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Siman Fly Tying Products

Reviewed by Terry Lawton

Jan Siman has sent Fish & Fly some new products from the Czech Republic for review. They are a quad turbo dubbing twister; indicator loops (made for Airflo); leaded hooks sizes 6 and 8; fine magic shrimp foils for Czech nymphs, larvaes and small may flies; a spool of hyperfine tying thread and some Czech nymphs.

When I first started fly tying I was amazed at how small everything seemed to be, how weak the tying thread - it broke, it seemed, as soon as I looked at it.

Although I am still only a fairly average tier, as my confidence has increased small hooks seem bigger and thick 3/0 thread is now too thick. Even so, it was with some trepidation that I started tying a fly on a size 16 hook with a spool of Jan Siman's Hyper-fine tying thread. This is seriously thin thread that is so fine and light that it will almost hang in the air.

According to the information on the website (www.siman.cz) Hyper-fine thread is the finest two-strand thread on the market. A 250m spool costs $5.50 and it is available in 9 colours.

I used the thread to tie six flies and the only time that it broke was when I was a bit over-confident and careless when tying the last fly. I found it a bit slippery at times but this slipperiness makes completing a near-invisible whip finish child's play. My rather basic bobbin holder was a bit too big to hold the small spool firmly enough and as the thread is so fine, Jan Siman's recommendation of using a ceramic bobbin is sound advice.

More to follow as soon as I have fished with some of the nymphs and tied some more flies using the quad turbo dubbing twister and the fine magic shrimp foils. The dubbing twister comes with hackle pliers for winding hackles, winding tinsels wires, body & floss together, a soft wire jointed loop for spinning and winding softer dubbings and feather fibers (CDC, Marabou, etc), hard wire jointed loop: for spinning and twisting deer hair and stiffer fibers, and a dubbing hook for spinning peacock feathers in a dubbing loop. For anyone wanting to tie some really heavy nymphs, the size 6 leaded hooks weigh 2.5 grams each!