Post
by Ted Andersen » Fri May 08, 2009 3:31 pm
Mike,
I fondly remember your discussion of White under-bodies for some flies for some sunlight conditions, from the other board in years past. It indeed inspired a lot of my experimentations in this subject.
In your opinion, what conditions make it work not so well . . . and why do you think the white is often better than the silver? Do you think both silver and white work better in low light, but in bright sunlight they cast too much of a glare (spooking) quality?
I am also intrigued by some of Ralph Cutter's recent writings (in "Fish Food") where he seems to be evolving toward a belief that it all comes down to "value contrast" . . . in other words, if the fly is down deep, it should be light (against the dark background), and if the fly is near the surface and the fish are looking up at it, then the fly should be dark, in other words a silhouette. (This might explain the success of such odd patterns as Andy Carlson's Purple Haze dryfly, and the Starling and Purple . . . both which may cause interest in the noble trout due to their attention-grabbing, high-contrast silhouette against the white-glare of the sky, for a fish looking at them from below).
I imagine this is part of my curiosity for the silver under-bodies, as I utilize them in down-deep flies, in hopes that they will cause a slight sparkle against the dark and murky backgrounds.
Lots of intriguing thoughts--Ted