My only hackle readily available was a little longer than I wanted, but thought some might a kick out of this:
No picture came through
That is not an Adam’s. It’s a purple thing tied in the style of and Adams!! I’m from Michignan and don’t try to pass that off as Adam’s!!
Go Wolverines. And don’t try to pass that off as a great team. Kidding, of course. I went to Missouri - new member of the SEC.
Sorry to have offended your sensibilities, but I like the looks of this purple thing tied in the style of an Adams.
PS. The classic pattern is an “Adams”, not an “Adam’s”, and your state is Michigan.
It looks like the tail is missing brown hackle fibers. If that is the case, I think that this would be a Purple Grizzly.
If you want to get technical and all.
That is called a purple haze marketed by Montana Fly
its a purple bodied something or other. as long as it works.
Carlson’s original Purple Haze is a parachute. The “Purple Craze” is the same fly with a dubbed thorax rather than the spandex. Their Purple Haze Cripple has either a dubbed or marabou body. They call my Loopwing Purple Haze a “Purple Phase” to distinguish it from Carlson’s flies.
I fish the Quigley-style in the other thread about 2/3 of the time and the loopwing most of the rest, with the standard parachute only when I need something bigger or in rough water. Tie the collar-hackled version above with a moose tail and white wings and it’d be a great rough water attractor.
… Andy Carlson’s Purple Haze is a parachute. Follow the link to the image provided by Montana Fly Company of Andy’s Purple Haze.
http://www.montanafly.com/Panel1/images/product/XQlA14-0010.png
As usual, Byron has done an excellent job tying and photographing a really neat fly. It is what it is, no matter what someone calls it. :twisted:
John
Thanks John. Kind of you. Some take this a little seriously…
Jack, if he tied it with muskrat-dyed purple would it count as an Adams?
Ed
Then those purple hazes that I bought at the Divide Fly Shop and marketed as such ten or more years ago were not actually PH’s?
I’m not sure that what we typically call an Adams is true to the original tie. I do know that I like fishing both an “Adams” style fly and Purple bodied flies. One thing I have to ask is why do you use foam as a loop wing? Does it add any flotation positioned above the body and hackles? I would think a Dun hen feather would be lighter and keep the fly from tipping over.
Well, I was copying the fly I saw tied by Walt Wiese. He may not have “invented” it, but saw one like it being tied by him on youtube. You should watch his video. I suspect it does help in floatation though. I would think it would.
I should have phrased my question better regarding the foam wing. I realize you were tying from another’s pattern, I was just throwing out a general question as to the effectiveness of foam for the wing. I would think the foam wing would be better used on maybe an emerger type pattern, you know, one with and antron tail that sinks a little. I forget what you call them, tied in a Comparadun style but an antron tail. I do enjoy reading your posts on tying. BTW, on which island is Kapaa? Most of my relatives, of which there are many, live in Kona.
It does help with floatation, which is one reason I tied it --that one just doesn’t sink. Generally I don’t grease the body or tail on that one, and I almost always clip my hackle flat with the shank, so it sits in the film as an emerger, even if it does have a dry fly hackle.
Tig,
Thanks. Those are Sparkle Duns. Kapaa is on the island of Kauai. Your relatives live on the island of Hawaii which has 2 major cities: Kona and Hilo.
All I can say, for those of us who have some concern for the history and tradition of fly tying, is that: a pattern named, credited to some individual, designed in a specific manner and which uses specific materials, has a specific look and is recognised by that look. Any creation that modifies the original, to the extent that the modification is easily recognizable, cannot and should not have the same name as the original.
Nice tye - Yes!
Purple Adams - Nope!
Allan
Nice fly Byron, what did you use for the body?
Looks like tied on a size 16 would be GREAT on bluegills, i may have to make me up a dozen or so 
Thanks Allan. It is rather interesting though. You know, the true original Adams is said to have been tied with Golden Pheasant fibers for the tail? And it was tied with gray/grey wool and that muskrat fur bodies came later?
One fellow on one of these posts said: “if it isn’t muskrat fur, it isn’t an Adams”. Guess he doesn’t know the history of the fly as you and I do.