FLYMPH FORUM

Exquisite!

-good job and pretty fly...

Ray, Howdy;

Fantastic looking fly, really am enjoying the Badger hackle....
Now, ... if it will only catch as many fish as it has Flymphers .....

hank

Ray, that is a fabulous fly. Truly exquisite.

Thanks guys. This silver badger is nice stuff. The black and white adds a pleasant contrast to the fly.

Ray these are just gorgeous flies and I can see some ever increasing combinations. The name, however, could only come from an engineer. (read as "too much thought")

I love to take established patterns and tweak them into flymphs in hopes of making them more versatile. The Prince Nymph is one that has alluded me. I think you are on to something here.

William Anderson wrote:Ray, another beautiful combination. Your comments on giving your hackle a particular set come to bare. As I spent more time than I should have dunking flies from my box today and watching as those hackles which were convinced to cooperate didn't move from their position like others that fell into place naturally. You could see it in the thread wraps and the head. I stroke the fibers back from the rear, but after seeing the instantaneous action of some hackles vs. others, I may be less insistent about getting just the right set.

Not that it would apply to your beautiful thorax hackle wraps. Just the comment reminded me of what I saw today.

Great post.

I agree here and a lot of discussion can be had on hackle type. There was a reason why the softest hackles were coveted. Movement. Many of our soft hackles today, especially hen can be too stiff for that purpose. These make for beautiful flies and can be manipulated for the camera and shows much easier. Nothing wrong with that, I do it all the time. Not on my fishing flies though, I don't worry about it. Hackle, like hen, especially the capes, are much less fluid than most game hackles. They will not give the movement underwater like a game hackle. They have a more springy movement to them. This is not to say they aren't as good, only different, and a fly tied with them should be done purposefully if catching fish is what you are about. I think the biggest consideration is water type and fishing style. Where are you going to fish. I prefer the hen on faster water, nearer to the surface and most often when I will be fishing in a swing style (the hackles do not collapse as much). I much prefer game hackles in slower water, eddies and plunge type pools. If I want to fish a little deeper, I prefer game hackles. If I am fishing upstream, across or dead drifting I prefer game hackles as well. I guess what I am trying to say is not all hackles are the by any means the same structure and we shouldn't expect them to behave the same. Part of the fun, Leisenring and Hidy, point this out quite a bit, is experimenting and using the hackle type to coordinate with fishing variables in order to increase catch.


By the way, for your entertainment here is the first song Prince ever wrote.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-GPyzh8rkU

First of all: the name of the fly. That's all I needed to see.

The odd colour combination is appealing. Great post Ray.

I do not quite follow your instructions and Williams comments regarding the hackle though.

Martin

Old Hat, that's a great break down on matching hackle type to water/fishing conditions: I must admit, I've tied more than one flymph with Whiting Hen that resembled nothing so much as a slightly damp Stimulator. FWIW, one of early New Year's resolutions is to start getting a little more rigorous in making distictions between "flymphs" and North Country wets when faced with the different water conditions you mention.

Ray, What everybody else said. That fly has all the things trout love, pheasant tail, peacock herl, and wiggly hackle. Just flat beautiful.

Ray beautiful fly, like the first picture more.

greeting