Winged Wets

[Byron 0]

Does anyone have access to the earliest writers on winged wets, like Dame Julianne Berners or Ronald's?

 

I have read folks like Leonard in his book "flies". He, and others, have said they were originally designed because the earliest tiers saw insects with wings and assumed the underwater insects would also have wings. Dave Hughes, in "wet flies", says they were first tied to represent "drowned insects".

Thanks for any early citations.

[Piker20 0]

Yes, I've heard that too. What ever the reason they stumbled on a great way to have a fly present across a current, retaining its profile.

[squire123 0]

They were astute observers of the natural flies they were imitating, particularly as to size and how colors shifted over the season. Unlike today, their fly tying was not based on theories (material fluorescence, cone of vision, etc.) rather they concentrated on what simply worked. Being so unencumbered they had complete freedom to experiment and the principles of fly tying they established and passed down are equally viable today.

[troutguy 0]

I'm sixty (for aging this comment). My Grandfather always fished a brace of three wet flies. He said that wet flies were often fished active to represent small minnows. The were fished to be insects hatching and after the spinner fall. We tend to overlook that trout are predators and are owners of their section of the stream. Gaudy flies fished in the spawning season especially (think Brook Fin type flies) drew strikes due to territorial aggression.

 

My Grandfather always said to fish the color of the blooming river bank flowers or fish the color of the leaves when you are in doubt what to fish.

[Byron 0]

Again,

I'm looking for the rationale of winged wets by the originators. As we know, today, the emerging insects have their wings still in the shuck until they reach the surface.

That , I'm sure, is what brings folks like Leonard and others to say that the originators added wings because the insects they saw on the surface had wings or because they were trying to imitate a "drowned insect".

I'm looking for the reason given by the first designers of Winged Wets.

Thanks

[salmobytes 0]

If anyone ever knew the reason early English tiers put wings on a wet fly we'd all know it. And we don't. So I'm going to guess this is not an answerable question--not answerable with anything other than speculation.

 

I like the two assertions above: that the early tiers weren't encumbered by advanced theory. They used what worked. And also the idea small winged wet flies work as well as they do because they tend to evoke a minnow chasing response from the fish. But of course that's just speculation too. Isn't that part of what makes fishing fun? We get to say anything we want--unencumbered by rigorous data from objective, control group experiments?

[mikechell 0]

 

 

My name is Bubba ... and I done tied the first wet winged bug. I did it 'cause I could.

[troutguy 0]

Well if you spell her name right (you have it spelled wrong) and use google or bing you get to read her works directly.

[troutguy 0]

AFter ye haue thus made youre rodde: ye muste learne for to colour your lynes of heare in this wyse. First ye must take of a whyte horse tayle the longest heare and fayrest that ye can fynde, and euer the rou[n]der that it be: the better it is. Departe it in syxe partes, & euery part ye shall colour by him selfe in diuers colours as yelowe, grene, browne, tawny, russet, & duske coloure. And for to make good greene coloures on your heare, ye shal do take smale ale a quarte, and put it into a litle pan and put therto halfe a pounde of Alum, and put therto your heate and let it boyle softly halfe an houre. Than take out your heare and let it drye, than take a pottell of fayre water and put it in a pan and put therin two handes full of Wyxene, and presse it with a tyle stone, and let it boyle softly the space of an houre. And whan it is yelowe on the scum: put therein your heare, with halfe a pounde of coperose beaten in pouder, and lette it boyle halfe a myle waye. And than set it downe and let it kele fyue or syxe houres. Than take out the heate and drie it, and it is than the fynest greene that is possible to be had for the water. And euer the more that ye put therto of cuperose the better it will be, or elles in the stede of it Vert-grese.

[paragraph sign]And an other way may ye make a bryghter greene, as thus. Lette wod your heare in a wodden fat of lyght plunket colour and than set hym in olde or wyxen lyke as I haue shewed you before, sauyng ye shall not putte therin neyther coperose or vertegrees.

[paragraph sign]For to make your heare seme yelowe, dight it with Alum as I haue sayde before, and after that with oldes or Wyxen without coperose or vertgrece.

