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Single-Feather Flatwings

3K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  Doc Duprey 
#1 ·
Here are three Abrams flatwngs I tied this evening. All are single feather ones for now..From top to bottom, the R.L.S. Stinger, R.L.S. Amber and Silver, ad the R.L.S. Morning Glory. Todd(Wellhooked), are you out there.?.. Do you really have to count the bucktail... These recepies say 30 white bucktail for the platform, then the directions are 10 of this ,5 of that...It says you should count them... believe me, counting small stands of bucktail is a pain... but I did it anyway.
 

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#3 ·
Great looking flies, Joe C. better watch out or you'll get his job. As for counting the hairs once is enough then you can guess.
I've been tying one for use at nite that uses olive for the throat and tail support with a single black hackle tied flat. body of any color braid and a wing of 10 hairs purple topped with 20 hairs of black. No, I don't count them, just what looks right. Ron
 
#4 ·
As always, well done John. I picked up a nice fish last night drifting a fly inspired by Capt. Todd. Those are definitely gonna catch some fish in Sand Eel Heaven.
 
#5 ·
Wow John, awesome!

Counting out the hairs is a way of ensuring consistency of color and proportion (a bit like mixing paint colors), but like rel, I don't count them anymore unless I'm doing one of Kenney's patterns for the first time. Blending different colors of bucktail together does produce some interesting results.
 
#8 ·
Thank you for the encouraging comments... the hooks are Tiemco's 1/0's, and the jungle cock is from the order I got from Juro.. I only had Yellow and pale blue extra long hackles so it limited my tying... therefore only the single feathers for now... I will do a bunch of the regular Bucktail without the long hackle.. them move into the two and three feather tails.. I am anxious to do some with Chartruse ,yellow and olive grizzly long hackle.
 
#12 ·
To count, or not to count...

Beautiful flies...they have big fish written all over 'em.

Just my $0.02, but I agree with Adrian that counting ensures a consistancy from fly to fly. When you are blending colors of bucktail, that can make a difference. I find that particularly true on the "cheeks" of some pattersn where there is a difference between using three hairs of a particular color and using more...a subtle difference to be sure, but it is a difference. By counting, I find that I can control the variations in color and make it more predictable, which makes it easier to get the color effect that you want.

On the other hand, I don't think any two fish look exactly the same, so the "by eye" method should work just fine. Anyway, as Ken Abrames reminded me, there are no fly tying police.

Love learning from your flies. Thanks for posting and sharing with us all.

Best regards,

-Doc
 
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