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3. Need to Spike Rumor

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.

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.

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.

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

https://www.detteflies.com/node

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

Spence

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.

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

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.

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.

Wow, I always thought another mans trash, could be another mans treasure....

How about that huh?

Ah, 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!!!

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.

Whew, glad you got that irksome matter sorted out!

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