This is my first season both in fly fishing and fly tying and my most successful wet fly so far has been the Black Pennell. After tying up a gang of them I went completely off-piste and tied all sorts of unidentifiable techni-coloured wets. Suffice to say that none of them have worked and the BP is still working a charm.
I'm going to get myself back on track and tie up some of these - They look like a good companion to the BP, and not a million miles away in terms of tying. I've a few questions that I've been wondering for a while;
Is the wing strictly necessary and is its presence intended to give a more defined or 'stiffer' top line to the profile of the fly?
and;
When tying wets, is there a rule of thumb for choosing a cock/hen/saddle/cape hackle? I understand the basic principles, but see wets tied with a range of different types.
Thanks for the tutorial,
James