Hey Guys! Long time no see! Ha!
I got an e-mail from "mantis" the other day, said I should jump in here and offer my two cents. So here I am!

Been off all summer. Well, not off...but prostate cancer surgery on June 20, six weeks recovery and a follow-up PSA test on Sept. 20 which BTW was < 0.1 where it should be after the plumbing has been removed. ;-D My cancer was localized so looks like it's history!
Spent the summer recuperating, doing chores related to remodeling at home, used over 1-1/2 gallon of polyurethane - new hardwood floors, ceramic tile in kitchen. I did all the trim moldings, casings, new doors, etc.

On the wet flies... I tied & fished sizes #6 through #14 from the time I started in 1964. All locally in my PA streams. All sizes worked well.
Now, for tying at shows, and teaching in classes, the size #6 is what I use. I agree with Andy B. There is nothing wrong with fishing a #6 wet fly. A lot of guys think it's too big, but remember, we're not talking about a 4xl bugger hook, or a 3xl nymph hook. A winged wet fly tied on a standard length hook makes a fly about 1-1/4" in length. Snack food for even 10" trout.
I have a 1936 Weber Catalog. The standard sizes of wet flies sold were #6 through #12. Other sizes by special order.

Size #8 could be used if one is concened about hook size injuring fish. But, on another topic, I believe more well-meaning flyfishers inadvertently harm trout by playing them too long (too light of a tippet, drag set too light, etc., or by handling them carelessly or keeping them out of the water too long for photos) than what are injured by hooks.

As far as how well wet flies work? Here's one quick true story. Two friends of mine hooked over 100 trout in one day, on the Bighorn River in August of 2002 on #6 wet flies, gaudy patterns in fact. I have photos of these trout with the Neverwas, Rich Widow (in my DVD incidentally), Wilderness, and Richardson in their jaws.
Same scenario repeated one year later by friends of mine fishing during a hosted trip by well-known fly fishing guides over Labor Day weekend 2003. My customers out-fished six other boats in the party - on the Bighorn - with the same four - "large," "gaudy", wet fly patterns listed above.

Wet flies still work. No longer sold for a wide variety of reasons, but they still work!!

Good 2 B Back!

Don B.