Quote Originally Posted by Byron haugh View Post
As Steven noted, Marinaro and others who have studied trout and their optics in the medium of water have made a strong case for wings.

Goddard and Clarke in "the Trout and the Fly" explain , even more clearly, how a trout sees wing tips entering their window of vision before they see the body finally United with the wings. It is also why some tiers tie wings which are more pronounced than the insects to accentuate them in the trout's window of vision.
I don't think Marinaro and others made a case for distinct wings separate from hackle. He made a case that whatever was used to replicate the wing should be tall. Marinaro's thorax duns had to have separate wings because of the way that he used the hackle to suport the fly.

Wing v. Wingless is one of the great flyfishing/tying discussions.