wings on adams flies

decided to tie a few adams and was wonderng how critical the wings are to the fly’s fishability. Also, if they are critical, how do you properly gauge the size so that they look right?

Thanks,

Fish

I stopped putting wings on my dry fly patterns about 20 years ago now I guess…if I had to pick, I’d say the patterns catch better without wings.

Closest thing to wings on a dry I tye now is the post on a parachute pattern.

Cheers,

MontanaMoose

I have also given up on wings. I could never find a hackle point that had the right profile, and they just drove me crazy tying them in! Unless it’s CDC, I don’t ordinarily put a wing.

nb

I tie my adams with hen hackle tips for a more rounded shape. One way to measure the wing is to use a wing as long as the hook shank from the eye to the bend of a Mustad 9840.

Somewhere in the beginning fly tying articles here at FAOL Mr. Al mentions that wings on dry flies are mostly for the angler/visibility. I also believe I saw an article on the “footprint” a dry fly makes in the surface pressure of the water…Operative term being “foot” not wing on dry flys.

I of course defer final say upon “oh Great Professor of Poetry and all things Buggy” (Mr. Castwell)

Hey JC…just when you think no one was paying attention to your sage advice…:wink:

Just my opinion…I could be wrong, and usually am…Just ask my wife!

If you have decided to "tie a few adams " then you have to have wings. Adams have wings. If you want to tie some gray wingless mayflies then go ahead.

no wing = not an Adams :rolleyes:

I use hen grizzly feathers from a cape, yes they can be bothersome, but like anything else I suppose, after tying a few they become easier, good eye glasses help alot too…lol I also measure mine from the hook shank, eye to start of bend…:slight_smile:

For those of the tiers that do use hen hackles I’ve think that those from Metz are more nicely rounded in shape compared to the popular Whiting ones that are too pointed.

Fish,

I tie all my Adams (and all the other dry flies, too) without wings. Like Moose, I found that, in the waters I fish, it doesn’t matter to the fish a bit. Why take the time and trouble to find suitable wing material (or stress about whether you have the ‘right’ stuff), tie it in, get ti balanced properly to aviod twist, etc., when it just doesn’t matter…Quite the contrary, I think the ‘classic’ style dry flies without wings cast and fish more consistently than the old fashioned winged ones. No worries about the fly landing on it’s side, twisting because the wings became misaligned, or having the fly become unbalanced if a wing gets broken off…

And, it’s still an Adams if you want it to be. All these things are just made up names with no understandable definitions. Call them what YOU want to. They are just flies, it also doesn’t matter what they are called.

I really like an Adams tied with a grey craft foam body and Cree hackle. Floats like a cork and the softer body means the fish hold it a bit longer…more time to set the hook.

Buddy

My main concern is whether or not the fish care that the fly has wings. from the responses recieved, it seems highly unlikely that the fish will know the difference.

the other question that I had was about determining the length of the wings. the consensus seems to be that the wing is based off of the length of the hook shank.

The only point of disagreement in whether I can call my flies Adams or not. :rolleyes:

still would be very interested to get the opinion of J.C. on the matter of wings or not, as far as what I call them, it’s my damn fly box and i’ll call em what I want.

Fish

Innovation is the stuff upon which America was built. Go for it, but don’t try to sell me a Chevrolet and call it a Cadillac. Adams have wings; no wings = no Adams. Actually, the fish do care, this is where your incorrect hypothesis has led you astray. The Adams is often used when a smallish sub-imago mayfly (even tho the Adams was first tied to use during a caddis hatch) that has upright wings. As the fish key in onto the visual of these, your fly with the wings can be accepted more correctly and closely to the natural. I use the wings just because I like the way they look; like little mayflies. :slight_smile:

I tie all of my dry wings in the “reverse pull” method that I was taught by Al Beatty several years ago. They are durable, good looking and they use the longer fibers of the feather. If I’m not mistaken, there are examples of this technique in our archives here on FAOL…yes, Al has a "Quick & Easy Parachute (PMD) on one of the FOTW articles that shows the technique nicely. Best Regards…

Damn, gonna have to tie those silly wings after all.

Fish

A parachute Adams has no wings, of course, but is tied with a natural grizzly and ginger hackle.
Typically Adams’ have a gray body, but I’ve seen them in articles by folks like A K Best with many different colors for their bodies.
I like to tie mine with burned wings, but hey, I love the way a couple of perfectly proportioned wings tied in just right, look on a dry fly. Adams were originally tied with wings and purists will never let you forget that
Regardless, I think grizzly hackle in tandem with ginger hackle, combined with a gray body means you have an Adams in one form or another. Some believe these colors resemble a deer fly. The fish will eat that color combination readily, but don’t forget a perfect presentation.

I think it’s fun being an elitist-purist-SOB, ain’t it…
Gray wool, if it’s not that color, it ain’t an Adams, it’s just a fly. No wings; same thing. And it don’t matter none who tied it. :slight_smile:
Pretty soon ya will have a red tailed, yellow bodied, black hackled, deer tailed trude style Adams. No thanks.

It would be tough to put the Parachute Adams cat back in the bag so to speak, and I like wings on an Adams.

I will never admit that I have fished the parachute Adams and had very good results.

I’ve had good results with both, but favor the winged original. I do love parachutes, and have seen some great innovations in tying them lately. That is one of the reasons I like tying at the conclaves. I get to see so many new ideas, and old ideas recycled.

whos cares what they call it if it still catches fish! I am gonna make up some wingless adams tomorrow! wingless everything from now on!! you kno what else I noticed this fall? I used a brown wooley bugger and the bass killed it! caught so much in a day the hackle fell off. guess what caught the biggest bass of the day without the saddle hackle palmered up the shank! so u can also make wooley buggers without hackle and still catch fish also. that is if its still called a wooley bugger! maybe its just a bugger now? or a wooley? who cares as long as it catches fish! I’ll rename it my go to fly

[FONT=Sylfaen][SIZE=2]The best ?discussion? on the value of wings is on this website at [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Sylfaen][SIZE=2]http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/fliesonly/sectionone.php[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Sylfaen][SIZE=2] I suggest you go through all parts of the article. I think the article shows that real fly wings are not too important, but in addition the tails are NOT in the water (if the tails are in the water then I think we are discussing emergers, regardless of the condition of either wings or hackle/legs. I actually think that fish have presumed our ?dry? flies have been emergers all along.)
The reason the wing of a mayfly imitation is created as long as the distance from the eye to the bend of a 94840 Mustad hook (or any hook) is because mayfly wings ARE as long as the body, and are connected to the fly at about the ? position back from the eye.
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Sylfaen][SIZE=2]http://www.troutnut.com/im_regspec/picture_1548_medium.jpg[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Sylfaen][/FONT][FONT=Sylfaen][SIZE=2]http://www.cirrusimage.com/Lynette/mayfly_3.jpg[/SIZE][/FONT]

Cheers,
G