What it is
Hareline Flat Mylar Tinsel is a flat, ribbon-style tinsel made from Mylar. It has a two-tone reflective finish and it wants to lay down smooth and flat when you wrap it, giving you a clean, bright surface on the hook. Because it’s corrosion and tarnish resistant, it keeps its shine even when it’s lived a while in wet boxes or sees salt.
What to tie with it
Use it for smooth body wraps and quick shank coverage on everything from midges to streamers, and it also makes a crisp flashback nymph back when you bind it over the top and coat it. Wrapped as a body or in open spirals with wire over the top, it adds segmentation and flash, and it’s a common choice for nymph ribs and midge bodies. It’s also right at home as a durable, flashy body on saltwater streamer patterns.
Flies and the fish they're for
On the Black-nosed Dace, flat Mylar tinsel helps build that bright, baitfish-style body that gets fished for trout in rivers and for smallmouth bass where dace and minnows are a staple. The Muddler Minnow is another natural fit for flat tinsel bodies and accents, and it’s a classic trout streamer in moving water that also crosses over well to smallmouth in streams and rivers. You’ll also see flat Mylar tinsel show up in ribbing and body work on staples like the Hare’s Ear and Prince Nymph, which are fished for trout and panfish in freestones and tailwaters, and they’re also common searching patterns for steelhead when tied appropriately.
How it compares
Compared to traditional metallic tinsels that can tarnish or corrode over time, Mylar holds its shine and resists corrosion, which matters if you fish flies hard or in salt. It also tends to wrap flatter and cleaner for smooth bodies.