Should I mess with a tried and true recipe?

I'm planning on tying some mosquitos tonight and was wondering... has anyone ever substituted a different color for the wings? I have alot more med dun than I do grizzly. Do You think it would make the wings too visible?

Hi,
If you alter a pattern as it was first originally tied, it's no longer that pattern. With that said, I often alter patterns and find that, many times, it improves them. I think that is what fly tying is all about. You take a pattern and alter it to fish where you fish. In years gone by, tiers used what they had on hand, thus creating flies which, eventually, became standardized patterns. Don't be afraid to use your imagination or the materials you have on hand. Try that mosquito with dun colored wings. Who knows it may be better than the one with grizzly wings. Besides, who ever saw a mosquito with barred wings? Not me.

Mark

What Mark said! Experimentation is part of the fun of fly tying. I've tied some really funny looking flies just out of boredom, and everything will eventually catch something. Go for it!

Joe

Hare,

After much consideration, I finally figured out that I didn't need ANY wings on my mosquito pattern. Tail, body, hackle. Simple. The fish don't care a bit. Actually the reverse in my experience. I'm catching way more fish on the mosquitoe pattern since I abandoned the wings. I think it has to do with balance. Without wings, the fly look the same from any angle.

So, I'll bet that you could tie ANY color wing you wanted and it wouldn't matter.

Buddy

I'm gonna try it all. Thanks guys

I much prefer lighter colored wings because they are easier for me to see...

I basically agree with Buddy Sanders. However lately I have been tying on some CDC in place of the traditional wing. So far the fish ain't complained.

Tim

I think I read in the tying tips of someone using a black marker to make his own grizzly out of a white cape.