Adams

[jbewley]

I recently read that the original Adams was tied with the wings back, resembling a caddis, but over time, they moved to the vertical position we see today.

I was thinking of tying a few with the wings back, just how see how that works. Has anyone ever tried this??

Jim

 

[Tigereye]

When I first started tying, the wings on my dries were anything but vertical. They all worked.

Retro flies are cool to tie and use. I like to try one or two every year for nostalgia if nothing else.

Not all naturals hatch in perfect form. Think of these as more than an emerger and not quite a dun.

 

[afishinado]

jbewley wrote:
I recently read that the original Adams was tied with the wings back, resembling a caddis, but over time, they moved to the vertical position we see today.

I was thinking of tying a few with the wings back, just how see how that works. Has anyone ever tried this??

Jim

You are describing an > Adams wet fly

 

[tomgamber]

I always try to my Catskill dry wings upright, even slightly forward. After a few fish or tree limbs, I'm fishing a cripple. Sometimes it works better.

 

[jbewley]

A bit more research into the original, shows that the wings were tied either "spent" or "back". This was for the "dry" not the wet.

I want to experiment a bit with this I think. It should be fun.

Jim

 

[afishinado]

jbewley wrote:
A bit more research into the original, shows that the wings were tied either "spent" or "back". This was for the "dry" not the wet.

I want to experiment a bit with this I think. It should be fun.

Jim

Scroll down you will see all kinds of ways the Adams pattern is tied. Have fun!

Adams ties

 

[nfrechet]

i think the wings were tied forward not back like a caddis wing

http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2010/04/19/the-adams-history-revisited-by-tom-deschaine/

 

[jbewley]

i think the wings were tied forward not back like a caddis wing

Good article. I also saw a couple of videos you posted on another forum, which were informative.

Yes, the original wing does appear to have been tied forward and slightly spent. I did see several references to them being tied to the rear, to resemble the caddis, but mistook that wing to be the original at first.

I intend to tie some forward, spent and back, as well as some with the original pattern. I doubt that it will change the effectiveness of the fly, but it will be a fun experiment.

Jim

 

[Fly-Swatter]

My dad used to use and "Adams Spent Wing", as he called it. The forward wing orientation, as seen in the link nfrechet shared, reminds me of flies dad had in his boxes when I was a kid, circa early 1970s.

Thanks for the quick trip down Memory Lane!

 

[JackM]

...Mr. Halladay said: “The first Adams I made I handed to Mr. Adams who was fishing in a small pond in front of my house, to try on the Boardman that evening. When he came back next morning, he wanted to know what I called it. He said it was a ‘knock-out’ and I said we would call it the Adams, since he had made the first good catch on it.”

Back in the day, people didn't name flies after themselves.