weighting wet flies

When tying wet flies, do you normally weight all of a particular fly the same or do you tie them with different amounts of lead wire to get different sink rates? I'm new to this and am tying basically just buggers and streamers.

you can use different sizes of lead or non lead wire and vary the number of turns.
lead wire weighs more than non lead but, lead wire is outlawed in certain waters.

if you choose to use wire then you can weight the rear part of the fly, the shank, front of the shank, tie strips on top of the hook to make it ride point-up for a weedless fly.
you can vary the number of wraps to make the fly weigh more or less.

another type of weight is beadheads,which can be made out of tungsten, brass, aluminum, and many other materials.
tungsten is the heaviest but also the ,most expensive.
bead heads add weight to the front of the fly only but give a nice nose dive sink.
i personally like beadheads better than lead wire.

another type of weight is the lead or tungsten or aluminum dumbell eyes. they are generally tied on top of the hook shank to make the fly ride point up therefor making it weedless. they add lots of weight for heavy patterns like clouser minnows.

and another type of weight i can think of is bead chain eyes. they add little weight for patterns that you want to ride hook point-up. but not weigh a ton. i use them alot for my trout and bluegill patterns and some bass patterns i want to sink REALLY slowly.

hope this helps

Hi,

I don't add any weight to my wet flies, beyond any wire used for the ribbing. I will, however, weight nymphs sometimes (though recently I've started fishing unweighted nymphs). If you want your wet fly to sink, first makes sure your leader is de-greased. I have a sort of clay line degreases, but I know some people just carry detergent mixed in with Fuller's Earth that they pick up from the chemist (pharmacy/drug store). Not sure what Fuller's Earth is myself though, so it might be a local brand name?

Anyway, cast your fly well upstream. It will sink, especially once it becomes water logged (so don't false cast if you can help it). The key is to figure out how far you need to cast it above the fish so that it sinks to the right level when it's near the fish. At that point, tighten up on your line and the fly will swing through the fish's holding area, and rise towards the surface. That motion can induce a strike, especially with spiders and flymphs.

Oh yah, by wet flies, I'm talking spiders and winged wee wets, rather than streamers and lures (a wooly bugger would be a lure); generally size 10 and under type things. These flies typically represent emerging insects, or drowned adults, (or nothing in particular with a lot of winged attractor patterns) and so they are immitating things near the top of the water column. Also, weight can interfere with the action of the hackles.

If you need to get down to the bottom, weighted nymphs are probably the way to go. If allowed, and if you want to fish your wet flies deeper, you could tail a wet fly (winged or hackled version) off the end of the bend of the nymph.

- Jeff

Everyone has their own system after a while. I weigh the same pattern the same in all colors and equivelently in sizes. For example I will give a certain size of a certain pattern 4 wraps of lead wire and a glass bead. All sizes get wire about the thickness of the hook I am using. It is easier to weigh different patterns differently for me, than weigh the same pattern differently. So for me I have light nymph patterns mid and deep patterns. Same with Wetflies and Streamers. The amount I weigh a specific pattern depends on what it is immitating and what materials are used in the pattern.

For Nymphs I tie:
PT nymphs with 3 turns of wire in the thorax
Hares ear with a brass bead and 4 turns of wire
Brassies with all copper wire bodies, 3 turns or lead and a brass bead

For Wets I tie:
Un weighted floss and hackle
Glass bead thorax patterns
Glass bead head patterns with 4 turns of wire in the thorax.

I can always tell with the pattern how deep it will fish, and in my opinion fish will always take a good presentaion rather than a specific pattern.

PS

I tie about 4 different colors and a bunch of sizes in each pattern to match river or season specific insects.

if i want to weight them i use dependeing on the size of the fly brass beads for the body and wrap hackle in front of them.

I'm with Jeff Hamm on this one. I don't weight any of my wet flies. Like Jeff, I depend on careful presentation and line control to get the fly down where I want it to fish. This is my year to really practice fishing with wet flies. I usually prefer a dry, but it's wets for the year to improve my skills.

REE

hmm he comes on here posts twice then nothing more???