hairwing

http://sen.com/thumbs/1024x576/img/spacex-falcon-rocket-blasts-off-into-the-night1411288368.jpg

Good job Fishing Bob. I spot a great bunch of flies in those boxes. Glad to be a part of CFR. hw

Thanks, Al. ......and Henrik it is cool that you tied your flies in the style of Carrie Stevens, in hand. Nice !

Here's one of mine. I call it an "AWD Streamer".....all water dark. Show us one of your favs. The material recipe for this fly, for those that are interested, is: Hook: #2 4xl tde round bend Thread: Danville 6/0 black Tail: Peacock sword Body: Gold flat tinsel ribbed with silver oval Underwing : Olive bucktail Wing: Brown hackle Topping: Peacock herl Sides: Jungle cock Collar: Pheasant rump

LOL...you must have 20,000 flies in your inventory by now. DIFFERENT FLIES!! God bless you. Here is a "tweener" I use successful for many a hatch I suspect it will crossover for many hatches, I use this one for baetis to morning duns and suspect it will translate to European hatches easily. The materials are common to almost all fly material outfits...gold tinsel for a tip, GP tippet tail, rough buggy dubbing any brown mixture and the some duck quill wings.....a dun hackle ribbing some peacock herl to simulate a thorax, dun hackle and a nice light color front hackle so you can see the fly. This fly is a #20, but I see it working to the largest hatching mayflies anywhere, so consider it a "pattern". Tie the fly in whatever size suits you. The idea being that the tail-end of the fly is a nymph shuck and the dun is popping out. psssssssstttttttttttttt... this one is a secret fly , don't be blogging it all over the internet. JK/ ......an ole pic and if it's not clear enough to tie the fly I'll clear up my explanation or take another pic....

Some great stuff on that Gartside page, thanks for sharing it! There's another streamer I made from an old recipe I found online that uses the rump feathers layered down the side, a thick tail of black hair, red floss for the body, and significant weight. I forget where I found the recipe and what it is called, but the streamer caught several Browns the first time out so I keep using it. Some great stuff on that Gartside page, thanks for sharing it! There's another streamer I made from an old recipe I found online that uses the rump feathers layered down the side, a thick tail of black hair, red floss for the body, and significant weight. I forget where I found the recipe and what it is called, but the streamer caught several Browns the first time out so I keep using it. Maybe the fly you tied is part of the New Zealand Killer Series....the Mrs. Simpson...... https://www.google.com/search?q=mrs.+simpson+fly+recipe&rlz=1C1GGIE_enUS320US325&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=657&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=nT0KVI_6KoOgyAT394DIDg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

Try going back to my post #9 paragraph 5 in this thread and you'll find my thoughts on your question.

A fly such as this evolves....it just doesn't happen. Let me take you back a ways and offer a few thoughts as to the why of this fly. There has always been an argument about the best hackle to float a fly, stiff hackle, soft hackle, trimmed hackle, webby, webfree and so on. Today there is no conclusion and I really could care less to get involved in the argument. This fly is simply tackle talk for you to think about and possibly add a technique to your toolbox. Back when... it was a sought after neck and a true prize to own a cock neck that had the very tips of the hackle barbs to curl. I have never owned one but I was always on the lookout for one. If you find a neck like this consider it a treasure. The theory behind these curled barbs was that they bent when they came into contact withe the waters surface film and didn't poke a tip through it like the always recommended stiff hackle. Theo Preskaveic was a French tyer and shop owner from the 1930's and offered the idea that soft hackle floated a fly really well too me anyways at the time I read his thoughts. Consider that the soft hackle bends rather than poking the water film and keeps the fly afloat. The problem with the soft hackle was that it couldn't withstand the false casting and retrieves back through the water, the fly was suddenly a wet fly, what resulted from Theo's thinking was a stiff hackle that was fronted by a soft hackle, the dressed soft hackle not letting the fly sink immediately. I've used the idea tying flys for myself for many years and it works great ! Lots of fly tying material can be manipulated for effects, drawing materials over your thumb nail like wrapping ribbon is one. Doing this will curl materials but it's not permanent. You will get a few good ...great floats but the curls will go back straight and you''ll have to renew the curls in them. What totally surprised me was how the hackle wrapped after being skewed, just like a normal hackle, even when I used two hackle. Thanks to all that expressed interest in the technique and I hope you try it for yourself. Try it on your Woolly Bugger hackle . Carry on. hw

Any tips on making my fly less "meesy"?

Sampler, if your bored this winter spin some of these, Dave's Hopper.......

Pull those extra long hackles you don't have a use for through your thumbnail a few times and you'll get a hackle that fits a smaller hook and also bent hackle tips which mean better floatablility.

