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deeky

Damsel Wings Question

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So in looking at adult damsel patterns, I am surprised by how many use wings splayed to the sides. The real damsels have wings that lay back along the top of their body. It is the dragonflies that splay their wings to the sides. Is this a case similar to spent wings on a mayfly where dead or dying damsels do splay their wings? Or is it a misnomer that still satisfies fish willing to take an adult dragon on the surface even though we call it a damsel? Or is it a non-issue that I'm just using to procrastinate?

 

Penny for your thoughts.

 

Deeky

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I think I have one adult damsel pattern - and I'm not sure it's even in one of my fly boxes. I never fish them and I don't believe they make up a significant portion of a fish's diet to justify tying adult patterns. They look cool, but I prefer to fish the damsel nymph patterns. Hence, wing position is a moot point for me.

 

Moscow

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I fished a ton of adult damsels on henrys fork and henrys lake. I only used parachutes with no wings

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damsel patterns work great for panfish and even a few incidental largemouth on a small pond I regularly fish.

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Interesting question.I have seen some great patterns with the spent wing display. It's easy to distinguish what is tied as a damelfly and what is meant to imitate a dragonfly by the size and shape.Questions of whether one style works better than another is always best left to the fish. Try them both ways and see which performs better.

Fred

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I think the damselfly has wings back only when at rest (i.e. alive) and once spent spreads them out. I am not 100% sure though, and tis hard to make certain in January :)

What I am sure though is that tying the wings spent helps with flotation. The silhouette is also more pronounced, though again I don't know whether it is a good thing or bad.

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Damselfly's are very popular in the U.K especially during mid summer. Most people fish them as nymphs, but an increasing number of anglers are realising their dry potential as well. Here's a couple of my takes on them, the first uses burnt pearl white organza that's been "daubed" with a permanent marker & the nymph has fine genetic hackles from near the top of a cape. Many people also use marabou, which although doesn't look right to the imitative angler, certainly catches a lot of fish.

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post-10483-1294744388_thumb.jpg

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Damselfly's are very popular in the U.K especially during mid summer. Most people fish them as nymphs, but an increasing number of anglers are realising their dry potential as well. Here's a couple of my takes on them, the first uses burnt pearl white organza that's been "daubed" with a permanent marker & the nymph has fine genetic hackles from near the top of a cape. Many people also use marabou, which although doesn't look right to the imitative angler, certainly catches a lot of fish.

 

Very nice flies Arkle! Could you post a pattern for those?

You just might make a believer out of me :)

Moscow

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The adult damsel is very fun to fish with. Here in Norway it is not very common but should be in many places.

I have tried diffrent patterns and have settled with this:

http://www.flytyingforum.com/pattern10761.html

 

That one i tie in both olive and blue/black. It have given me some nice fish that refused other patterns.

I tie it like the adult lay on the water, this autumn i made a short film when i was alone one nice afternoon.

You can see the movie here, it is is norwegian... Vaket - Fishing with dry damsel

Or you can see it on my friends vimeo account here: Vaket on vimeo

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i find many of the spend damsels in my area have X wings. They usually pile up in the back wind eddys on the lake

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I love adult damsels - oops, I should probably rephrase that.. anyway adult damsels are great on largemouths - they will rocket out of the pond when eating them. Anyway - my experience is if a damsel plops on the water (gets knocked in for example) they may have splay wings. I tie my flies both ways - whatever happens to suit me at the time. I don't see a heck of a lot of difference when fishing them.

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I fish adult damsels on my favorite lakes from 10 AM to 7 PM and catch fish all day long. I've even used them on the upper Missouri River below Holter Dam and on the Henry's Fork on those days that they get knocked into the water.

 

The spent or knocked down damsels have their wings anywhere from folded over to straight out. The pattern I use has the wings at about a 45 degree angle to the body.

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