gingerdun wrote:Ha! This is good stuff, especially coming from north of the Tweed.
Durability has been a dictum in the fly-tying literature for so long, its decline as a foundation principle seems noteworthy. Has any modern fly-tying author said anything about this? Or has it just snuck up on us, and is now being recognized for the first time here in the relative seclusion of this forum?
Lance
There has been quite a bit written about making flies more durable, coating bodies with lacquer, using epoxy and various other things, but those things I have tried, although indeed more durable, were no more successful than the flies I already use and some were much less so. Unless there is some advantage in making a particular fly more durable without too much messing about with lacquer or epoxy or similar, using epoxy on small flies is a pain anyway, although UV resin works quite well without the waste and mess on, then I really don't see much point in it.
When using soft hackles generally there is little point in making very durable bodies because the hackles get ripped up relatively quickly in any case. In many cases flies will remain effective even with just a couple of strands of hackle left, or a bare scrap of dubbing, but at some point they inevitably become much less effective.
Well dressed flies are surprisingly durable anyway, flies dressed with a good taut thread and a good whip finish last a surprisingly long time. Using inferior dressing methods, like half hitches to finish a fly for instance, will compromise the durability considerably as will any sloppy dressing like body gaps, loose wraps,half hitches in the construction, slack dubbing and the like, as they offer more easily compromised attack surfaces for fish teeth, and for the "wind" ( air resistance of course) of casting. Sloppy casting itself will also damage flies quite quickly, especially hitting grass or bushes and so on with them.
Also, many hooks have a limited "life". Usually after sharpening a hook a few times the point and barb ( if used) become compromised. Small hooks are also liable to various damage, so there is no point in spending a lot of effort on making the fly indestructible when the hook is not.
Over the years I have used very many various materials for fly-dressing, some of which are intrinsically more durable than soft game bird feathers and a few have been ( and still are) very successful, but in the vast majority of cases the effectiveness of the fly depends on the properties of the material used to dress it, and it is simply not possible to make many of these more durable. Their very delicacy is what makes them effective.
TL
MC
If you ever wear one out, I would be so happy to send out a pile of replacements, tied with a big grin on my face. 