What exactly does "dun" mean?

[bjkaledas]

Ok, I know that dun usually means like a gray-brown color. I bought a neck from Keough that is "Light Dun". I want to tie some BWOs and I keep seeing "Medium Dun" listed as the color of choice. What exactly do I have in a "Light Dun" and what can I use it for? Does a "Medium Dun" mean that it is blue? How about "Light"?

BJ

 

[JackM]

In my experience, one man's light dun could be another man's medium dun, but generally, I think it refers to the amount of "blackness" in the general spectrum of grey. Light Dun will probably be silvery grey. I would venture a guess that even trout in Valley Creek are not smart enough to distinguish between light and medium dun.

 

[Coughlin]

JackM,
I wouldn't underestimate those VC trout

I do agree with you about the darkness in a dun cape. I generally opt toward the more silvery side of the spectrum.
Coughlin

 

[JackM]

LIGHT DUN

MEDIUM DUN

DARK DUN

 

[tomgamber]

It means that I don't have enough money to buy all three of those capes so if I tie my flies in say, light dun, and that day the fish will only eat flies tied with meduim...I'm DUN! Get out the wooley buggers.

 

[bjkaledas]

Thanks for the replies guys. That sounds good to me. So it sounds like I can use my Light Dun for tying BWOs then? The light dun does resemble that picture that you found and to me that is more of a grey-cream color. The medium dun definitely has more a blue hue to it. I wonder what the Light dun is really used for.

 

[bigjohn58]

Light dun is used for a lot of your sulphur flies acutally I use it for most of my dry flies patterns most any dry fly with clear wings I use a light dun for. When I tie BWOs I use a dark dun. Most of your BOWs have very dark wings so you will want a dark grey or dark dun. I definitely wouldn't be tying BWOs with a light dun.

 

[android]

It dun caught me a fish!

 

[MKern]

You got to remember, in most cases, fish select flies based on size first, shape second, and color third. Again, that's MOST of the time.

 

[bigjohn58]

Yeah I agree size is the most important thing but I'd give it a toss up between color and shape. I've seen it before when you can throw a brown caddis during a rusty spinner fall and catch just as many fish as someone fishing a rusty spinner it all had to do with the color or in some sulphur hatches you can use any yellow fly in some situations (not many but sometimes) I've also seen where color makes all th difference once on Fishing Creek there was a BWO spinner that was a real dark olive and I was catching fish and this other guy couldn't get a hit and his was just a hair lighter shade of olive...but then again I've seen it where the shape is all the difference (a caddis pattern or a dun pattern, or when you need a parachute style instead of a traditional style so it sits perfectly flat on the water for examples).

When I tie my flies I try to match the colors as close as I can to the flies. If light dun is the only color you have then by all means tie up some flies with that and an olive body...you gota work with what you got (dry fly hackle is expensive I know) but techincally you'd want a dark dun for a BWO. I'd make sure you have dark wings for them (dark dun hen feathers or duck/goose feather) and I probably wouldn't use too many turns of the hackle when tying so the wings are clearly visable. Honestly I think the body color is maybe more important with the olives. I perfer an olive to dark olive (I use Fly-Rite #3 Dark Olive mostly) for the bodies but it also depends on where you fish because there are different variations.

And always remember a lot of the times the fisherman's eyes are more sensative to how the fly looks then the fish...to me tying is an art but to the fish they just think its dinner, they don't really care how fancy the fly is MOST of the time.