Ron
My question has less to do with body length and more to do with the "...clean, thread free head."... as Leiser described it in his book with and about the Dettes.

You have an advantage on me in that you've seen more Catskill area tied flies in person than I have. I have to rely on the fewer flies that I've seen in person and what I've seen photographed.

Based on what I've seen, I'll state that by and large the thread free head is absent from most wet flies and nymphs tied in the Catskill tradition, and grant that there are or may be exceptions. How's that for covering my butt? ))

Assuming that I'm correct, I've wondered why that might be. If it's to accomodate the turle knot, one must assume that fishermen in the early 20th century and later used a different knot for wet flies than for dry flies. I think that's probably not the case, but have no way to prove it. I think there was and is something more going on.

Based on my observations I think the origin and continuation of the "thread free head" lies in two sources and that it has become an icon of flies that are supposed to represent the Catskill tradition:

1) Perhaps an over attention to weight and balance. (My first choice of reasons)

2) Perhaps a short cut in finishing the fly amoung *commercial* tiers in the Catskill region. (My second choice of reasons)

3) Evolving from 1 and/or 2, into a "signature" of sorts for some Catskill tiers.

Trust your memory. It's probably better than you think.