Hmmm... very strange. I could swear there was a post by Pechetruite in this thread, suggesting the F-Fly as a suitable alternative pattern.

I typed up a response to the post, yet now the relevant post appears to have evaporated.

Still... let's press on, and post anyway

===

Pierre,

Marjan Fratnik's F-Fly for sure is a quick-tie, very effective pattern. It does, however, in my mind have two flaws which need to be addressed to meet my 1. durablity, and 2. floatability, criteria.

The tying thread only body I do not find very durable. I will either totally omit the body (the difference between a thread covered shank, or a bare shank, with the backdrop of the CDC wing (as viewed from below) can hardly be described as earthshattering, or I will thinly dub the body which has for me proven much more durable.

The way Marjan ties in the wing looks and works great as long as the CDC barbs do not get saturated with fish slime, or indeed water. Once this happens the CDC collapses, and with it the wing, against the body. Rather than float, the F-Fly quickly trans-mutates into a sub-surface pattern. By changing the winging technique this behavior is easily averted, and the fly will float much better over longer periods of time.

Cheers,
Hans W