Harry and Steve, I'll take one more stab at this. We obviously have
different definitions about what is a significant innovation in
fly-tying. In general, a single pattern isn't an important innovation
unless it influences the design of many, many, other patterns.
I have no intention of going through and arguing the merits, or lack of
them in my view, of your examples; however, I think the difference
between a parachute dry, tied with a bent hook (either bending a
straight hook or using a manufactured bent hook) to put the abdomen
below the surface film and a Glo Bug is clear. Remember that I didn't
say the Klinkhamer Special was a major innovation, I said shaping the
hook was. If you go back in history, the shape of the hook stayed pretty
much constant for 500 years (excluding the invention of the eyed hook);
the first person (unknown to me) to shape a hook to achieve an effect
was a true innovator. To my earlier list I will add Charlie Brooks,
whose Nascent Nymph led to the Suspender Pupa which led to the Booby and
a host of other patterns that use foam to float the fly.
Concerning abdomen below the surface, an excerpt from an article I wrote
for Fly Fish America follows my sig block,
cheers,
Paul
--
Paul Marriner
Outdoor Writing & Photography. Member OWAA & OWC. Author of Stillwater
Fly Fishing - Tools & Tactics (CD), Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies,
Miramichi River Journal, Ausable River Journal, and Atlantic Salmon.
The Flies
Most of the flies in your boxes, be they dry, emerger, cripple, or
floating nymph, sit on or in the surface film. As such, not many juicy
bits penetrate deeply into the "inch." The only common fly design
(multiple patterns) which does, is the suspended midge pupa. Here are
two others that do. The first is "historic" and the latter contemporary.
Hanging Emerger
A generation ago, Vince Marinaro described a fly design of his
invention that resulted in the abdomen and thorax being fully in the
"inch." To the best of my knowledge most of the world totally overlooked
the design (perhaps for the reason outlined below). That's a shame,
because the fly with a few modifications takes trout.
Original Recipe:
Hook: Marinaro selected a hook that was heavy in the bend but got
thinner as it approached the eye (he didn't specify the manufacturer). I
couldn't find a similar hook so tried a Partridge GRS12ST.
Tail, Abdomen, and Thorax: Chosen to imitate the nymph of the target
species.
Hackle: Stiff with extra-long fibers. The hackle fibers should be two to
two and one half times as long as the hook gape. Color to suit your
fancy.
Original Instructions: Tie a nymph pattern on the hook but leave
approximately 1/8 inch of bare shank behind the eye. Add two wraps of
the hackle ahead of the thorax. When fishing and after tying on the fly,
put two half-hitches around the bare shank portion. This forces the
leader to exit perpendicular to the shank. The fly now floats on the
hackle with the abdomen and thorax hanging down in the "inch."
The above is the Marinaro dressing (and the first "hanging emerger" I
have found in the literature), which when I tried it a few years ago,
sank. Being a true lover of foam in fly tying, I began making my thorax
from a section of a black Flycraft foam cylinder (you could use two
pieces of flat foam, one tied on top and the other underneath the hook)
and increasing the hackle wraps to four---end of problem. Also, instead
of half-hitches, I use a UNI-Knot (Duncan Loop) which produces the same
effect.
Nymphing Emerger
Some years ago I developed the Foam Post Emerger (a parachute design)
which sits horizontally in the surface film. Simultaneously I created a
floating nymph by moving the post rearward, reducing the number of turns
of hackle, and tying the top of the post down behind the eye to create a
foam thorax/wingcase. These designs on standard dry fly hooks produced
for myself and others.
Regardless, a few years later I was handed a fly which, after some
outstanding results, caused me to tie some of my flies on different
hooks. This extraordinary fly, the Klinkhamer Special, originated by
Hans van Klinken of Holland, is receiving rave reviews around the world,
particularly when fishing broken water. In my view, the key to its
effectiveness is an abdomen that penetrates deeply into the "inch." Hans
achieved this by bending an extra-long, already curved, nymph hook
(Partridge K12ST). Today, Partridge makes the GRS15ST to Hans'
specifications so no bending is required. The pattern, as seen in the
photograph, is a poly-post, parachute pattern, with an extra-long
abdomen.
Hans followed up with the Nymphing Emerger, a simple pattern that also
gets the abdomen down. The Nymphing Emerger can be hard to see as only
the very top of the foam wing case is above water. Thus, you might want
to tie in a small indicator to help detect takes.
Nymphing Emerger
Hook: Partridge GRS15ST, sizes 12 - 18.
Thread: UNI 8/0, color of the abdomen.
Abdomen: Tying thread (I overlay UNI-Stretch, which holds its color
better when wet).
Thorax: Peacock herl.
Wing and wing case: Polycelon foam in white or color to suit.
The only tying notes are that the abdomen starts at the rearmost part of
the bend and that the foam must be large enough to float the fly. For a
size 12 hook, I use a piece of 1/8" thick foam, 3/16" wide, which after
being tied down is 3/8" long.
Several other patterns are illustrated merely for reference, there
being nothing unique about their construction. Included are two
suspender midge patterns, one using closed cell foam and the other a
Styrofoam bead enclosed in a nylon bag for floatation. Finally, to
illustrate my definition of sparse, is one of my favorite soft hackles,
a Peacock and Black.
Wrap up
An oft-quoted instruction is, "fish the top or bottom but ignore the
in-between." Perhaps, but I suggest you expand your notion of the "top"
to include the entire "inch." By fishing patterns that sink just below
the surface---or have substantial portions that do---I'm convinced you
will successfully resolve some otherwise frustrating situations.
