Since a few people asked about wet fly wing proportions, I will glad to further explain. The proportions that I am providing are for tying classic wet flies that appeared in Ray Bergman's book Trout that were painted by Dr Burke.

The Tail:

1) When tied in should be the length of the hook. Meaning the top flat part of the hook.

2) If using quills for tails I use the following quill segments to make the thickness of the tail look semetrical. Size 6 & 8 hooks four to three quill segments. Size 10 three quill segments and size 12 two quill segments.

The Wing (Duck Or Goose Quills):

1) The width of the wing is 2/3 the hook gap

2) Sizing the wing before tying in, I do the following. Look at the bottom of the wing and look at this last or bottom quill segment. I make sure this last segment does not extend past the bend of the hook.

3) When step two is measured correctly the top of the wing in most cases when tied in will extend half the distance of the tail.

Here's a little trick for where to tie the wings in on the hook. What I was taught and also experimented with is to take another hook of the same type and lay it on the hook top just touching the back of the eye of the hook that's in the vise. What you are looking for is that the diameter of the hooks eye the hook that you are measuring with will provide all the space that you will need to tie in the floss and ribbing, the beard/false hackle and last the wings. If you use the diameter of the hooks eye all the time on wet flies, you will form nice heads, keep proportins in check. The issue here, it will force you to use less thread and make really nice formed heads.

I do this on all my wet flies that I fish with as well as sale for display.

I will post a picture or two of some of my wet flies for you to get a better understanding of these instructions.

Andy B[/url]