With origins in the 20’s the Wulff is as much a style of fly as a fly in its own right. It is certainly one of the quintessential dry flies and in some shape or form you will find variants in most fly boxes. Whilst the originals were tied using elk hair tails and upright upright divided calf wings I lean toward variants that have buoyant deer hair tails and divided wings.
The combination of materials and the structure of the tie provide a fly that floats well and has a good buggy appearance. I don’t tie them as representations of any particular Dun or Spinner (imago) stage of any specific insect but I do try to either select appropriate colored materials to match various terrestrials that may find themselves on a trout’s menu or to add a hot spot or to to solicit an inquiring strike.
I tie a few hair winged duns but don’t tie them as representations of any particular Dun or Spinner (imago) stage of any specific insect. The Hair Winged Royal Coachman is an excellent example of a hair winged dun. It evolved from origins in England of the 1800’s.
