Naming Flies?

[DNicolson]

Wayneb's suggestion of a name for William's "Possum & Hen Flymph"
raised an interesting point in my mind. In the past, I have usually named a fly
from its basic materials, Body + Hackle, unless I am imitating a specific insect,
bug or whatever.
One of the useful things about many traditional winged Wetflies and Spiders is
the way they are named like this.
There are plenty which have names that are a lot more obscure, apart from
Tup's, Greenwell's etc. If I find a Fly Pattern that has a 'fancy' name,
I stick with it, but any that I have 'invented' myself,
I go for the materialistic form.
It may be a lack of imagination on my part.

Any thoughts or opinions .

[Hans Weilenmann]

Donald,

When I do flies it can go either way. Sometimes a pattern just 'whispers' its name to me, and occasionally I start with a name and devise a pattern to go with it.

Maybe I should take up meditation, eh medication

Cheers,
Hans W

[Soft-hackle]

Hi, Donald,
Not sure, many of the "fancy" Named flies might be named such because they don't represent a specific insect. Many of the older flies tied here in the U.S. in the times of brook trout fishing were named after their inventor or to honor someone. For example "Hendrickson", "Rube Cross", etc. , sometime even if they DID represent a specific insect. Fly names can and often are somewhat confusing. It's almost as confusing and perplexing as selecting a representative of a "Classic" wet fly.

On another forum I frequent, there was quite a long discussion about "Classic" wet flies, and what would be a good example. I don't think we came to any conclusion.

Mark

[William Anderson]

I almost always name the flies according to body type then hackle. Granted that isn't very discriptive when you're tying a Hare and Hen pattern, but if I gave it a cooler name...I'd definitely forget what I tied it with if I photographed it and tried to post it. Best for me to keep it simple. It probably has more to do with what Donald mentioned regarding the naming of the simple spider patterns. I love the simplicity in the naming of those flies as much as the clarity in the flies themselves. Snipe and Purple.

On the other hand, we are always looking for ways to complicate ( improve) patterns when they were just fine to begin with. You might as well have as much fun naming them. I tied a pattern for the last IBF swap called Loves Lure. Something Johnno showed us as a historic NZ pattern. I have to admit, there is something endearing about the name.

w