Can't get my Adam's to float correctly

[NHMatt 0]

Need a little help:

 

After I tie all of my flies, I drop them in a cup of water to see how they float. I'm having trouble with my Adam's. Each time I try it, they float in a head's down position. Like 45 degree down angle sitting on it's nose. Unfortunately, I can't get a good enough quality picture to show here. I was hoping that someone else has had this issue and could give me some tips.

 

Thanks in advance.

[FlaFly 0]

Does your leader float? If so, try floating it at the end of the leader and see what happens.

[NHMatt 0]

I guess I'd use a nylon leader so I'm pretty sure that would help. I'll give it a shot, thanks.

[hairwing 0]

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

[phg 0]

You said "head down". That means the fly is nose heavy. There are several possibilities, but most likely it's a combination of all of them. Number 1 is wing placement. For a dry fly, it needs to be between 1/4 and 1/3 hook shank length (HSL) back from the eye. For hackle tip wings, I usually go with the 1/4 HSL. If the wings are too far back, that will make the fly nose heavy. Number 2, the hackle needs to be no more than 2 hook gapes long AFTER it's wound on. If the thorax is thick right there, use a smaller hackle. If the hackle is too long, it will almost always dump the fly over on the eye. Number 3, the head is too big. Thread is more dense than any of the other materials you wind onto a fly. Keep the thread wraps in front of the hackle to a minimum.

 

There's probably more, but that should give you something to work with.

[shoebop 0]

Show us your fly>

[SilverCreek 0]

We do need to see the fly. If you can't take a photo, do look at the bottom and make sure any stray hackle is clipped even without stray fibers that can't the fly.

 

Also the hackle needs to extend beyond the hook eye so front of the fly CANNOT tip down. The hook bend and all that metal at the rear of the hook makes flies heavy at the rear, and rarely will the front of the fly be too "heavy".

 

Here is Charlie Craven's Parachute just before he has cut the post to length and clipped a stray hackle fiber. See how the position of hackle over the thorax makes it just about impossible for the fly to tip head down. The hackle is PARALLEL to the hook shank, with no stray fibers.

 

If the head of your fly is down, the hackle is in the wrong place, canted, or there are stray fibers canting the hackle, etc.

 

[mikechell 0]

Does your leader float? If so, try floating it at the end of the leader and see what happens.

Kind of what I was thinking. If you don't have it tied to leader material, then the test if invalid. You don't fish it without a leader, you can't test it without one.

[NHMatt 0]

You said "head down". That means the fly is nose heavy. There are several possibilities, but most likely it's a combination of all of them. Number 1 is wing placement. For a dry fly, it needs to be between 1/4 and 1/3 hook shank length (HSL) back from the eye. For hackle tip wings, I usually go with the 1/4 HSL. If the wings are too far back, that will make the fly nose heavy. Number 2, the hackle needs to be no more than 2 hook gapes long AFTER it's wound on. If the thorax is thick right there, use a smaller hackle. If the hackle is too long, it will almost always dump the fly over on the eye. Number 3, the head is too big. Thread is more dense than any of the other materials you wind onto a fly. Keep the thread wraps in front of the hackle to a minimum.

 

There's probably more, but that should give you something to work with.

 

I think I have the wing placement right but probably too much hackle and thread on the nose. I'll see if I can get a picture up. Thanks for your advice.

[NHMatt 0]

We do need to see the fly. If you can't take a photo, do look at the bottom and make sure any stray hackle is clipped even without stray fibers that can't the fly.

 

Also the hackle needs to extend beyond the hook eye so front of the fly CANNOT tip down. The hook bend and all that metal at the rear of the hook makes flies heavy at the rear, and rarely will the front of the fly be too "heavy".

 

Here is Charlie Craven's Parachute just before he has cut the post to length and clipped a stray hackle fiber. See how the position of hackle over the thorax makes it just about impossible for the fly to tip head down. The hackle is PARALLEL to the hook shank, with no stray fibers.

 

If the head of your fly is down, the hackle is in the wrong place, canted, or there are stray fibers canting the hackle, etc.

 

 

I've got hackle everywhere. Ha! The problem I'm having though is with a traditional hackled Adams. My parchutes are the only ones that sit right for me. However, now that I look at the way a good parchute is tied, I think I need to work on those too.

 

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

[NHMatt 0]

 

Does your leader float? If so, try floating it at the end of the leader and see what happens.

Kind of what I was thinking. If you don't have it tied to leader material, then the test if invalid. You don't fish it without a leader, you can't test it without one.

 

 

We do need to see the fly. If you can't take a photo, do look at the bottom and make sure any stray hackle is clipped even without stray fibers that can't the fly.

 

Also the hackle needs to extend beyond the hook eye so front of the fly CANNOT tip down. The hook bend and all that metal at the rear of the hook makes flies heavy at the rear, and rarely will the front of the fly be too "heavy".

 

Here is Charlie Craven's Parachute just before he has cut the post to length and clipped a stray hackle fiber. See how the position of hackle over the thorax makes it just about impossible for the fly to tip head down. The hackle is PARALLEL to the hook shank, with no stray fibers.

 

If the head of your fly is down, the hackle is in the wrong place, canted, or there are stray fibers canting the hackle, etc.

 

By the way, what's being used for the thorax of this fly? Is that a stripped peacock herl?

[flytire 0]

dubbing is used for the thorax

 

biot is used for the abdomen

 

heres the recipe for the fly above from charlies fly box

 

Hook: TMC 100 #16-24............................ Thread: 10/0 Gudebrod, gray....................... Tail: Gray Spade hackle fibers......................... Wing: White or gray McFlylon............................. Hackle: Blue Dun (gray) rooster neck or saddle feather..................... Abdomen: Olive Gray Goose Biot....................... Thorax: Olive Gray Superfine Dubbing.................

 

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/detail.cfm

[NHMatt 0]

Thanks Flytire

[SilverCreek 0]

 

I've got hackle everywhere. Ha! The problem I'm having though is with a traditional hackled Adams.

 

 

I have a question about the traditional Adams then. Did you tie the hackle in by the butt and wind it forward?

I'm wondering if you used a lower quality short hackle feather that has a very steep taper so the length of the hackle fibers got noticeably shorter as you wound them forward.

 

This would slant the line of hackle fibers tips so that if the fly was riding on the tips, the fly would tend to tip forward. This is just a wild guess on my part.

[NHMatt 0]

 

 

I've got hackle everywhere. Ha! The problem I'm having though is with a traditional hackled Adams.

 

 

I have a question about the traditional Adams then. Did you tie the hackle in by the butt and wind it forward?

I'm wondering if you used a lower quality short hackle feather that has a very steep taper so the length of the hackle fibers got noticeably shorter as you wound them

This would slant the line of hackle fibers tips so that if the fly was riding on the tips, the fly would tend to tip forward. This is just a wild guess on my part.

 

 

Yes, I tied it by the butt and wrapped forward, zig-zagging the second brown hackle through the first. Not sure I understand the slanting part.

 

As soon as I'm able, I'll upload a picture of my flies (mess) which will, hopefully, reveal where I'm screwing it up.

 

Thanks gain.