"Tom Nakashima" wrote

There was a thread awhile back on wet fly fishing. I'm
quite interested in fishing the wet fly.
I was wondering if dry flies could be altered on the spot,
say something like an Adams Dry Fly, altered into a wet fly
by cutting down some of the hackle? Or solutions to make
the dry fly sink without adding shots to the leader or tippet.
thanks,



The properties of the various materials used IS the major element of fly
design.

Dries, if designed well, will have stiff hackles ( to spread the weight of
the fly over more surface area ) and water resisting materials ( to help
maintain floating )

Wets, if well designed, will have soft hackles ( to move with the current
and angler pulsing) and water absorbing materials ( to help it sink and to
add translucence and 'breathing' )


Thus, the answer is "No" A good wet fly is more than just a fly
beneath the surface and a sunken fly designed to float will seldom compete
with a well designed soft hackle or wet