AllanB I think it comes from both Dave Hughs and Allen McGee's books, While both are great books and they do include North Country flies most of the rhetoric is about heavy bodied flies. Not the simple flies tyed with game hackle, a slight dusting of dubbing and silk. Whenever I talk I about s/h's I try to differentiate between NC flies and others. Leisuring and Hidy also called their flies as wet flies and soft hackles and later Hidy named flies flymphs to indicate a different type of fly.

Many of the new tyers and writers are not familiar with N.C. flies and their great history.