For small flies, CDC wing and a Z-Lon shuck is killer.
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For small flies, CDC wing and a Z-Lon shuck is killer.
I agree with Torrey's breakdown. I also like CDC for the wing posts on my parachute flies. Coat it with Frog's Fanny and you are good to go!
Since I have a couple big bags of CDC thanks to some waterfowling buddies.........So it makes it easy to love the stuff. ;D Especially for the 16 on down mayfly emergers and duns.
I do have a bunch of various dyed snowshoe that I do like as well but CDC is probably my favorite.
I like it on larger emergers too in combination with a deer hair wing or as a wing on clipped hackle bottom duns and emergers.
Pseudo wing, comes in crystal (white), brown, beige, and black. It covers all the spinner wings I could ever possibly want to tie.
-kyle
It really depends on the fly and where you are fishing, as it can make a great difference for the same fly pattern in my book.
But to summarise. Zelon is a rip off so far as cost, all be it a friend of mine by the name of John Betts cut a great deal with Umpqua to market it.
It is a poly pro yarn.
I prefer no question of doubt poly yarn wings of the right shade and the right poly yarn, there are many types of poly yarn out there, some of which sold to tyers is worthless. I dye my own also as the subtle shades l like cannot be obtained from the trade, these are tones of olives, yellow olives and gray. For duns spinners and midge.
Caddis dry, then deer hair. And in some cases feather wings.
I also like compara duns, humpies, Wulfs and flies of that nature for the right water, and during dusk to dark times.
It all a matter of preference at the end of the day.
DW
for caddis drys elk hair is my favorite ,i love the snowshoe rabbit ,I also like double parachutes with hackel ,wolfes rule ,i also love stimulator patterens So hackel is a go to on that .The ausuable flys are super floaters ,yet i just like to tye ,so whatever floats the best for me .Parachute patterns have always floated nice so hackel is nice in that case .
Poly yarn makes a great spinner wing and alsom makes a great post. For example, on my olive duns I tie in the beige poly yarn and use olive micro hackle around the base of the post. It works great not only on olives, but if you change the poly yarn color and the hackle color you can use it on many different patterns.
-kyle
I really like lemon wood duck for traditional dries..it is easier to work with than Mallard flank and flies tied catskill style just look good . As for my regular fishing flies...I love snowshoe hare and poly yarn for mayflies. both add to the buoyancy of the fly and are durable. but then again there is deer and elk hair for my caddis...cant say i have one material that I favor overall but for different fly styles different materials work better than others...
I like snowshoe for caddis, i think deer hair floats better longer, but snowshoe is much easier for me to deal with. I like Hi-vis a lot for spinners, and Ive recently fallen for burnt poly wings (http://www.hacklehead.com/6) duns after reading Lloyd Gonzales book: "Fly-fishing pressured waters". Most of the patterns in his book are too tedious for me, but once you get the hang of making the wings they are really easy and fast, look and float great and are very durable. With just a few colors and some permanent markers you can make very realistic looking wings for any mayfly.
Turkey Flanks Feathers I believe is the most versatile wing material for dries, Ties nice looking split winged traditional flies, Nice posts for parachutes, works even better if you use a little water shed on posts, Comes in every color you can think of, Its cheap as can be, Its natural unlike all of the other poly products so flies look more natural. I have even seen guys use it for spinners but not such a fan of this method :P