Legs

Other fly parts:
hackle/wing/tail/
wingcase/legs/body/head


wound hackle feather legs (dry fly)


hackle stem legs (stonefly nymph)

 Legs on flies also serve multiple purposes.  Fundamentally, they are intended to represent the legs of the natural the fly is meant to imitate.  But they also serve a major technical role: i.e., to keep a dry fly afloat; or to assist a wet fly or nymph to sink and show "life" underwater.

Legs are perhaps the least "specific" parts of fly imitations.  Because aquatic insects have just six legs, it is not often that a conventionally tied fly has just 6 legs.  Rather, legs tend to be more in the "suggestive" realm to give fish the "idea" that the insect has legs.

However, when flies are tied in a "replica" fashion to look exactly like the natural, the legs do indeed look just like the "real thing."  Kind of like the stonefly nymph to the left.


hackle stem legs (dry terrestrial fly)


hackle/synthetic legs (caddis pupa)

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