Organizing a nymph box?

[Deuterium]

Starting to tie nymphs to stock my fly box(es). In addition to hook size, I will be tying the same pattern with different weight. Just wondering how folks organize their flies in regard to this. Do you modify the tie so that you can tell the different weights apart or sort them post tying in the fly box? Other suggestions?

 

[quillfly]

tie with different color bead heads mine are gold unweighted silver weighted and copper weighted tungston for non beadheads you could do red and black tread heads

 

[MKern]

I just weight mine mostly the same. To me, 1 or 2 extra wraps of .20 lead isn't going to sink the fly that much faster.

Streamers are a differnet story.

 

[gfen]

The Pro Tip you'll receive is different colour thread heads indicate different colour weights.

 

[pete41]

I am with Gary on that and suggest getting a reloaders scale if you don't have one.You might be surprised that things aren't what you believe they are.

 

[wsender]

gfen wrote:

The Pro Tip you'll receive is different colour thread heads indicate different colour weights.

+1 on with what Gary said.

But I don't think a few more wraps of lead will really matter one way or the other.

 

[JohnnyUtah]

gfen wrote:

The Pro Tip you'll receive is different colour thread heads indicate different colour weights.

+1 This is what i do.

I have found that a few extra wraps of leads on a fly will cause it to break the film quicker, allowing it to sink better. Lead is very dense and every wrap counts. While one or two wraps might not make a noticeable difference, It might just be the amount needed to get the fly right in the zone. Now lead free that is a whole other story.

Tight Ties
Johnny Utah

 

[gfen]

wsender wrote:
But I don't think a few more wraps of lead will really matter one way or the other.

Of course it does, if you wrap 10 turns, then 12 turns is 20% increase. Using .20 instead of .25 is... err, well, more than 20% increase, too. You do the math, nerd.

Tungsten bead instead of brass, etc.

Not everyone wants to dredge bottom.

 

[pete41]

I once tied a box[100] of size 2 streamers with just a few more wraps of lead,to get them down just a little faster.Couldn't even lob them.lol
ended up throwing them all away.
that's when I learned if I was tying weighted flies,to check all the variables.
Probably more important on big waters where distance counts.

 

[wsender]

gfen wrote:

wsender wrote:
But I don't think a few more wraps of lead will really matter one way or the other.

Of course it does, if you wrap 10 turns, then 12 turns is 20% increase. Using .20 instead of .25 is... err, well, more than 20% increase, too. You do the math, nerd.

Tungsten bead instead of brass, etc.

Not everyone wants to dredge bottom.

This is true, but you're making as assumption that the correlation between weight and sink rate is linear. Plus, does the extra bulk from the increased diameter cause more friction thus slowing the sink rate. Sort of the argument between nymphing with 2x and 6x.

 

[SBecker]

Please no genius talk lol

 

[JohnnyUtah]

Im not sure what sink rates and friction have to do with how to identify different weighted nymphs in your boxes but ok.

 

[gfen]

wsender wrote:
This is true, but you're making as assumption that the correlation between weight and sink rate is linear. Plus, does the extra bulk from the increased diameter cause more friction thus slowing the sink rate. Sort of the argument between nymphing with 2x and 6x.

I'm going with my gut feeling on this one that you're making more of it than it actually is, and that at the numbers we're dealing with its more linear that you'd expect.

I'm not buying into the increased size of the fly wrapped with .20 instead of .15 is going to slow it down when you take into effect the drastic increase in weight. If you wanna go super anal, then you've got less dubbing and materials wrapped around it makng for less trapped air and thus blah blah blah reaching. ;-)

 

[MKern]

My general rule is to put on as much as I can without making it now difficult to tie. That factors in lead diameter too.

 

[MKern]

20% more of 10ths of a gram really isn't that much.

To get my flies to break the surface more effectively I allow them to hit the surface harder.

 

[gfen]

Why weight at all, then?

 

[quillfly]

why use tungsten over brass

 

[MKern]

Because even 5 wraps will cause the fly to sink.
10 will sink it faster, but not twice as fast. And no I don't have any scientific study to prove this; just common sense and experience.

Say I put 8 wraps on a PT, if I can squeeze 1 or 2 more it will help, but not drastically. And I won't do it if I think it's going to make the fly look off.

I have seen your lead fly with red thread by the way.

 

[gfen]

That's a very specific style tying, PA Dutch Nymphing.

 

[wsender]

MKern wrote:

I have seen your lead fly with red thread by the way.

Gary really ties some beautiful emergers.