Fan Wing Adams

[eunanhendron]

Only the second dry fly i've ever tied...

Slight variant in that my grizzly hackles weren't up to the job, the brown hackles arent the best either. New 'dry fly hackles' on order, so all will be corrected soon enough, but you get the general idea.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Fixed....

 

[Foxgap239]

You guys are great tyers. I'm the laziest tyer God ever put on this earth. If it's easy it's for me. :-D int:

 

[eunanhendron]

YOu're a good man. I aways get caught out with the 'caps' in the IMG code..

 

[eunanhendron]

Believe it or not, that is one of the easiest flies you could tie.

4 point fly
Wing
Tail
Body
Hackle.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Foxgap239 wrote:
You guys are great tyers. I'm the laziest tyer God ever put on this earth. If it's easy it's for me. :-D int:

The fish approve of your ties, and that's all that really matters.

I've never even looked in one of your fly boxes, but every fly in there has just gotta be chewed up.

Quit being so modest - I know who taught you, and he wouldn't allow you to tie crappy flies. ;-)

 

[Foxgap239]

Heritage-Angler wrote:
Quit being so modest - I know who taught you, and he wouldn't allow you to tie crappy flies. ;-)

I didn't say crappy, I said easy. I would butcher the beauties you guys tie! Yes, fish do seem to like my flies but hungry fish aren't that particular. Hell, one of the ones I caught with K-Bob was committing Hari-Kari. I did everything wrong and still landed him. I was caught in more trees on that one fish than comments about my awesome orange dome cover!

BTW, the downside for the board that I'm not traveling as much now, is that I get more time to post. There goes the neighborhood!

 

[dryflyguy]

Eunan -

That looks pretty good to me.
You keep cranking out flies like that, and you just might become a dry fly snob too

 

[afishinado]

Foxgap239 wrote:

Heritage-Angler wrote:
Quit being so modest - I know who taught you, and he wouldn't allow you to tie crappy flies. ;-)

I didn't say crappy, I said easy. I would butcher the beauties you guys tie! Yes, fish do seem to like my flies but hungry fish aren't that particular. Hell, one of the ones I caught with K-Bob was committing Hari-Kari. I did everything wrong and still landed him. I was caught in more trees on that one fish than comments about my awesome orange dome cover!

BTW, the downside for the board that I'm not traveling as much now, is that I get more time to post. There goes the neighborhood!

The simplest flies to tie are often the best fish catchers...less is more.

More important than fly choice is good presentation. The Fox proved this by catching fish with what amounts to fuzz on a hook, and was handicapped by fishing with a glowing dome.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

afishinado wrote:
The Fox ..... was handicapped by fishing with a glowing dome.

You should see what happens when he takes his hat off.

 

[Foxgap239]

Holy crap, my orange hat hijacked yet another thread!!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder no one answers my PM's, I'm a damn thread wrecker!

 

[WildTigerTrout]

Fox, are you going to wear that orange dome to the fly tying jam?

 

[Foxgap239]

WildTigerTrout wrote:
Fox, are you going to wear that orange dome to the fly tying jam?

Good idea, that would save me from bringing a tying light!

 

[lv2nymph]

eunanhendron wrote:
YOu're a good man. I aways get caught out with the 'caps' in the IMG code..

Yea, Eunan you gotta watch runnin around with your caps hanging out. Cool fly btw.

 

[FrequentTyer]

Nice Eunan! Is the tail mallard?

 

[eunanhendron]

Thanks guys

Tail is natural pheasant tail and gadwell mixed

 

[blueheron]

To be helpful, the wing should be nearly upright and not so wide. The wider the wing the more likely it is to twist your tippet in flight into a coil of knots. I plan to bring my box to the tying jam, I'd happily show you my catskill dries.

 

[FrequentTyer]

blueheron wrote:
To be helpful, the wing should be nearly upright and not so wide. The wider the wing the more likely it is to twist your tippet in flight into a coil of knots. I plan to bring my box to the tying jam, I'd happily show you my catskill dries.

You are right Blueheron, but not if he is trying to tie in the authentic Catskill style. Take a look at the fan wings here: Sporting Gallery
The last image of the fan wing royal coachman is a really beautiful example tied by one of the originators of the Catskill style.
Limiting false casts will limit tippet twisting. And by using a slack leader cast you can use the twist to get the fly to flop around a bit after hitting the water which is actually a pretty good method of inducing a strike. If you want to avoid that, you might as well tie a hackle point or some other upright divided wing. The fan wings are beautiful flys, but are are not as practical as other styles.
Mike.

 

[eunanhendron]

Thanks for all the info guys.
I'm just learning about dry flies this winter, much like last winter i learned about winged wets and salmon flies.

I'm happy to absorb and view anything you guys have to offer.

Eunan

 

[Tups]

Mike/Frequent tyer: Indeed, Reuben Cross, who tied the FW RC seen at the Sporting Gallery, is probably one of the two men most responsible for establishing the final style and dimensions of the flies of the Catskill School. The other being Roy Steenrod. Gordon is generally credited with originating the style and he and Herman Christian made meager livings tying and selling the things, guarding their tying secrets from others. Before he died, Gordon taught Steenrod, who passed the secrets on to thousands through his conservation teachings. Steenrod and Cross improved the floatability and balance of Gordon's original using stiffer hackle, denser tails and shorter hook shanks. I don't believe Steenrod and Cross were close, but rather worked in parallel steams, so to speak.