Quote Originally Posted by Ray Kunz View Post
If the famous fly tier, Frank Sawyer, concluded that nymphs never extended their legs when moving away from the bottom why do we persist In tying legs on our flies? He concluded that free swimming nymphs simply let their legs hang against their bodies.
Mr. Sawyer was primarily speaking of blue wing olives, which are fine swimmers. Many of the nymphs that we attempt to imitate are not so good at it. They do their best to reach the surface, or bankside structure, but vary in their swimming abilities. Also, many nymphs are dislodged from the bottom, or are part of natural drift, and are not swimming to the surface. They likely have their legs akimbo, not tucked into their cute little nymphy selves.

Chuck