On The Fly
July 2011

"Fly tying is a school from which we never graduate"

   The Southern Oregon Fly Tyers are on vacation for July and August. There will be no meeting for those months. You are invited you to attend their meetings the second Tuesday of each month starting again in September. The next meeting is September 13, 2011. The meetings start at 6:00 PM, at the Madrone Hill Mobile Home Park community building near Gold Hill. Bring a friend, come early so you don't miss anything, and stay late. Tyers need not be experienced, and those with all levels of skill are welcome. Each meeting a member is encouraged to demonstrate a new or different skill, from simple to difficult. For more information, call Dan Kellogg at 773-4724.

   DIRECTIONS: Take Gold Hill Exit #40, off of I-5 and go west, toward Jacksonville, 1.3 miles, until you reach the brick entrance way to the Madrone Hill Mobile Home Park on the right. You’ll pass a golf course parking lot on your left shortly after leaving the freeway. After you turn right into the mobile home park, proceed to the community building which is located about 100 yards ahead on the left. The address is 8401 Old Stage Rd. Please park your vehicle on the bare dirt in the parking lot to avoid the wooden septic covers in the grass

PATTERN OF THE MONTH - Adams Wet

Hook:    Daiichi 1550, standard wet, size 16-14.
Thread:  8-0 black or dark gray
Tail:       Brown and grizzly hen fibers, mixed.
Rib:       Optional: fine wire or tying thread.
Body:    Dark gray muskrat or rabbit fur.
Hackle:  Brown and grizzly hen, one turn each.
Wing:    Grizzly hen hackle tips, back to back.

Tying Instructions:

Step 1 Mash the barb and mount the hook in the vise.
Step 2: Start the thread one eye width behind the eye and lay down an even thread base to a position just above the hook barb.
Step 3: Select a small bunch of brown and grizzly hen fibers. Measure tail 3/4 of shank length and tie them on top of the hook just above the barb.
Step 4: Dub the tying thread with the dark gray fur and then advance it forward to the thread tie-in position.
Step 5: Select one each brown and grizzly soft hen hackle feathers with fibers long enough to reach the hook barb. Prepare and tie in at the front of the body with the shiny (convex) side facing forward. Tie off and trim. Take one turn with each feather, tie off and trim. Take a couple wraps of tying thread rearward over the hackle fibers to achieve the proper angle.
Step 6: Select a matching pair of grizzly hen hackle tips, even the tips with the dull (concave) side facing back to back. Measure the length so tips reach halfway on the tail, tie them in on top of the hackle wraps, and trim the butts.
Step 7: Form a neat head, whip finish and cement.

   Most wet flies, which include the soft hackles, were not US inventions but imported from the British Isles early in our fly fishing history before the advent of the dry fly. They were effective then and have been somewhat forgotten since. Many of the most productive wet fly patterns were ultimately converted to dry fly versions. Not so with this month's pattern.
   The Adams Wet Fly was converted from one of the most popular dry flies in the world, the Adams, a truly US fly. In 1922 Leonard Halladay developed the pattern and named it for the fisherman who first used it, Charles Adams on Michigan's Broadman River. Since its inception there have been dozens of dry variations using many different materials. We have also seen any number of Adams versions such as the parachute, the emerger, the cripple, downwing, female, reversed, spent wing, thorax, well, you get the idea. My point is that the Adams Wet Fly claims its heritage from the Granddaddy of them all. The most widely used dry fly that does not directly imitate any specific natural trout food and yet consistently produces results.
   Wet fly patterns are fished sub-surface in the top or middle water column and are designed to imitate adult may flies that have either drowned while floating on the surface of the stream waiting for their wings to dry or have died while flying over the water after laying eggs. They differ from dry flies in that they are made from soft hackle material instead of stiff hackle material and their wings are swept to the rear instead of standing upright.

TYING TIPS
   To blend the two colors of hackle fibers for the tail, simply roll them between your thumb and forefinger before tying them in. I use ribbing on larger sizes only. On smaller sizes I prefer a tighter, more segmented body without the bulky ribbing. This can be accomplished by forming a dubbing loop after the dubbing has been applied to the thread. Twist the loop tight until the thread disappears into the rope. The most difficult technique will be to get the wings to lay flat over the body with very little angle. By stacking the hackle turns on top of the body and the wing on top of the hackle wraps, the proper wing position will be much easier. The head will turn out larger in proportion, but that is common with most wet flies.
   So tie some up, give them a test flight and let me know how you do.

Tie One On,

Dan Kellogg
(you can contact me at FLYGUY@EZNORTHWEST.COM)
www.tyerstoolshop.com