"A wingless artificial fly with a soft, translucent body of fur or wool which blends with the undercolor of the tying silk when wet, utilizing soft hackle fibers easily activated by the currents to give the effect of an insect alive in the water, and strategically cast diagonally upstream or across for the trout to take just below or within a few inches of the surface film."
-The Art of Tying The Wet Fly and Fishing The Flymph; J.E. Leisenring, V.S. Hidy, 1971.
-The Art of Tying The Wet Fly and Fishing The Flymph; J.E. Leisenring, V.S. Hidy, 1971.
It is not a nymph. It is not a fly. It is a "Flymph" and the word was coined by Vernon S. (Pete) Hidy to describe that stage of an insect's life when the nymph leaves the rather comfortable surroundings of the stream bed and swims up through the water column to hatch into the dun on the way to adulthood. Today you might know it better as the emerger stage. The term "flymph" didn't quite last the sands of time in describing a stage of an aquatic insect's life cycle but there is more to this story.
The word "Flymph" is also used to describe a specific type of wingless wet fly; the type of wingless wet fly friends, fishing companions and authors James Leisenring and Pete Hidy constructed. Most wingless wet flies are tied and fished to represent the emerging stage of an aquatic insect. A few can be fished to mimic duns and spinners, the last stage of an aquatic insect's life cycle. The same is true for flymphs. Take a closer look at the quote above from the "The Art of Tying the Wet Fly and Fishing the Flymph." Part I of the book was written by Pete Hidy as told by James Leisenring. Part II of the book was added in a second edition and written by Pete Hidy. Part II opens with the quote above and is titled "Some New Definitions". Hidy defines a "Flymph" and then continues to define "Flymph Fishing" which will be covered in another section of this website.
The flymph is a simple fly in appearance. The definition Hidy gives can be taken rigid as written or softer when one includes the variety found in emerging insects. I've met some who subscribe to the definition above and do not delineate. I've met others who will call any "emerger" pattern a flymph. As with most things debatable, the answer likely lies somewhere in between. Very few would argue that a flymph is a wingless fly utilizing hackle only to represent legs and emerging wings. In Leisenring and Hidy's time these were called "hackle patterns".
It is in the construction of the body where most debates begin. In The Art of Tying the Wet Fly and Fishing the Flymph the body of these hackle patterns were constructed separately from the fly tying that takes place in the vise. Leisenring used waxed strands of silk thread to build dubbing ropes of the chosen dubbing upon his knee. The dubbing ropes were then stored on cards till the wax "cured" and "cemented" the dubbing rope together. The dubbing ropes were then tied in during the fly's construction like you would a strand of chenille. Hidy was friends with a fellow fly fisher named Dick Clark. Clark crafted a small block which aided in the construction of the dubbing ropes. The ropes could be pre-constructed on the block instead of ruining a pair of pants with wax. These block's became known as Clark's Dubbing Block. Very few use their knee to build the dubbing ropes today but there is a good contingent of flymph fishers that enjoy tying flymphs this way still. Me being one of them.
Does a flymph body have to be tied in this manner to be a flymph? I don't think so and I don't think Hidy would would have complained about it. What is more important is found in the wording "translucent body...which blends with the undercolor of tying silk when wet". This is an important feature of a flymph pattern that Hidy reiterates over and over again in many of his writings. The application of the chosen body material should be done in a way which utilizes both the color of the material and the thread. You can look at the Hidy tied flymph at the top of this page. Notice how the core color of thread blends with the sparse dubbing and creates a certain depth to the pattern. An inside and outside to the body. When wet this style creates a very translucent appearance. Does the body have to be dubbed of fur or wool as it states in the definition. This is where it gets a little interesting. In the Art of Tying the Wet Fly and Fishing the Flymph, Hidy refers to all of Leisinering's hackle fly patterns as flymphs. Leisenring's Brown Hackle pattern is constructed with a peacock body ribbed with gold tinsel, not fur or wool. It is obviously an emerger (flymph stage) pattern but it does not meet Hidy's definition of "flymph style".
It is in the construction of the body where most debates begin. In The Art of Tying the Wet Fly and Fishing the Flymph the body of these hackle patterns were constructed separately from the fly tying that takes place in the vise. Leisenring used waxed strands of silk thread to build dubbing ropes of the chosen dubbing upon his knee. The dubbing ropes were then stored on cards till the wax "cured" and "cemented" the dubbing rope together. The dubbing ropes were then tied in during the fly's construction like you would a strand of chenille. Hidy was friends with a fellow fly fisher named Dick Clark. Clark crafted a small block which aided in the construction of the dubbing ropes. The ropes could be pre-constructed on the block instead of ruining a pair of pants with wax. These block's became known as Clark's Dubbing Block. Very few use their knee to build the dubbing ropes today but there is a good contingent of flymph fishers that enjoy tying flymphs this way still. Me being one of them.
Does a flymph body have to be tied in this manner to be a flymph? I don't think so and I don't think Hidy would would have complained about it. What is more important is found in the wording "translucent body...which blends with the undercolor of tying silk when wet". This is an important feature of a flymph pattern that Hidy reiterates over and over again in many of his writings. The application of the chosen body material should be done in a way which utilizes both the color of the material and the thread. You can look at the Hidy tied flymph at the top of this page. Notice how the core color of thread blends with the sparse dubbing and creates a certain depth to the pattern. An inside and outside to the body. When wet this style creates a very translucent appearance. Does the body have to be dubbed of fur or wool as it states in the definition. This is where it gets a little interesting. In the Art of Tying the Wet Fly and Fishing the Flymph, Hidy refers to all of Leisinering's hackle fly patterns as flymphs. Leisenring's Brown Hackle pattern is constructed with a peacock body ribbed with gold tinsel, not fur or wool. It is obviously an emerger (flymph stage) pattern but it does not meet Hidy's definition of "flymph style".