Adams problems

[Midge Man]

Alright, I am still working on my dry flies. On a recent trip I tied on what I thought was a good adams and cast it out. Only to find that it would tip over on its side. Tied on another one of hte same flies and it did the same thing. Anythoughts on why this is happening.

[Warm Water Fly Fisher]

can you post a pic of the fly?

[Joe Billingsley]

Your wings might be too long or a little bit off center. Splaying or dividing your tail fibers will also help. However, many times there is nothing wrong with a fly on its side. It will make it look like a cripple.
Joe

[Midge Man]

Thank you. I don't have a picture of the fly but I suspect that they were too long and off center. I had tied them in and then divided them to stand them further apart ( wider "v") But I think that they were a bit on the long side and more than likely off center.

The good news is that it forced me to work on parachute flies. I tied a two one morning before i got on the little river in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and stuck with those flies the entire trip. Each was a yellow floss bodied parachute that those little fish seemed to enjoy it. thanks for tip.

[flyandtie]

the fly was just out of proportion

[Flyrodde]

The hackle you used may have been too long also.

[Jeeves]

The good news is that it forced me to work on parachute flies.

Midge Man, it has been the same with myself - have had the same problem with classic catskill dries and finally arrived to the parachute solution I guess all reasons posted above /separately or alltogether/ could cause inproper floating and presentation.. now the greater part of my dries are tied the parachute way, the royal coachman and the adams being amongst the best producers.. also, if you need to get smaller in size I can recommend trying a biot bodied parachute /grey and brown goose biots make out great bodies for small dries/, in fact I often use biots for the parachute post too - white, gray, or brown biots make out excellent upright wings mounted as a post and are enough durable as a hackle base/.. ooops, sory, this thread was about the classic catskill dries, but I am too biased I guess
cheers and good luck!

[Eight Thumbs]

What Jeeses and everyone else said. Also see the post on the hardest beginner flies to tie in this forum; I nominated the Adams. The parachute version is an easier fly to tie, far more forgiving of tyer mistakes and a more effective fish catcher. It always lands right side up and sits in the water in a more realistic way. Just my 2% of a dollar. 8T

[gutbomb]

A parachute may not be as pretty as a well tied Adams, but it's less maddening to tie and rides well in the water.

[rainbowchaser]

I have a lot less of that problem since I began paying closer attention to the tails of my dry flies. A tail that is too short can cause a fly to ride on it's side but the most common fault in my flies was that the tail was going down below the the hook bend and thus below the center of gravity of the fly. Make sure that the tail fibers extend out straight off of the hook shank or even cock upward a little bit and your problem may disappear.