Recent comments

What from your fly resemble the original Thunder & Lightning? The original fly is one of the most famous of James Wright. It dates from about 1850, which means that this year marks 170 years. The main feature is a combination of colors and elements of the design of the fly. Brown wing, black body, orange body hackel, gold ribbing and a deep blue front hackel. Thunder & Lightning is part of Simple Strip Wings classical salmon flies. In the orignal classic version, the most striking detail is the orange body hackel. It is already from the originator a very simple fly. Sorry but your fly is what it is and not even a copy, or a variant.

Yes, of course, Martin, I also appreciate Steffan's effort to do the video and to make a deadly fly known.
But as you say, when you do an internet search for a fly if you don't know what the original looks like, you will find all kinds of options. How will you know then what you should do? As books are no longer bought as they were for 25, 30 or 50 years ago, when we found the story behind the flies and how they were tied, I always wonder how the new generations will carry the tradition and pay respect to the pioneers. These are issues that sometimes make me sad. But when I see a young man with the same passion that I had more than 45 years ago and I see his hands tremble with emotion holding an original fly in his hand, I forget the moments of sadness and I am happy. We have many anonymous young people out there on the river, who will not forget to respect those who laid the foundations of modern fly fishing. I met them and they brightened those sad days with clouds and heavy rains. :)

It is the simplest tubfly. Without a body defined by a moment of tying, only the plastic tube. Its name has been associated for decades with simplicity. Why call a long-winged fly The Sunray Shadow if it's not actually The SS? Altering the originals by the appearance of some variants does not do good to the new generations of fly tiers who learn that if a Kia resembles a Mercedes, we put the emblem in front and the name pasted there in the back, then we have a Mercedes. I can understand that this fly is inspired by a Sunray Shadow, but it can just as well be inspired by Spey Ghilli or another fly that has a long or very long wing. I'm sorry Steffan! :)

I noticed that subsequent to this post you seem to be using the Regal Revolution for your production tying (in a video of your fly tying room). Did you change your opinion on the vise?

SoCalAngler,

No, you aren't missing anything, but just found an example of the inconsistency of tying thread sizing... the whole motivation for me doing this article and table in the first place. The threads are clearly not the same - different physical thicknesses - and still you will see them listed as the same Denier.

In my eyes the only proper way to categorize thread would be physical thickness, breaking strength, material (nylon, poly, GSP) and fiber layout (spun, braided, parallel, fused etc.). That would avoid such confusing cases.

Trust the physical thickness in the table. I have personally measured almost all threads. And trust your experience when it comes to breaking strength (it's difficult to measure consistently). The Veevus threads are generally pretty strong.

Martin