[paragraph sign]An other yelowe ye shall make thus. Take smale ale & pottle, and stampe thre handfull of walnut leues & put it together, and put in your heare tyll that it be as deep as ye wyll haue it.

[paragraph sign]For to make russet heare.

[paragraph sign]Take a pynte of strong lyes & a half pound of soote, and a lytle iuce of walnut leues and a quart of Alum, & put them all together in a pan, and boile them wel, and whan it is colde: put in your heare till it be as darcke as ye wyll haue it.

[paragraph sign]For to make a browne coloure.

http://www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/poems/dingbat.gif Take a pounde of soote & a quarte of ale, and seeth wyth as many walnut leues as ye may, and wha[n] they be blacke set it from the fyre, and put therin heare & let it lye styll til it be as browne as ye wyll haue it.

[paragraph sign]For to make an other browne.

[paragraph sign]Take strong ale, and soote and tempre the[m] together and put there to your heare two dayes and two nyghtes, and it shal be a ryght good coloure.

[paragraph sign]For to make a tawny coloure.

[paragraph sign]Take lyme and water & put them together, and also put your heare therin foure or fyue houres. Tha[n] take it out and put it into a tanner sole one daye and it shal be as fine a tawny coloure as any nedeth to our purpose.

[paragraph sign]The sixe parte of your heare ye wall kepe styl white for lines, for the double hooke to fysshe for the troute & graylynge, and for small lynes for to lye for the roche & the Dase.

 

WHan your heare is thus coloured: ye must know for whiche waters and for which seasons they shall sere. The greene colour in all cleare waters from Apryl unto Septe[m]ber. The yelow colour in euery clere water, from Se[p]tembre to Nouembre for it is lyke to the wedes and other maner of grasse whyche groweth in the waters and ryuers whan they be broken.

[paragraph sign]The russet colour serueth al the wynter vnto the ende of Apryll, as well in ryuers as in pooles, or lakes.

The browne colour, serueth for that water that is black dedish in ryuers or other waters. Then tawny colour, for these waters that ben hethy or morysh.

 

NOw must ye make your lynes, in this wyse. Fyrst looke ye haue an instrument lyke vnto this fygure portrayed folowyng. Tha[n] take your heare and cut of the ende an handfull large or more. For it is neyther stronge nor sure. Than turne the top to the tayle, euery one like much and departe it into three partes. Than knyt euerye parte at one ende by hym selfe, and at the other ende knytte all three together. And than put the same ende in that other ende of your instrument that hath but one clyft. And than set that other ende fast with the wedge foure fyngers in all shorter than your heare. Than twyne euery warpe one waye, and lyke muche, and fast them in the clyftes alyke streyght. Take that out at that other ende, & than twyne it that waye that it wyll desyre enough. Than strayne it a lytle and knyt it for vndoyng and that is good. And for to knowe howe to make your instrument: lo here a fygure[.] And it shalbe made of tree, sauyng the bolte vnderneth, whiche shalbe of yron.

[FlaFly 0]

Izzat the way y'all spell in Sowf Keeroliner?

[troutguy 0]

Sheeeeeeeeit our publkskoolz be the badazz

[Stevester 0]

I am sure someone reissued the Dame Juliana book some years back. Waltons book with the fly fishing part by Cotton has been in and out of print for years and I am sure I saw a paper back reissue at the Fly Tying Symposium a couple of weeks ago. You can also find information in some of the old English books from the 19^th century that covered wet fly fishing. Look for reissues of books by Pritt and Stewart. If I recall correctly they are available through a UK firm called Coch-e-Bonddu Books. They sometimes have a booth at the fly fishing shows that Chuck Furimsky puts on; they also have a web site. You can also look for used book sellers or Amazon. Obviously originals are rare and expensive but reissues are priced as normal books.

 

Steve

[flytire 0]

try searching some books here. a lot of free books can be downloaded

 

https://archive.org/search.php?query=fly%20tying

 

use different search terms for additional results

 

try "fly tying + authors name"