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AKA: proportions - wet fly

The physics of dry flies are quite simple either they rely on buoyancy (displacement) to simply float or they rely on the materials used to be light and resist water penetration and consequently to be supported on the surface tension of the water.

Just as the understanding of appropriate proportions have evolved for dry flies they have certainly developed for some wet flies.

Nymphs are a great example of this and when you access the information below on aspects of tying wings, using wet fly hackle, etyes an flies, adding weight etc you will see that some rules have evolved.

Other flies seem to fly in the face of these defined rules and as new wet flies are developed I am confident that the "rules" for wet flies will be stretched, added to and in some cases replaced.

There are several categories of wet flies including:

Nymphs:

The term nymph has two meanings.
Juvenile, sexually immature stage of certain insects, usually similar to the adult in form, and which require an intermediate stage before becoming an adult. Mayflies, Caddis flies, Dragonflies, Damselflies, Stone flies and Midges are all insects that spend part of their life cycle in the water and have a nymph stage.
A fly tied to imitate the nymphal stage of an insects life cycle.

Streamers:

A class of fly characterized by feathers or fibres tied at the head and extending beyond the hook. Many of the salmon and saltwater flies are examples of streamers.

English style wets and loch style flies:

Flies that have been developed or applied when Loch style fly fishing. They include flies developed in Britain and Europe such as wee wets as well as many home grown favourites. Loch style fly fishing is fly-fishing over the lee side of a boat with the wind at your back from a boat that is side onto the wind, using a system incorporating one or a number of flies. There are both wet and dry lock style fishing techniques.

Drowned terrestrials:

Air born insects that have fallen in or been washed into the water and have sunk.

Proportions for wet flies are limited only by the imagination of some fly tiers and hopefully by what is being imitated and how the flies fish. Having said that there are some principals that have stood the test of time and I have set out my application of those below:

A	Hooks This is a representation for a standard dry fly hook. The shank is twice as long as the gape of the hook is wide. The size of the fly is determined by the width of the gape of the hook. I prefer a dry fly hook with a 1X shank. This means that the shank of the hook is the same length as it would be for the next larger size hook. For streamers and nymphs I like 4X shanks. That is the shank is equivalent to a dry fly 4 sizes larger than the gape of the hook I use. For most flies thread is generally tied in at the 95% position and then wound in touching turns to the 0% position before proceeding to the second step.

B	The 'X' factor: You will often see hooks particularly for wet flies described as 2X through to 6X. The x factor is a way of describing the length of the hook. A 2X size #10 hook has a shank the same length as a standard hook that is 2 sizes larger i.e. a hook shank the same length as a standard #8 hook. A 4X size #10 hook has a shank the same length as a standard hook that is 4 sizes larger i.e. a hook shank the same length as a standard #6 hook. By the way a standard hook ( its a dry fly hook) has a shank that is twice as long as the gape of the hook and the size relates to the gape of the hook. Positions: In fly recipes you will see reference to positions on hooks. This diagram provides a clear picture of where those positions are.

C	Wet fly hackles Quick-link

D	Tails on flies Quick-link

E	Wet fly tags Quick-link

F	Wet fly wings The relationship of the wing on a dry fly is very close to its surrounding hackle. It doesn't matter if the wing is made out of calf tail hair, deer hair, hackle fibres or synthetic, as a general rule of thumb upright wings and spent wings on dry flies should be at least as long as the longest barbules on the hackle and up to another 50% longer. Quick-link

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