Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.
This wild-looking little thing completely puzzled me. At first I was thinking beetle or month larva, until I got a look at the pictures on the computer screen. I made a couple of incorrect guesses before entomologist Greg Courtney pointed me in the right direction with Psychodidae. He suggested a possible genus of Thornburghiella, but could not rule out some other members of the tribe Pericomini.
JOHNW on Sep 12, 2007September 12th, 2007, 8:51 am EDT
OK so I have been reading LaFontaine's Proven Patterns again and the Double Wing has once again caught my attention. I've never tied them but am considering it.
Do any of you have experience with this pattern?
Even more importantly have you noticed a significant difference in performance between it and Kaufmanns Stimulator pattern? It seems the stimulator would be slightly easier/quicker to tie but if the Double Wing is generally more effective then it would be a worthwhile trade.
JW
"old habits are hard to kill once you have gray in your beard" -Old Red Barn
JOHNW on Sep 14, 2007September 14th, 2007, 7:16 am EDT
Smallstream,
Both flies are general attractors (in other words brookie or cutt' flies) however the stimulator can also be tied to imitate various adult stoneflies. It is also a passable hopper imitation on less pressured waters.
JW
"old habits are hard to kill once you have gray in your beard" -Old Red Barn
JOHNW on Sep 14, 2007September 14th, 2007, 3:36 pm EDT
Louis,
Read that thread, even went as far as chemically treating a calf tail as someone suggested (with very nice results). I was just hoping to glean a little more annectdotal info before I decide on going whole hog with double wings.
As an aside the treated calf tail will be very nice in my brookie Wulffs.
JW
"old habits are hard to kill once you have gray in your beard" -Old Red Barn
Martinlf on Sep 16, 2007September 16th, 2007, 4:18 am EDT
John, what did you use to straighten the hair in the tail?
I''m tempted to give this a try myself, though I've been using, with good results, turkey T-base feathers (some call them flats; I understand A.K. Best makes a careful distinction) for Wulffs.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
JOHNW on Sep 16, 2007September 16th, 2007, 10:46 am EDT
Louis,
I used hair straightening treatment that they sell in the hair care section of the local mega mart.
I bumped the original "Double Wing" post to keep it current. The technique was described by Invicta.
JW
"old habits are hard to kill once you have gray in your beard" -Old Red Barn
Sayfu on Oct 17, 2011October 17th, 2011, 7:21 am EDT
The double wing escapes me. I remember reading about it, but now unretrievable. Maybe off subject, but when I want the natural look for the wing, and what the fish sees, I pinch down a couple of the big, fan CDC feathers, and place them as an underwing to my deer hair downwing on my stimmies. And I have lots of CDC when I shoot where I am looking.
Troutnut on Oct 18, 2011October 18th, 2011, 11:49 pm EDT
JW,
As I said in the other thread, it's my favorite attractor fly, and I would certainly recommend that you tie up a bunch of them. They're a joy to fish because they're so easy to see, durable, high-floating, and effective on all species of trout and grayling. I haven't done any sort of controlled test to see whether they really fish better than a stimulator or a trude, but I do think you'll never regret tying the fancier fly unless you lose a lot of them in the bushes.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
JOHNW on Oct 19, 2011October 19th, 2011, 1:52 am EDT
Old thread here but it was extremely effective for the trip I went on. In fact an orange double wing on #8 tmc 200R was the only surface fly I used for well ove 100 trout in a week.
Unfortunatly my local trout don't seem as receptive to pure attractor patterns so they live in my western box just waiting for their next opportunity to shine.
JW
"old habits are hard to kill once you have gray in your beard" -Old Red Barn