Stalcup's D Rib

I'm really started to like Shane Stalcup's "D Rib" material. It's one of those stretchy solid plastic body materials, this one being in a half-round "D" shape. I tied up a batch of Klinkhamer's and Snowshow Emergers with it recently, and I must say I am very impressed. It's easy to work with, looks very "juicy" in the finished fly, and has some great colors.

One thing I like is how you can use a contrasting color thread to change the overall dynamic of the body. For instance, I wrapped light olive D-rib over a brown thread and got a beautiful olive brown body that sort of has a lighter olive "glow" to the edge. Very neat.

It is very easy to use. If you stretch it tight for the first few turns, not only do you eliminate the bump that can happen with the first turn, but you can form a sight taper to the body by easing up on the tension as you wrap.

Wonderful stuff. While I've only used it for dry and "damp" flies so far, I plan on trying it out as the body material for soft hackled type flies, as well as true wet flies (e.g. a D-Rib Dark Cahill wet fly) and nymphs.

Just about anywhere I've used a turkey biot, quill, or stripped peacock, I can use this stuff. While I still have a fondness for natural stripped peacock, this is *so* much easier to use.

One suggestion: Use a *long* piece when tying your fly, so you reduce the amount of waste. That's sort of like tying a bunch of dry flies from one long saddle hackle. There isn't much D Rib in each package - maybe enough for a couple dozen flies (depending on style and body length, obviously) - so the less you waste, the better.