Do they have a name? I tie these with congo hair instead of calf tail and dont divide the wing, does this style/type of fly have a name? It is not really a parachute because the hackle is not wound around the wing, it is wound around the hook like a traditional dry fly. I guess “non divided Wulff”?
How about Lone Wulff?
Regards,
Scott
LOL good as any!!
Somewhere…don’t recall “where”…I read that Lee tied Wulffs with single, undivided wings. Not necessarily all or most, but allegedly some portion of the Wulffs he tied. Possibly, Dan Bailey was the reason why we accept the divided wing as standard on a Wulff pattern.
If that’s true (anyone know??), then I guess you tied a Wulff with a synthetic wing.
In the video I have, the last video he made before his death, Lee Wulff ties the Royal Wulff with split deer tail wings. I do recall reading something he wrote or maybe he said this in the video, he started with unsplit wings but because the customers wanted wings(plural) he split his to give the customers what they were paying for. He did a lot of his tying during the Depression.
Allan
Yes, it’s true. He tied all his hair flies for personal use with a single wing. That’s straight from the horse’s mouth; he related the fact as I watched him tie a #28 Royal Wulff in hand. (It had only a single wing.)
I don’t know about the Dan Bailey part; he just said that the single wing one just didn’t sell.
Thanks for the replies Bob and Allan. I’ve never fished a traditional, full-collared dry with a single wing. I imagine it being more prone to leaning over.
I tie all mine with a single upright wing. They don’t lean and the brookies here love 'em.
Tried a Parawulff with the (weird) divided calftail wing; not quite sure of the reasoning behind it.
Regards,
Scott
Hi Pillcaster: Don’t you find that Congo Hair is too limp to stand upright?
Ray,
Congo Hair works very well as a winging material; has a bit of body to it. Even for a non-divided wing, though, I’d post the base to give it additional support.
Regards,
Scott
I’ve seen this congo hair mentioned a lot and I’ve got to ask. Just what kind of animal is a congo? Is it a domesticated animal? I’ve never seen it “on the skin”, so I wonder if the congo is shorn like a sheep?
Just curious.
Cheers,
A.
Unknown Gorlilla species…haven’t you seen the movie. problem is it is just the silver/white along the back that is useful…
You hunt congos. You don’t go on congo shoots. 
I have never hunted for them myself, I just buy it online
http://www.flytyersdungeon.com/Materials/synthetichair.htm
Recently I was fishing with a fellow during a heavy Adams hatch, he said the wild Congos are hard to clean, and it is easier just to buy the hair than try to harvest your own.
There is a very short season on the Congo Hare.
The female Congo, the Conga, is a fine dancer.
“Just a little off the ears please. You may even keep the trimmings*”.
- = source for ‘Congo Hair’
If you have to hunt congos don’t the dogs make a mess of the hair?
Cheers,
A.
Alan,
If you prefer, you may stalk them. Of course, lurking in alleys wearing a long raincoat and slouch hat is a good way to get a bad reputation, as a stalker.
Well-trained congo hounds don’t actually attack the quarry. They frighten it so badly that its hair falls out. Then the hunters are able to collect it in sacks. That’s why the base color is white and why it can be found in such lengths. Please note that the yellow hair is left in the field and any yellow congo hair which you buy was dyed after it has been collected. That is another reason to always buy congo hair from reputable vendors, and not the sorts who stand around in darkened alleyways wearing slouch hats and raincoats.
Regards,
Ed