Proportioning your fly

littlelehigh

littlelehigh

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Joined
Dec 16, 2008
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I'm having alittle trouble determining proper proportioning of some of my flies.
For example:

nymph tail should be length of hook shaft (sometimes this looks long depending on materials. To be safe is it better to be short or long?).

Abdomen and thorax should be of equal length.

Thorax should be twice the diameter of abdomen.

When tying in legs are they suppose to be the length of the thorax, slightly longer or the length of thorax and abdomen combined? This is what I have the most trouble with because making them the length of the thorax or slightly longer does not look right.

I am pretty confident wingcases are to be size of hook gape as well as such flies as elk hair caddis the wing should extend 1 hook gape over the back of body.

Just trying to get things straight please correct me on anything I am wrong about also looking for a rule of thumb such as shorter is better than longer etc.

Also I think I heard before sparse is better than to much even if it does not look that great to the eye.

I know ultimately let the fish be the judge but spring seems a long way off and never actually fishing the patterns I am tying makes time drag even longer.......

Thanks
 
I think people get too caught up in this (including myself). However, you really should make mental notes after catching the real insects on your home waters or waters to fish or desire to fish.

Insects vary from stream to stream and from stretch of stream to stretch -- often based on plant material forage, and water chemistry. I'm talking about wing size, tail size, overall size and color.

(A.K. put on a great show about this at Somerset).

On the other hand -- natural flies can hold their own weight up on the water, but flies should be structured to hold themselves up. So with dries, structure and design are important.

My advise -- tie a couple of the general patterns -- the ones you see in the books. When the hatch starts, net a couple with your hat and make mental note (or paper and pencil) on wing height, leg color, body color, tail length. Then, tie a half dozen or so to "Match the hatch".

I will say that the proportion of nymphs is way off what they tell you in the books The thorax is usually half of the body length (not 1/3). Flip some rocks and make notes of those too.
 
Here are some guidelines on proportion:

http://www.sexyloops.com/flytying/proportion.shtml

http://derekspace.net/prop.htm


As Mkern said, don’t sweat it too much. Use the above as a guideline, but if you are looking to imitate a specific insect, find a photo of it. Troutnut is a good place to start. You will find that the proportions and shape vary with many species of insects. Better yet, as Mkern suggested, look at the specific insects on the stream for proper proportions, size and color. Good luck.
 
Like the other fellas said, I wouldn't fret too much over it. A lot of this proportioning stuff will come to you more instinctively as you tie more. And in general, I'm of the view that within reason, the trout don't care all that much anyway.

In the meantime, getting a feel for the proportions of the actual insects should be helpful
 
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