A Six Pack of Tan Flymphs...

[letumgo]

Stefan - I use a similar method when tying "hen wing" style flies. I prepare the feather by stripping away the fluff at the base, then partially strip off the fibers along part of one side, leaving a wedge of fibers that form the wing. I then draw the "leg" fibers back, and tye in the feather at the junction between the wing and legs.

[William Anderson]

Doug, I'm so glad you posted this set. When we look back over the years at patterns folks have posted and actually shared with one another, there are a few that stand out as especially productive. We tend to experiment a lot around here, but if a well proven pattern, fished all over the world, were the requirement, Doug's tan flymph would have to be a top pick. These are beautiful as always.

[daringduffer]

... leaving a wedge of fibers that form the wing.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean. The 'wedge of fibers', is that the tip of the hackle or what?

dd

[DOUGSDEN]

Guys,
Thanks for the terrific responses and the really interesting question about the placement of the wing (or where it winds up). I guess I have chopped a lot of Glanros wings off because they did not land where they should! This has inspired me however! I will tie a few and fish them just to see how they perform! This might have to wait until spring. Our local ponds have iced over and seem a bit reluctant to melt again despite the really nice weather we have been having the last 48 hours! Dang that ice and snow! This will give us a great amount of time to tie and talk and experiment! That's what I love about this forum!
Ray and D.D. .....love your discussion about the "wedge" of hen fibers and how to tie them! I smell a tutorial in the works! And, that would be fantastic!
William, thanks for the really nice words about this pattern and my tyings! It has become the classic case of fishing a pattern nie on to death with the strongest of confidence! With this pattern, it's probably the worst case I have ever had!
This reminds me....I promised you guys and girls a recipe for this pattern over a week ago and W., I promised to tell you the dubbing that I used. Sorry about that! Let me pull this together and see what I can come up with in the next couple of days! The dubbing will be listed in the recipe!
Thanks again folks for your kind support and keen interest in this lovely little variation in tan!
Dougsden

[DOUGSDEN]

Hi Folks!
A promise kept! Below is the recipe for a "Tan Flymph" which is the orig. pattern that I have had so much good fortune! I have made one amendment to the very first tyings and this has been just lately. It is in the tail fibers which were orig. just a half dozen or so hen neck fibers from the not so good section of the cape or neck! I have changed that to wood duck drake flank feathers, yes, the amazing and always expensive lemon wood duck flanks....see the recipe below! Please enjoy and by all means, tye them and try them!

Tan Flymph

Hook: First choice - Mustad # 94842 up eye dryfly hook or similar. Second choice - Tiemco #9300 down eye dry/wet hook both in sizes 10-18. Size 14's have always been a favorite with size 12's a very close second!
Thread: I like thinner, stronger threads in all my tyings so Uni-thread 8/0 or 6/0 (on the larger sizes) tying thread in Camel color is great! It's a little darker but let's not forget the harmony factor that Big Jim L. and Pete Hidy spoke of so often!
Tail: As I mentioned above, things change. I am now using and much prefering 4-5 wood duck flank fibers that are allowed to swoop upward gracefully and also allowed to be a bit longer than before! I borrowed this trick from our pal Bill Shuck upon seeing some of his patterns in the recent past. They look great on his workings and I hope that my feathers can look even remotely as good as his! If you want to save those precious fibers for your Catskill style drys, that's ok too! I have a generous bag of dyed golden yellow mallard drake flank feathers that work really well too! Sometimes the fibers have a mind of their own and splay outward and upward without the graceful curve upwards. This is how most of mine end up!
Body: Hareline Dubbin brand "Krystal Dub" in the color tan on well waxed Langley brand fine silk in #3784 gold spun in the usual way on a Clark spinning block! Not too full but rather fine and delicate!
Underbody: A progressive tapering of tying thread starting very small at the rear of the fly and ending up not too thick at a point just behind the hook eye. Leave a small space for a couple of turns of hackle. Making the underbody a cigar shape is also o.k. esp. on smaller sizes of hooks. Again, not too big just fine and slightly tapered! The body will follow the shape of the underbody as you wind the pre-spun body forward!
Hackle: This can vary but what I have settled in on is two and not more than three tight turns of a tan colored hen saddle feather. Yes, the webby ones to size tied in by the butt and folded backwards. A hen neck feather works but it's not as soft and tends to look like a cocks hackle, glossy and somewhat stiff. The folded saddle hackle tends to stack up rather quickly and get full looking in a hurry. One alternative method is to strip off half the fibers on the feather and use the stem as the leading edge of the turns as you wind towards the head! You have to use your judgement as to how you want the finished pattern to look. I have a tendency to hackle these patterns way too fully. They look like umbrellas underwater. I have to deliberately lessen either the turns of folded hackle or half stripped hackle to keep it on the sparse side which, to me, looks much better than the fuller hackles. Allowing the hackles to arch backwards makes the finished pattern look that much better!
Head: As small as possible! (For my friend Bill!)

Notes: This pattern, along with practically every other one that we do, is subject to refinements in both materials used and techniques applied! I am inspired to finely taper my pre-spun bodies as I look upon my wall of fame at the framed samples that many of you have sent to me over the years! I have also watched intently the video on YouTube of Bill Shuck demonstrating his awesome techniques for spinning flymph bodies! There is much to learn by watching others artful ways such as Bills! This also applies to the video of him tying a flymph in the classic way that only he can do! Indeed, this is the beauty of this forum in it's present form! We can easily learn from each other in ways that were more difficult twenty years ago! The tutorials that each of you post are magnificent!
If any questions about any of this, please let them fly! I will answer them as best as I can and I look forward to getting a good dialogue going about this great pattern! D.

[William Anderson]

Doug, thanks a bunch for such a detailed description of your flymph. Your enthusiasm is matched by your skill and technique.