Fishing Winged or Wingless Fly Patterns

[Trifly]

I am completely opposite of him. Caddis are winged or heavier hackled. Mayflies are wingless or sparsely tied. Just as a rule of thumb, for me.

[letumgo]

Agreed. I tend to dress caddies patterns heavier than mayfly patterns. That being said, I do dress patterns differently, depending on the depth I want them to swim. Slender patterns can quickly cut thru the currents, and will generally fish a little deeper. Bushier patterns have more drag, and tend to sink more slowly and ride closer to the surface.

[NJpatbee]

I have tied and carry a few winged wet flies but I have not fished with them for years. Since the mid-1970's I have had great success with wingless soft hackle flies while never having much success with winged wets. Whether I am fishing a March Brown Soft Hackle or a generic partridge and orange I usually find that sparser is better regardless of what flies (if any) are on the water.

[NJpatbee]

I am sure that my lack of success with winged wets early on was due to user error on my part and I never gained any confidence in them. After being inspired by Sy Nemes’ first book on soft hackle flies I tied some up and used his techniques and had excellent results. I have fished with anglers that were very proficient with winged wets but l just have had so much success with soft hackled wingless wets that I feel no urgency to try the winged versions.

[Mike62]

I am sure that my lack of success with winged wets early on was due to user error on my part and I never gained any confidence in them. After being inspired by Sy Nemes’ first book on soft hackle flies I tied some up and used his techniques and had excellent results. I have fished with anglers that were very proficient with winged wets but l just have had so much success with soft hackled wingless wets that I feel no urgency to try the winged versions.

The light went on for me after reading Nemes as a teenager. Later, I found David Hughes and his 'Wet Flies' and
my enthusiasm for wets just got bigger. Confidence in a soft hackle or other wet fly, for me anyway, is a given.

Dry flies... not so much.

[tie2fish]

Both winged and wingless soft hackle flies will catch fish. If one or the other or both did not, they would have disappeared from the scene long ago. My experience has been that winged patterns tend to work better before and after a hatch, while wingless flies produce better for me while the hatch is in progress. Room for lots of speculation about why.