WD40

[SilverCreek 0]

I have lots of natural wood duck also but have you guys not heard of dyed barred mallard to match wood duck?

 

https://shop.flyfishsd.com/products/mallard-barred-flank-lrg-select-wood-duck?

http://www.jsflyfishing.com/hareline-big-pack-mallard-flank-?

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Seems like lotta waste tiny flies with flanks. But what the heck. They are plentiful especially to duck hunters. Funny fly shops will have the flanks and not the breasts. I use the brown Gadwall flanks on sculpins and breast feathers on nymphs. Not in most fly shops/catalogs. Never was big on WD40s but the Gads look perfect for a "variant". $.02

Use wood duck, dark gray, and the regular gray Mallyard CDCs on caddis floaters which are also plentiful from plucking ducks too. Getem from the preening gland on top of their butts.

Always searching for usable feathers. Shoulders on Drake Green Wing Teal and Bull Sprig Pintails are heavey barred also but not lots on em.

Sorry for side trip. I miss not getting to trout waters often enough....

[spiralspey 0]

Sorry for side trip. I miss not getting to trout waters often enough....

I don't mind the side trip. I also love gadwall, and since I'm not a hunter I ration out the couple bags of gadwall breast feathers I've found over the years. Same with the bags of shoveler and widgeon flanks I've bought. Those are both a beautiful shade of brown that looks awesome as collars on spey flies and are pretty good subs for hooded merganser. Now if I could find some of those feathers.......sorry, I guess I've gone even farther aside.

[Guest]

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[flytire 0]

from the internet

 

"A long-time Colorado guide and fly tyer, Mark Engler, is credited with creating the WD-40 back in 1982. Mark is apparently one of those quiet, unassuming sorts whose entire life revolves around fly fishing. His friends say the fact that he has three ex-wives could be a testament to his dedication to fishing. Stories of the origin of the WD-40 name come in many versions. Many say that WD stands for “wood duck”, a versatile feather that many tyers use for this pattern. But if you search the internet you can find a video of Engler himself tying his own WD-40, and guess what… he doesn’t use wood duck. He uses mallard. So you can subscribe to other versions of the origin of the name given to Engler’s fly.

 

The WD-40 was originally designed by Engler as a midge emerger pattern for Colorado’s Frying Pan River and it was an instant success. Anglers soon found that it was also a terrific BWO emerger pattern. Because midges are out all year it is a good fly to often tie on as a dropper behind a dry fly or a nymph. The WD-40 is most often tied on a curved scud-type hook, in small sizes, like 18’s and smaller (like down to 24’s !) But if you are going to be tying small flies, it is good to have them be something that are easy to tie. Favorite colors seem to be olive and black, but they are also tied in brown, gray, and tan. As with the evolution of many fly patterns, there seems to be an endless number of variations of the WD-40. One of the more effective ones even has its own name variation… the WD-50. It is like the WD-40 except it takes the emerging process one step further, as it is tied with short emerging wing buds."

 

i lived in colorado from 1980-1991 and ​my earliest recollection of the wd40 and what its name stood for was getting around the fly shop scene was: What a Day 40 fish

 

I have never heard the 40 flies an hour

 

by the originator

 

[Guest]

So could just as well be from the spray oil after all....gimmick naming I suppose...? Can't beat WD40.

[flytire 0]

call it what you want

[McFlyLures 0]

Telephone game... lol. Everyone is gonna hear it different.

[tjm 0]

The oil was around about 30 years ahead of the fly and by '82 folks were using it to cure arthritis and to spray on worms to make fish bite better. Good bet that a can of the stuff was involved in the fly name. like the only thing needed

At the rate he rolled that one he'd be about 65 flies an hour not 40, unless he took some breaks.

[Sandan 0]

As with the evolution of many fly patterns, there seems to be an endless number of variations of the WD-40. One of the more effective ones even has its own name variation… the WD-50. It is like the WD-40 except it takes the emerging process one step further, as it is tied with short emerging wing buds."

 

 

Thanks flytire. I had thought the WD-50 was a WD-40 tied w/ the wingbuds and flashback.

[FishnPhil 0]

Funny conversation. I had picked up a few of these from a shop last minute prior to fishing high pressure tailwater. Only thing that worked were WD40s so I tied up a bunch later. I do prefer "finer" flies, sparse materials, etc. They do tie up super fast and you can thicken things up for heavier water or less selective trout. Definitely one I've added to the midge box (size 20 and smaller).

 

 

 

 

Olive is my favorite color to tie and rarely catches me fish, haha, but I keep on tying them!