I saw a picture of Caddis Larvae Inlaid in a fly grip. It really looked nice. Does anyone know how to preserve aquatic bugs and inlay them. It looked like they were in epoxy or some kind of acrylic.

I never did insect larva, but I did do a small fly on the butt end of a rod once. one piece of advise...use clear drying epoxy, NOT a wrap finish. I used a finish and it eventually yellowed, not too bad, but it did yellow.

tight lines,
Tim

I think the person who really knows about this is Terry Henson. There are some outstanding photos of inlaid insects he did on the old photo page. It would be great if he would do an article for RodMaker. Hey Tom, that's a hint.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2005 11:10AM by Gerry Rhoades.

Check out Tap Plastics. They have a clear type of I think it is a acrylic for just that use.

I agree with the last post. You are likely looking to use a "casting resin." Most all epoxies that I have used in fly tying eventually yellow. I don't think that the casting resin will. Our area craft store sells casting resin so you may want to investigate at your local craft store.

I might be wrong, but it's my understanding that most of the finish "Epoxies" that we use are. in fact, casting resins. Some have always been known to "yellow" while others remain clear. As far as I know, LS Supreme is the only finish that was specifically formulated for rodbuilding. the rest are mostly just other products repackaged

Be sure that you keep us posted on your results. Keep in mind that craft casting resins are rarely used on outdoor projects and may well yellow eventually also.

Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2005 05:32PM by Mike Barkley.

Thanks to all that replied to this post. I will be researching more on this subject. When I come up with something I will let you all know.