upside down flies

[skiltonian]

anyone tie some up? What do you think - pros/cons.

http://www.waterwisp.com/patterns.htm

 

[JackM]

Never used them. I would wonder if they land in the correct orientation with the hook point up. On cdc ties or foam ties, I would assume they would, but on a sparcely tied parachute, for instance, the lack of counterbalance with hook point down may make the fly turn upside down or tip on its side. Then you'd need to call it a cripple.

 

[dryflyguy]

I've tied several patterns with inverted hook points.
They landed on the water OK most of the time.
But I definitely had problems hooking fish on them.

 

[afishinado]

I've tied all kind of upside down dry flies. In fact, you can go back 100 or more years into fly fishing and see flies tied in that way, yet 99.9% of the flies are still tied hook point down.....hummmm. They great flies for hooking fishermen, but dries tied like that, for me, act more like a hookless teaser fly used in big-game fishing.

 

[troutslammer]

looks to me like the parachute patterns would have your tippet under water making it hard to lift the fly and pull it off the water , i could be wrong though

 

[fly_flinger]

I wouldn't waste your time tying or money buying these flies. A few years ago at the Somerset show I bought a dozen. After not being able to hook up with a fish on them, I threw them out. I had tons of fish rise to them but just couldn't stick one. As soon as I changed over to a hook down fly I caught fish. They may look neat on the water but that's about it.

 

[JeffK]

I would reiterate how are 99.9% of flies tied? After years of playing around I have found traditional flies have stuck around for centuries because they work. Every tier wants to invent the fly that catches fish when his buddies can't - it has been that way for centuries. Very few people can beat the staple patterns.