Wingcase ??????

[yea-who]

How do you figure on how wide to make the wingcase on nymphs ? I current use the "poke & hope method".
Also, do you coat the feather used as the wingcase with a flexable head cement ?

 

[afishinado]

There is no real gauge or size chart, just, cut your wingcase to the diameter that looks best a for the hook size and material you are tying. When you get it right, cut all the strips the same diameter for that size fly and tie them all at once.

I usually use "Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails" (nail polish) for coating wingcases. They end up being hard and shiny, two qualities that I like for wingcases. Any head cement or nail polish should be okay though. Try tying some or your nymphs flashback style. They sometimes work better with a hint of flash.

 

[blueheron]

The hook gap width is a good starting point and coating the fibers with cement helps keep the wingcase together when tying in, in addition to afish's good advice.

 

[MKern]

I spray most of my wingcase feathers with spray adhesive. Saves a lot of time instead of laquering each case.

 

[tomgamber]

I just hit it with some head cement when I do the head. As for width i think like any other part of the fly it would depend on the original you are imitating.

 

[whheff]

I use the hook gap as a guide for my wing cases. I do not coat my natural cases but I do use hard as nails for the ones I tie with thin skin

 

[afishinado]

How is the width of the wingcase related to the gap of the hook?

 

[blueheron]

I generally use Pheasant tail fibers for the wingcases on nymphs, when I tie in a wingcase, and tie it in as wide as the hook gap. I was thinking more along the lines of a dubbed body nymph.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

afishinado wrote:
How is the width of the wingcase related to the gap of the hook?

From the Fly Tier's Benchside Reference by Leeson and Schollmeyer:

"Cut a strip of wingcase material of the
desired width. The preferred width varies
with the specific pattern and the individual
tyer. But as a general rule, making the
wingcase as wide as the hook gap is a serviceable
guideline."

I guess this would only apply to standard gap hooks. It'd look goofy on a large gap hook. YMMV

 

[yea-who]

Yes the picture "Afish" posted is correct, left to right, not head to tail. I'm concerned about the width not lenth.

 

[afishinado]

Okay HA, I do it by eye and it generally ends up being slightly wider than the thorax. It seems to me the gap of the hook is WAY bigger than width of the body. No matter, it comes down to "ya know it when you see it"..

Just as a rule of thumb on the length of the wing case, most MFs are 1/3 to 1/2 of the shook shank, but most SFs are 1/2 to 2/3's wing case a bit longer.

 

[yea-who]

So basically the width is an eyeball thing. Eventually my "plum bob eye's" will be accurate enough to use & cut the right size everytime ?

 

[Heritage-Angler]

afish - I guess the width is affected by the material used as well. I use a slip of turkey tail sprayed with a fixative, or pre-coated with a drop of Flexament most of the time, and find that it "compresses" in width when tying it in. It's sort of adjustable in a way because of that quality.

For a fly that uses Thin Skin, like the pic you posted of Charlie Craven tying a Copper John, that hook gap rule of thumb goes out the window.

Besides, I'd trust your eyeballs before Leeson & Schollmeyer's any day of the week. ;-)

 

[yea-who]

HA thank you for the Leeson & Sc........ referance.
As i interpet it, they suggest the gap as a good starting point of reference, but depends on pattern and tyer's appeal.
I think the gap would be too wide in most cases. Then again, when i use say a piece of turkey tail when i flip it over the top I lose the ends. (they turn in and under) So maybe i start with a piece as wide as the gap.
I never really paided much attention to the gap in comparison with the piece i use for the wingcase. Next time i will. Like i saided i have been just snipping a piece and hopeing it would work out.

 

[blueheron]

If you tie a thick body/thorax you can start with an eyeballed hook gap and pick fibers off if it looks too thick but you can't add to it easily.

 

[osprey]

I don't know how to answer this but to say just do it till you get a feel and the look you want , although i never heard that before the width of the hook gap would be a good place to start , sounds good to me. As far as coating or using something to strengthen or harden the wing case , i do on some and i don't on some , it depends on what you are goin for , at some point , in nature , a nymph must develope a hard , shiney wingcase , and at others the wingcase looks kind of fuzzy. I learned to tie and fish nymphs mostly on Donegal Spring creek and Clarks creek you got to see a wide variety of things.

 

[DGC]

Borger in his book Nymphing used peacock herl for the larger nymph patterns (say # 14 and larger), based on some stoneflies with herl wingcases he saw tied by Dave Whitlock in Joe Brooks's book Trout Fishing (I have both books). I like the look of them also, though it can get a bit crowded at the eye if you're not careful. It is best to avoid herl that is either too skimpy so it doesn't break so easy or or too thick that the tie-down is too bulky.

The nice thing about herl or other single strand fibers or even yarns for wingcases is that you don't have to be so precise about sizing for width, since you can just go a bit heavy and then bunch them tighter or not depending on how the fly is shaping up. They also lend themselves to tapering.

In full disclosure I long ago bought into the notion that there is just something about peacock herl that is effective in a fly and so try to incorporate it wherever possible.

 

[jayL]

Herl is so delicate. I am assuming you must be treating it with something, right? I tie my flies eau naturelle, but might have to give that up to try herl in some of my patterns.

 

[DGC]

Jay, I don't treat the herl. I don't have a problem with breakage but I do test the herl used for integrity, sort of like a goldilocks not too brittle, not too bulky. Like with hackle it pays to be choosy with herl.

 

[bam]

I always heard to match it up to the hook gape, but it's always been an eyeball game for me. I use pheasant tail butts after wrapping the abdomen or turkey. If it comes apart, so be it. I omit them on most of my nymphs anyway.

If I want them shiny I use thin-skin.