Fly tying rules: in or out?

2 day ago, I posted a new pattern. Here is the pattern link http://
www.versacorp.cn/picImg/Adams-Big.jpg . I have got some feedback about
my pattern.

----The fly is not tied true to the accepted pattern, the proportions
are wrong, and it should be tied in sizes 10 to 20. Other than that,
it's perfect.

----Often it's more important that -I- can see the fly than to make an
exact match - the fish don't mind.

I have a question to ask whether we should strictly follow the tying
rules or just use your imagination to tie what you want to tie and
have fun. You know, even some patterns I have seen do not follow the
rules but they still could catch fish. So what are your comments?

"Da" wrote in message
oups.com...

2 day ago, I posted a new pattern. Here is the pattern link http://
www.versacorp.cn/picImg/Adams-Big.jpg . I have got some feedback about
my pattern.

----The fly is not tied true to the accepted pattern, the proportions
are wrong, and it should be tied in sizes 10 to 20. Other than that,
it's perfect.

Your Adams is not a "new pattern." It is an
approximation of the standard Adams tie, different
in some crucial respects.

Proportions affect behavior of a fly e.g. how it
floats. Your example had hackle much longer
than convention demands, but a short tail (and
not so sparse as the standard Adams specifies.)
It will thus float differently from the Adamses
sold by other tiers.

----Often it's more important that -I- can see the fly than to make an
exact match - the fish don't mind.

This is irrelevant to offering a fly for sale.

I have a question to ask whether we should strictly follow the tying
rules or just use your imagination to tie what you want to tie and
have fun. You know, even some patterns I have seen do not follow the
rules but they still could catch fish. So what are your comments?

You misconceive and muddle together:
1. Rules for manufacture of standard fly patterns.
2. "Rules" as waterside guidelines for catching trout.

Every angler knows that flies that do not conform to
Rule_1 will successfully catch fish. But Rule_2 does
not offer in the marketplace any justification for naming
a fly "Adams" that does not closely conform to Rule_1.

Each of us is free to have as much fun at the vise as
we like, and to make non-standard flies. But this fun
has zero commercial value. Selling a non-standard
fly under the name of a standard tie is fraud.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)