My 2 cents.. Dry flies need a little air resistance to cock right. Throw one up in front of you and let it drop several feet , you will see the fly right itself in the air, like a parachute opening, hopefully with the hook point down. If it doesn't your fly is seriously out of balance. Check too that after lighting on the water the fly has the right attitude...if not, parts of the fly are out of alignment with the shank, like a tail that is canted to one side causing the fly to roll. You may be not giving the fly enough air time in your test for it to do what it's suppose to do. hw

Byron, I think you need to reevaluate your concept of the sports history... "I think there are other factors that have led to the explosion of so many new kinds of "stuff" for us to buy. For one, people are fly fishing for many more different species and in very diverse environments now than they were even 20 or 30 years ago. For the longest time (as I understand it), fly fishing was considered a way to fish for trout or salmon, and not much else. Maybe the odd bass or bluegill. Turn on a fly fishing show on tv today and you might see people fly fishing for carp, pike, musky, stripers, pirhana, bonefish, permit, barracuda, tuna, dorado, sharks, billfish--you name it. You can't do all of that with a 5-weight; not very well, anyway." People have been fly fishing for different species since the sport began. ....and Swisher and Richards were fishing Florida Salt Water with 6 ft 4 weight rods in the early 70's with trout flies. Myself, my 9ft 6weight will go a long way fishing from A to Z. I'm not trying to argue a point here, it's just my perception of what has happened to fly fishing over the last 50+ years I've been around doing it. Folks think they need all this stuff and really do they? hw

Ted Trueblood tied a very similar fly called "integration" and the sunray shadow has a likewise venerable reputation. I myself tie and fish a fly tied black over white and have for many years had utmost confidence in it. You are absolutely right......the SS or a fly like it belongs in everyone's fly box. Good post !

A discussion of Fly-Fishing economics and the sport of Fly-fishing itself is something I always try to separate... the economic part of the equation always spoils the whole value of the sport for some but somehow the economics comes up. So be it. I can remember not too long ago that one rod and one reel was what every fly fisher owned and the discussion was more "what ya get 'em on " then your equipment, but it has changed. We have as a group became specialists.... a rod for this, a rod for that, and the el als to match. We bought into the salesmanship and in my opinion we have too much stuff, but I ain't a gonna argue....I got all the junk too. Mea Culpa...I don't agree with myself owning all this stuff and if I had do-overs, I'd be back with one outfit for my needs. I say buy whatever you want and know you aren't a better fisherman for it....your just strokin' your ego, but don't forget the real reason your fly fishing. ".....like drinkin' whiskey out of a tin cup"! YMMV. Carry on "Tackleholics" .

Thanks for the info. a jar of this stuff would last me a long time and allot cheaper then using stuff like Watershed or Gink (I've heard that Gink is the same thing as Albolene) Are you talking about micro-fiber cloths like used for electronics ? Mike I know the George Gehrke story, he worked across the street from me on a downtown Denver construction project in the '70's and was pushing his Gink in a local fly shop I frequented and I even spent some time working in the shop so the facts are undeniable with me. I will attest to the fact that Gink is repackaged Albolene. My experience is with 3M micro cloth, I suppose many of these cloths will do the job.

Mike Is there any curing time ? No...I dress the fly and fish it. I also use it as a floatant for the first several feet of my fly line and add it to the butt of my leaders, works great. ......and if you don't have one, a recent discovery of mine is the micro-fiber cleaning cloth to go along with fly and line maintenance. It soaks up water and dirt like you won't believe. I use one to pinch a fly that needs dressing or swipe a line to clean it. Don't know anything about watershed.....I've been satisfied with Albolene for over 40 years and put any wants and needs for a different floatant behind me long ago. hw

The reason folks heated the Albolene was so that they could get it into a small plastic squeeze bottle for convenient use streamside. I use a plastic cosmetic container (see attach). Albolene will melt in the warm weather of summer and needs a container that won't leak it to your clothing. To use Albolene all you have to do is get a small swipe on the end of your index finger and rub it between your thumb. It will liquefy and then it can be pulled through the fly parts. I have used it in extremely cold fishing conditions and never had a problem. Your body heat is what liquefies the gel like consistency. Buy another type of floatant if you plan on using a lot of CDC flies. The dry shake stuff or something that is sprayed on for application.

Neat collection and a few memories for me. I'll comment on the pic #5. It's a fly called Bailey's Mossback. Originated By Dan Bailey. The tail ,legs and missing horns were tied with condor quill. The body is woven monofilament over a underbody. Usually the mono was dark on top and light on the bottom. I would almost guarantee that the fly was purchased from Dan Bailey's and not a home made tie. Lot's of the flies were chewed on by insects and some severe oxidation was taking place along with heat, which explains the bubbling coming through the mono. My guess is that the collection is mostly from the 1960's.

One of the early guides for tyers to proportion their hairwing flies is given in the book "Fly Tying" by Sturgis. Sturgis recommends the wing extend one gape past the point where the hook bends. This proportion has always pleased my eye and it is the one I use....and I think many who followed his instruction would probably agree. The wings tied this way make a nice near'nuff body cover for downwing flies and makes for a good gauge tying from one hook size to another. Realistically exact replicas of the actual flies we imitate is impractical...we'd never get any fishing in, all our time would be spent tying and arguing over dimensions of the actual insect.

Orange Ant...

That would take one hell ab a woolly bugger to imitate that nymph !

FWIW....this is what I tied. No charge for pink ! Thought the gals would appreciate the color. Hope I did it correctly. 6 wets and 6 dry flies. Sorry ...don't have any beads. 2- #6 Olive Woolly Buggers 2- #8 Gold Ribbed Hares Ear 2- #10 Rio Grande King Trude 2- #8 Marabou Wing Royal Coachman wets 2- #10 Orange ants (pink post) 2- #10 Gulper Special (pink post)

I'm in...if the spots open ?

Contrary to some opinions "barbed hooks" do not rule in my whereabouts. Habit makes me crush the barbs down. It has nothing to do with releasing fish. I've had hooks in my tongue, cheeks, ear lopes, forearms and clothes that were tough to get out even with the barb down. All it takes is a sniffle of wing and the fly does what it wants.....you have lost control. Make sure you protect your eyes !