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FlyflingerFebruary 23rd, 2015, 1:24 pm
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Posts: 30
A US retailer who places orders with Veniard just told me a Veniard rep said Pearsall plans to discontinue the manufacturing of its Gossamer silk thread. Has anyone heard this preposterous rumor? I just can't imagine Pearsall stopping production after it has been do so since the 18th century.
WbranchFebruary 23rd, 2015, 1:58 pm
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2733
Stranger things have happened! The Gudebrod company who made threads, tinsels, and other millinery products, that many used for fly tying, went out of business about two years ago and they were in business about 118 years. Isn't the Gossamer silk thread used primarily for salmon flies and soft hackles? Maybe Pearsall feels that the product is no longer a money maker.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
FlyflingerMarch 5th, 2015, 5:31 am
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Posts: 30
I have an update to the rumor that Pearsall's Gossamer silk and perhaps Marabou will no longer be made. An Illinois fly shop quoted to me from the Veniard 2014 catalog that Pearsall will no longer make the silk threads. A PA fly shop retailer noted that Hareline appears to be selling Pearsall silk products but at a much higher price. I hope Hareline is not setting itself up as the sole distributor for Pearsall products and jacking up the prices. I am still checking with retailers I normally deal with.

I am still searching for three colors, Pearsall's Gossamer Orange 6A, Blue 6 and Blue 7. Nobody seems to have it.
MartinlfMarch 5th, 2015, 11:55 am
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3233
Dette Trout Flies may have the Orange/Gold 6A. 607-498-4991.

https://www.detteflies.com/node
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
OldredbarnMarch 5th, 2015, 6:55 pm
Novi, MI

Posts: 2608
You know Lewis, they may have a trustworthy answer in terms of this rumor being true or not.

Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
FlyflingerMarch 6th, 2015, 8:05 am
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Posts: 30
Louis, I didn't see specifically orange 6A, but I did see gold 6A. I'll give the shop a call to see whether that color and blue 6 or 7 and mulberry can be ordered. Also, I believe Dette Trout Flies can provide info on the availability of Pearsall's Gossamer silk thread.
PlanettroutMarch 6th, 2015, 10:21 am
Los Angeles, CA / Pullman, WA

Posts: 53
Why not Email them and ask directly:

http://www.pearsallsembroidery.com/contact_us.php

...and here are three locations that probably have some:

http://www.jsflyfishing.com/pearsall-gossamer-silk-thread

http://greatfeathers.com/thread-floss-wire/threads/pearsalls-gossamer.aspx

http://www.caddisflyshop.com/pearsalls-gossamer-silk-thread.html


PT/TB
Daughter to Father: "How many arms do you have, how many fly rods do you need?"

http://planettrout.wordpress.com/
MartinlfMarch 6th, 2015, 11:16 am
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3233
It seems some list 6A as orange, some as gold, some as orange/gold. They may all be the same thing, but it wouldn't hurt to ask someone more familiar with the thread just to be sure.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
WbranchMarch 6th, 2015, 11:41 am
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2733
I had three spools of Pearsall's silk thread. Two orange and one light yellow. I never used them and just threw them out a few days ago.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
MiltRPowellMarch 6th, 2015, 2:26 pm
Posts: 106Wow, I always thought another mans trash, could be another mans treasure....
flyfishingthecreekM.R.P.
WbranchMarch 6th, 2015, 3:16 pm
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2733
How about that huh?
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
MiltRPowellMarch 6th, 2015, 3:41 pm
Posts: 106Ah, just a shame that's all. I think today we throw to much out that could be of good to others. Next time you could put it on somewhere here, you'd have 1/2 doz guys, jumping on those threads.... Just food for thought...Free, just pay postage!!!
flyfishingthecreekM.R.P.
FlyflingerMarch 11th, 2015, 6:41 am
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Posts: 30
OK, I believe I have it sorted out now, thanks in part to Planettrout. I communicated with Carol Frieze, Pearsall Embroidery. This is what she had to say about Pearsall's Gossamer silk thread:

"...The Superfine Silk is, in fact, Gossamer. We used to dye the embroidery and fishing silks for Pearsalls until shortly before he left. We had also bought a good quantity of gossamer to dye for our own purposes and for legal reasons had to call it by a different name. They no longer manufacture any silks other than those used for surgical purposes, but I have some here so can still keep going for a while." The "he" is John Cunningham, who dyed most of the products and died in 2009.

I also heard Hareline Dubbin will be the sole US distributor of Pearsall Gossamer (sic) products but at a higher mark-up. Whether that is true for Pearsall Embroidery remains to be seen. However, one can order directly from Pearsall Embroidery.
WbranchMarch 11th, 2015, 9:38 am
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2733
Whew, glad you got that irksome matter sorted out!
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
OldredbarnMarch 11th, 2015, 5:55 pm
Novi, MI

Posts: 2608
That is interesting...Mark Libertone sent me to JoAnns several years back to buy embroidery thread. He tied his softhackle classics with it. They come four ply, or four strands, and he would just separate them and tie with one of the strands. That goes a long way and they have great colors...DMC I think it is...It's not real silk, but cotton.

He would tie it in at the front near the eye, wrap back as far as he wanted, and wrap back to the tying thread. He would then wrap some partridge or grouse a turn or two and there you have it. Sometimes he would dub a little hairsmask just behing the feather...A little thorax? or help stand the fibers out.


Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood

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