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The WD40 was originally designed by Mark Engler. Word on the street says that he designed this while working in a fly shop in the west. He made a pattern that was relatively easy to tie, and worked well in small sizes, which was what was needed on these small fly streams. This fly became so popular at his local fly shop, that he could not keep up with the demand of tying it. So the shop quickly turned to others to tie this fly, and instantly the fly became a world wide success, stocked in all fly shops in the United States, and later the world.

So this fly originally uses Wood Duck (the W.D. part of the name). However, wood duck is very expensive for a small amount of it. Also I find that the pattern on it is finer, and softer than Mallard Flank. So I use the less expensive and easier to find mallard flank for this fly. Not only is it more readily available and less expensive than wood duck, it also comes in a wider range of colors. For this specific fly I used the one died to look like wood duck, however you can find this in gray, brown, olive, yellow, exc. The list goes on and on. These range of colors allow you to tie this fly in many colors to mimic your local bug species. So maybe I should call the fly the MF40? LOL

So as always I am listing the materials I used on this fly.
Hook: Daiichi 1130 in size 18
Thread: Veevus 10/0 in brown
Tail/wingcase: Wood Duck Gold Mallard Flank
Ribbing: Small/Gold Ultra Wire
Dubbing: Brown Hareline Rabbit Dubbing
Head Cement: Hard as hull

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Thanks for the clarification....Always wondered where the WD40 oil spray came about....WoodDuck40.

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Thanks for the clarification....Always wondered where the WD40 oil spray came about....WoodDuck40.

Oh yeah! Haha. Not sure where the 40 comes from for sure, but some say its cause he could tie 40 an hour... but that seems awefully quick to me..

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I've always seen and tied this with a shorter tail - more like half a shank length. Personal preference I suppose... Nice video.

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I've always seen and tied this with a shorter tail - more like half a shank length. Personal preference I suppose... Nice video.

For sure! Traditionally a shorter tail is more common, but I like the longer tail personally. I find it doesnt have issues fouling at this length but I get more strikes...

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I think I will give this one a try. Goodness knows I have enough wood duck.

Lucky you man! Wood duck is hard to find in my area. And when you do, its like double the cost of mallard. Personally I love wood duck for dry flies more than even this fly. So I just use mallard for the nymph, and my wood duck is saved for dries.

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Nice & quick to tie.

A few different sizes tied in gray, brown, olive, yellow & black should satisfy most nymphing needs.

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Nice & quick to tie.

A few different sizes tied in gray, brown, olive, yellow & black should satisfy most nymphing needs.

Yes I agree. For me, with the exception of yellow, those are the best colors Ive found as well. Not that yellow is bad, just for my local waters its not a super effective color. Not sure why. But yeah, carrying sizes and colors like that will actually do good at matching the hatch with a wide range of bugs.

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Wood duck, not WD-40.

Thanks, yeah let me know. Not sure I need a ton though, as I have more mallard flank to last though 1000 WD's. LOL Also im quite happy with using the mallard flank rather than the Wood Duck. I like it better. Does that mean it is better? No, just what I think.

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