Wing Cases: Thin Skin or Turkey Feathers?????
Hey Folks,
I've just whipped up a couple dozen GRHEs to fill in some of the empty spots in various fly boxes and to help fill the single, mega box I'm going to carry instead of a vest on the trout stream from now on. I've tied some with wing cases made of feather slips and others with wing cases made from Thin Skin. I like the Thin Skin better for ease of tying, durability, and general appearance. Which do you favor for flies that require wing cases? 8T
Last edited by Eight Thumbs; 10-14-2010 at 01:50 AM.
While I think the turkey looks better, I actually like Thin Skin better or Swiss Straw which I use more than anything, for the reasons you mentioned.
Although...
...I catch more fish on a flashback version of the GRHE than anything!
Ditto with bamboozle. I catch more fish on the flashback, bead-head version. I've tied them with all of the above, but now only tie the flashback, bead-head.
Kelly.
Tight Lines,
Kelly.
"There will be days when the fishing is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home."
Roderick Haig-Brown, "Fisherman's Spring"
peacock herl
Do you epoxy the peacock herl? Seems it would be fragile.
Turkey with an application of flex ment on the back side. I sometimes will use krystal flash as well and once in awhile peacock herl. Just not into the thin skin thing.
Hi Eight Thumbs,
I tend to like turkey tail and goose quill, because I like traditional natural materials, and like the way the flies look. However, I also use flashback, because as the others mentioned, it seems to work better for me.
Regards,
Gandolf
RE:WING CASE MATERIALS
All of the above- Its all good!
I like dark wingcases, so peacock is good, but black flashabou is nice too. An (old) audio cassette is like swiss straw and thinskin, but is cheap, handy and already the right width. It comes in brown or almost-black brown and can be tied shiny side up (my preference) or dull side up. Like Flickfly says. "It's all good".
Last edited by Greg H; 10-15-2010 at 11:59 PM. Reason: added information
Or,
Skip the wing case altogether...
As a few mentioned, the 'flash' type of case is becoming a 'standard' for trout everyhwere. I just wrap one turn of 'flash' (pearl mylar type flat thread) through the thorax....no wing case and I get the benefit of the 'flash' from any direction.
Faster to tie. More durable. Simpler. At least as effective, maybe more so. Fish don't seem to care.
Of course, it's not 'traditional', it just works.
Buddy
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