I was leaving one of the Bass Pro Shops the other day and happen to walk out through the isle displaying all the rubber/ plastic lures. Among all the eye-candy, the replacement rubber “skirts” for spinners and jigs caught my eye. They looked so similar to the Sili and Centipede legs we all buy for tying our flies, but yet in better color options. There were several ways this discovery paid off:
1) These lure skirts are simply rubber legs loosely banded together – cutting the binding band separates all the legs, perfectly cut and ready to tie into any fly pattern.
2) The variety of colors are great! For some reason the coloring is much more creative than what’s typically offered in the fly-tying section of the store, or even on-line.
3) Each pack of skirts seem to include three (3) different colors. At least I found the Fishing Skirts brand did.
4) Each pack of skirts (legs) is competitively priced with other rubber leg manufacturers, however I believe you actually get more legs.
The colors are the best part of the discovery. The metallic flake used is more like a metallic powder, perfectly applied to give just the right effect. As I’m looking to tie a few more crab patterns, I picked up a pack of Carolina Craw and Army Blue Bars. After separating the colors, I can see I made the right choice. One has a great shimmer of chartreuse, some black barring, on a slightly translucent olive leg (pictured) and the other a sky-blue shimmer, some black speckling, on a slightly translucent olive leg. Both colors will work perfectly for tying crab patterns for South Florida.
Take some time to look through the colors, in person – they’re all so vibrant. If you’re like me, it will take a while to figure out how many sets of colors you want to work with – they’re all so great. Check Amazon for their sizable collection too.
If you have additional ideas on where to find new colors or new types of legs, please share below in the comment section. We would very much appreciate the input!
