlyFishFood  Review
Product	Thin Skin - Fly Specks
Manufacturer	Wapsi
Reviewer	Cheech
	Score	Comments
Quality	8	Great product as expected.  My only knock on it is that the spots can get rubbed off if you handle it too much before tying it in.
Price	10	At right around $2.50, it lasts a long time
Practicality	10	Really enhances the fishiness of a fly.