Wet Fly Wings

[gmac209]

I have spent some time over the holidays tying some wet flys. After watching some videos (youtube) and reading articles - my question is - does anybody have a good method of handling the wing material?
I watched one video where the gentleman clipped the quill and all to hold everything together until tied down. I found this ackward but on the other hand things seem to come apart on me before I get them cinched down. I haven't even tried a married wing yet.
Attached is one of my flies from my efforts.

[mr. blur]

winging looks decent. perhaps a little wide. rule of thumb is two thirds hook gap. hackle a mite long. I like it to reach the barb of the hook. nice job though and esthetics are personal.

really it's all about practice. I assume yer using a soft pinch loop to tie in? after a while it will become second nature and you won't even have to think about it. keep at it.

married wings aren't difficult. give it a try.

[rainbowchaser]

Eric Austin has a nice tutorial on his site that might help. http://traditionalflies.com/index.php?wingingwetflies

[kbproctor]

The first thing I want to say is that your wings look great. There is nothing wrong with your wings at all. Anything else I mention is nitpicking on tying for the fisherman. That fly will fish.

I was going to recommend Eric's tutorial as well. He has one in the archives here, too, I think. Danged if I know how to find it, though. You might try it with goose shoulder to start with. It's softer and ties in easier. At least it does for me. If you are using duck quill, take the slips from the middle of the feather. Towards the tip is too stiff and towards the bottom falls apart too easy. When you get ready to try married wings, forget the duck and go with goose. It will marry to more stuff easier.

Now for the nitpicky stuff. Crowd the eye a bit more. Try for a head about as long as the eye is wide. It looks like you tied the hackle in like a beard which means you can regulate the length a bit easier. Just to the point of the hook. As for the width of the wing, I tend to shoot for a wing as wide as the hook gap on wets and about half on dries. Yours looks good to me.

All in all it looks a heck of a lot better than some of my first efforts at winged wets.

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Wings look good. As you tie more of them, it will get easier and you will suddenly notice you've improved. You obviously have the basic technique down really well, the rest is just proportions and motor skills. You can't learn those by reading about them, you have to practice. It's like trying to learn to throw a ball. You just have to do it. Really nice fly though. I agree that the head could be cut in half. The finish on it is really nice though.

- Jeff

[Normand]

wings could be 2/3 the hook gape (don bastian preference) or equal to the gape

head should be smaller

ribbing looks good at 5 wraps. third wrap should be at mid point of the body and the 5th wrap visible

beard hackle could be shorter and fuller

tail could be shorter also

heres some excellent examples

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.p...tyer=Isonychia

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.p...yer=Fontinalis

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.p...tyer=Redwings1

additional tips

2 strands of 4 strand floss is sufficient

white thread under light colored floss to maintain the color of the floss

[Steven]

Normand mentioned Don Bastian.

Bastain's DVD is worth the money.

[quivira kid]

That fly looks great! The only thing I'd do different is try and make the head smaller, as was already mentioned. Also, I tie my slips so they curve in, not out. Look at Eric Austin's site and copy his proportions and technique! He ties a gorgeous wet!

As for handling the wing material before it goes on the hook..... have fun. It takes a little getting used to, but you'll figure out how to get the slips matched up just through repetition. I've found a few bad words and holding your tongue just right helps!

I've just been learning how to do this style the last couple months... Do a search here and there should be a thread or two I've started with some awesome advice!

Zac

[kbproctor]

Curved in, curved out, boils down to personal preference. Eric ties them in but will mention that one of the biggies, tied them out. With Duck quill. that means you have the inside or dull side of the slips facing out due to the reverse curl in the slips.

I agree with the white thread and floss.

Go to Eric's site and he has several great tutorials on tying the traditional wets. There is a nice section of Catskill style dries, too.

These are challenging flies, not because they are complex or tiny, but because they are so simple that little mistakes are often glaring mistakes. I like them because they are little tiny works of art that just happen to catch fish.

[gadabout]

I just clip the two quill segments and lay them on my vise's pedestal base with the ends hanging over the edge a little. When I'm reading to tie in the wing, I just grab the two segments and place them together the way I want them to appear on the fly. I pinch them between the thumb and index finger of my left hand and then hold them over the hook shank as a single unit. The next part is where all the skill comes in, and I freely admit that it usually takes me several tries to get it right. You have to snake the thread between your fingers while pinching the seqments together. Don Bastion's DVD explains it better than I could do here.