Mike Conners Soft Wing Flies

[Rabmax]

Been using a fly similar to mike's soft wing fly a lot this year.I was out yesterday French Nymphing & doing well.The river started to drop & fish started to rise.I suspected i was now fishing my nymphs below most of the trout as my catch rate dropped. I thought the fish were taking a very light Olive yellow fly.So on went a yellow bodied deer hair cripple on the top dropper & yellow soft wing bellow.All i can say is utter devastation.It was as if the trout were queuing up for there turn.I never even bothered taking my Curly Q of my leader as i didn't want to miss any action.Cheers All

[Traditionalist]

They can often be fantastically effective, not a universal panacea though, as they wont work as well under all circumstances, but fairly often nevertheless. Of course a great deal depends on how you fish them. You seem to have sorted that alright though.Your point about fishing too deep ( with nymphs) is also well taken. Usually it works ok, and indeed better than many other methods, but in a lot of hatches it just wont because the fish are oriented on surface or near surface stuff.

[Rabmax]

I have them tied on different weight hooks.Yesterdays version was B100 hook yellow flexi-floss body,thorax small amount CDC split thread & spun.For the wing's i have been using woodduck or mallard grey flank.I think the grey flank ones slightly out fish the woodduck wings.I have been thinking the contrast of the white mallard flank wing is a good trigger.The B100 fly must fish on or just below the surface.Cheers

[Traditionalist]

One can make a huge range of variations, but the soft wing is quite important, they fish ( catch!)better than various otherwise similar stiffer winged flies.(At least they do for me!  I don't believe in "triggers" as such, but there are some materials which simply work better than others on various flies. I like to use waterhen fibres on a few of mine, but I also use other stuff as well. Brown mallard shoulder and partridge fibres work well on some stuff. I have not tried everything of course!:)

I always use the same hooks, ( Drennan Carbon Specimen, same as Daichi multi-use dry fly



I use weight ( lead wire) for various weights.

[Rabmax]

I attach my wing like you do in a Quigley Cripple cutting it to leave a little butt at the back.
Quigley Cripple - tied by Hans Weilenmann
I find the grey mallard works as good as Partridge.I keep & use my scrap used Partridge feathers for this pattern too.Nothing wrong with being a thrifty Scotsman.

[Rabmax]

I will tie a few up with moorhen to try mike.Cant remember where to take the feather from (is it the under-covert Feathers)

[Traditionalist]

I will tie a few up with moorhen to try mike.Cant remember where to take the feather from (is it the under-covert Feathers)

Doesn't really matter, any of the body or wing feathers will do ( except the quill feathers) they are more or less all the same colour and texture, and are what I normally use. I save the undercoverts etc for other flies.( Waterhen Bloa etc).

I dress mine like this, ( used some pics from somebody else couldn't find mine immediately, but they are the same);





You can vary proportions to suit.

[Rabmax]

The appealing thing about a pattern like this is you can easily tie a size 20 on a 16 hook & get a better hookup rate.Cheers