Rainy's Stretch Flex by Paul J. Beel

Stretch Flex is a very strong and durable elastic material from Rainy's Flies. You can use it to tie a variety of flies, including worms, scuds, nymphs, stoneflies, and more. It comes in a variety of colors, sizes, and it is also semi-translucent.

You can use the semi-translucent material to your advantage by planning to use various materials underneath it to acquire different effects. For instance, try using wraps of Flashabou and you will see a neat effect after wrapping the Stretch Flex over it.

When trying to achieve a segmented body, it is best to wrap the Stretch Flex over itself and it's a good idea to make those wraps lie into the center of the last wrap. While wrapping the Flex, pull to stretch it slightly while you wrap. Another tip is before you begin tying the Stretch Flex in, you can make a diagonal cut with your scissors to provide a good starting point when tying the Flex in.

I experimented myself with Stretch Flex and came up with a bug of my own. I used olive colored Stretch Flex over the top half of the body while using olive dubbing underneath. Then I wrapped copper wire around it. I made a wing case with yellow Stretch Flex and it made a nice place to add some UV Resin on top.

There are several flies in the Rainy's lineup that use Stretch Flex as well. You can see them below.

So pick up some Stretch Flex and see what you can design with it. There are many types of possibilities!

Paul J. Beel is owner and fly tier of the website and fly tying business, FrankenFly at http://www.frankenfly.com. He is an Orvis Fly Designer and ties for many fly shops in the Midwest. His flies have appeared in Fly Fusion Magazine, Tail Magazine and North 40 Fly Shop Emag. He is also the creator of his own line of fly tying dubbing called FrankenDub.