Richard, Pat, Thanks for your excellent points. No question about the value of a down eye on a dry fly.
I'm intrigued about your comments on presentation angle for subsurface flies. I primarily tend to fish nymphs or streamers on stillwaters. By weighting the front part of my flies, I like to think that a strip-pause-strip retrieve will make my fly rise nose-up on the strip and dive nose-down on the pause between strips, imparting a sort of 'swimming' motion (and making it utterly irresistible to fish ;_) I wonder to what extent you think the type of knot used to attach the fly could affect that result? Might using a loose, loop-type knot allow more of a 'hinging' action where the tippet joins the fly and make for a more pronounced change in that rising and falling angle? Kent Lufkin >Generally concur. > >For dry flies, think of that picture you've seen many times before of a >full-hackled fly sitting on a water surface. The hackle is supposed to >elevate the front of the fly from the water surface; therefore, the down eye >will now be close to paralleling the water surface. > >For me, when using an unweighted (or weighted, actually, for that matter) >fly with a sinking line, I like to use straight-eye hooks. I like to think >the fly will align itself and track with the travel route of the fly line. >Probably just a bunch of hooey . . . > >In smaller nymphs and dry flies, I like up-eye for the former and straight >eye for the latter. (Gene Gudger was the person who educated me on the >straight-eye for the wee dry flies). In both cases it's to increase the >hook gape. It's a minimal increase, but when using size 18-24 bugs, it >could make a difference. > >Richard > > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Pat Bolton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 10:28 AM >Subject: Re: The eyes have it ;-) > > >> >> Presentation angle. Seems to me it depends on the combination of line >type, >> weighted or non-weighted fly, and current. When I tie nymphs or other >> sub-surface flies, I think about how I intend to present the fly: on an >> intermediate to fast sink line with an unweighted fly in a lake, I'd tend >> to use a down eye...same in current with a fast sink tip & a weighted fly. >> However, on an unweighted nymph under an indicator I think it would >present >> better in a current with an up eye. >> >> PB >> >> >> Kent Lufkin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 11/12/2001 09:53:59 AM >> >> Please respond to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> cc: >> Subject: The eyes have it ;-) >> >> >> >> I notice that some manufacturers of nymph or wet fly hooks design >> them with 'up' eyes (Orvis, Tiemco, etc), instead of the 'down' eye >> typical of dry fly hooks. Atlantic salmon flies are traditionally >> tied on up eye hooks (from Partridge, Alec Jackson and others). >> >> What is the advantage, if any, to an up eye hook for a subsurface fly? >> >> Thanks, >> >> Kent Lufkin >> >> >> >> >> >
